You've already heard Brandon Rogers. You've heard him on the GRAMMYs, you've heard him on the MTV VMAs, you may have even heard him in your local arena. For the past year, Brandon has toured the world as a background singer for Christina Aguilera and shared the stage with artists like Patti LaBelle, Justin Timberlake, Alicia Keys, Earth Wind and Fire, Johnny Mathis, Black Eyed Peas, Anastacia, Angie Stone, and Usher.

You've already heard Brandon Rogers, but you haven't heard his own music…yet. "I wanted to be a star long before I wanted to be a background singer. I love what I do, don't get me wrong, but I just want to do it on a personal level," Brandon says. "If the music belongs to someone else artistically, you can only find so much to connect to. I'm really big on being connected to the music."

Brandon describes his music — an artful genre-crossing blend of soul and pop — and his writing process as being very personal. "The entire demo was written while I on the road with Christina and then recorded when I came home," he says. "I wrote in cars, on tour buses and planes. I just write whenever I'm inspired."

Inspiration has always come to Brandon from a variety of places. The LA native counts influences as varied as Donnie Hathaway, The Beatles, Michael Jackson, and James Taylor. "I take influences from every singer I've loved and heard my entire life. I just like good music. I don't put any boundaries on what type of music I listen to," Brandon explains.

When asked to describe his own music, Brandon says, "People try to be truly original, but in actuality, all you can do is be true to yourself, which is part of every piece of music you've heard in your life. You take music into yourself and incorporate it into everything you do — not duplication, but incorporation." Brandon's own influences have converged to produce music that is soulful but poppy: R&B that combines the pop sensbility of Michael Jackson with the soul stylings of Stevie Wonder, effortlessly woven together.

Brandon's been cultivating this blend since childhood, when he would impress kids at school by playing any song, by request, by ear. An accomplished pianist by high school, Brandon went on to be a jazz vocal studies major at the world-renowned University of North Texas (UNT) jazz program, where he performed alongside fellow UNT jazzer, a pre-fame Norah Jones. By 1999, he was performing with and writing and producing songs for Sons of Harmony (SOH), who put out an album on Maximum Records and opened for Destiny's Child's DC3 Tour. After SOH disbanded in 2001, Brandon began making a name for himself in the pop music world as a background singer, touring the world in the process and performing alongside some of music's biggest stars.

"I've been living the rock star life for about a year. I know what it's like to be a popstar…without the money and the notoriety," Brandon says, laughing. "That's not what makes me do it, though. I'm a performer because I love it, because I don't see myself doing anything else. I'm so used to singing for people or with people, but I'm ready — now it's just me."

Finally, after years of fine-tuning, Brandon is ready to let the world in on R&B’s best kept secret with the release of his debut album entitled “Automatic” - whose title refers to a track on the album that describes the frustrations that arise when one who is obiously meant to stand out is relegated to the background.

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