Tremolo Fields (David Rogers). Photo by Arlo McCune

Cape Elizabeth-based musician David Rogers records under the name Tremolo Fields, and his album “Still As Can Be” is a transfixing assemblage of 10 tracks, many of which you can hear live Saturday night at the album release show in Portland.

In February, Rogers reached out to me with the track “Two Neurons” and asked if I’d consider playing it on the local radio show that I host, called Music from 207 on WCLZ.

I put in on and was so mesmerized by the synthy, dream pop song that I wrote back to him essentially saying, “OMG dude, who are you?”

The song pulsates with a sound you can almost see. Maybe blue orbs darting around a night sky, occasionally colliding with stars. With layers of synths, the lyrics tell of a boy, then a girl, running through the esoteric spaces between two neurons.

A few weeks later, “If You’re Listening” arrived in my inbox and infused my ears with delicate, breathy vocals that offer a tender plea laid upon a bed of spellbinding percussion and a myriad of layered sounds.

Since then, Rogers has sent me subsequent songs, his bio, and most recently the entire album. In return, I’ve sent him several questions and was rewarded with robust responses about his relationship to music and what brought a guy from Iowa City, Iowa, to Maine.

Tremolo Fields “Still As Can Be” album cover. Design by David Rogers

First things first. What the heck does Tremolo Fields mean?

Rogers said that the name mixes a couple of ideas together. Tremolo is an audio effect that raises and lowers the volume of a sound, as if the note is trembling. “I find it to be both hypnotic and a bit disorienting. Pursuing a creative passion is like that.”

The name also conjures up the hilly, gravel roads Rogers logged miles on as teenager. They were hot and humid which made for runs that were exhilarating yet exhausting. “So I use the moniker Tremolo Fields to remind myself that despite the fluctuating highs and lows – be it the top of the hill or the bottom – the goal is to always keep creating and moving forward.”

Making music, however, is something that Rogers put a pause on for a decade, despite having started on guitar and songwriting early in his teens and then playing in a number of bands well into adulthood.

Instead, Rogers forged ahead with a career teaching design in Minnesota, because as much as he loved making music, he didn’t think it was a wise career choice.

A profound shift happened in 2018.

While still in Minnesota, both of Rogers’ parents were facing major health hurdles and Rogers spent countless hours in the car driving back and forth to Iowa. The silver lining was that, during those drives, he reconnected with albums he used to love, including Sinead O’Connor’s “I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got” and Fugazi’s “Repeater.” This led Rogers back on a musical path. He started playing guitar again, as well as messing around with digital audio tools and writing songs.

A year later, Rogers lost both his parents, and during the process of saying goodbye to them, he wrapped his arms fully around music.

In 2020, he began working on “Still As Can Be,” enlisting the help of producer Brett Bullion and multi-instrumentalist Con Davison.

In a full-circle moment, the vocals were recorded in the same church where his parents were married five decades earlier.

It was around this time that Rogers decided to leave academia behind, so he could focus more fully on music, his wife and their two children.

His in-laws live in New Hampshire, and it made sense to move closer to them and a few cousins in the area. Through the years, during visits, his family had taken many side trips to Maine and fell in love with the state.

Another key factor for Rogers was to live near an active music scene. “The Portland area checked the two most important boxes – proximity to family and music,” he said.

Along with making music, Rogers works part-time for Hospice of Southern Maine doing marketing and design work and also volunteers at Portland music venue and art gallery Space.

Although “Still As Can Be” was ready to be released toward the end of 2021, Rogers opted to wait because he and his family had just moved to Maine and the pandemic was still raging. “I waited until I felt more connected to my new community and had a better sense of the scene.”

Timing is everything, and Rogers’ sure is perfect.

Find “Still As Can Be” on streaming platforms, download it on Bandcamp and pick it up on vinyl at Rogers’ performances.

Tremolo Fields, Andrew LaVogue and Angel Lake
7:30 p.m. Saturday. The Apohadion Theater, 107 Hanover St., Portland, $10. On Facebook.