In the PCE — pre-COVID era — Roy Rogers would appear on stage with his band, the Delta Rhythm Kings, and perhaps a special guest or two.

Ah, the times they are a changin’. And, in an option to hanging out at home in Nevada City, blues guitarist Roy Rogers delivers a solo live-streamed performance Sept. 20 at the Center for Performing Arts in Grass Valley.

Proceeds from the show go to MusiCares, a charity that has provided more than $60 million in health, financial, and rehabilitation resources to music people in times of need.

“Just me and some of my favorite guitars,” Rogers said Tuesday afternoon, acknowledging that it’s rare to not look around and see fellow musicians during a gig.

“I have had the idea of performing a solo show for awhile — some songs and maybe some stories from my travels as well,” the Vallejo native said.

Rogers, 70, said he “can’t say enough good things” about MusiCares.

“They are really a great part of The Recording Academy and are a top-rated charity organization,” Rogers said. “A great many musicians have received assistance from them and so many more need help now during the pandemic. I just wanted to support them in some way and thought that a solo concert would be a good way to help raise donations toward their efforts.”

The pandemic, obviously, has challenged many musicians including Rogers.

“What the future holds is a big question, not only for musicians but for artists in general,” he said. “The music will survive, of course, but it may be a ‘very different environment’ to actually be able to make a living in ‘The Arts’ post-pandemic. For one thing, many of the venues will not survive these hard times, so there will be far fewer places to perform, which would have a huge impact alone. We will just have to wait and see.”

Rarely not booked on weekends when there’s not a pandemic, “I never thought that I would not be able to perform at all for such a long period of time,” Rogers said, with his last gig Feb. 29.

“I realize now more than ever just how important performing is to me — creatively with other musicians — and also the connection with people … engaging the audience,” Rogers said.

Virtual shows “are OK for now,” he added. “We have no other choice. But they can never take the place of the audience and performer interaction in a concert hall together.”

Rogers’ musical highlight in the last six months? Well, none, he said.

Still, “there is so much great music in the world … I just continue to explore and listen to all kinds of music. As the saying goes, ‘Inspiration is where you find it’ and I enjoy the search as well as gaining new perspective on music — old and new and other things I thought I knew well.”

From a musical performance standpoint, “there’s no positive derived from present circumstances,” Rogers said. “Other than maybe having more available time to ‘woodshed’ — write new song ideas.”

The pandemic, Rogers continued, “has brought out the ‘best and the worst’ in people. So many folks, especially front-line workers, have inspired us all with their heroism. But, I have been somewhat surprised by the extreme divisiveness that seems to be in so many places. Up until recently, I always referred to myself as a ‘cynical optimist.’ But my cynicism has increased dramatically these days and my optimism has faded significantly. I really do not like saying that — but things have got to change — and hopefully will soon be for the better.”

Rogers pondered how his musician friends no longer here would have fared in a pandemic.

“They would have made the same choices that we all have had to make during this time and done just fine,” Rogers said. “If anything, musicians know how to contribute and survive.”

Rogers’ has others concerns other than when he’ll play again in front of an audience — the threat to his home.

“The fire danger here in the Sierras is extreme, for sure,” he said. “We all have our fingers crossed that we get through the fall and into winter without another fire. The air quality up here has been very unhealthy so I’m staying indoors a lot. We need a good rain, but one with no thunder and lighting.”

Hey, if nothing else, Rogers has time during the pandemic to work on his self-proclaimed “fantasy invention” — “magic dust that would make people instantly supportive of each other and respect and listen to the other guy’s point of view without malice. What a concept.”

Slightly more seriously, he pondered “a viable method of removing carbon levels from the atmosphere around the world, thus addressing climate change in a new way. But the world at-large still has to change direction.”

Roy Rogers live-streams Sunday, Sept. 20, 5 p.m., from the Center for the Arts in Grass Valley in a benefit for MusiCares. For more, visit roy-rogers.com.