Matt Rogers plays to near sellout crowd at The Arts Plaza
Published 10:14 pm Thursday, April 7, 2022
- Matt Rogers plays one of his newest songs in front of a large crowd that attended Saturday night’s concert in downtown Eatonton at The Arts Plaza. Rogers is a native son of Eatonton.
EATONTON, Ga. — It was a big weekend for country artist Matt Rogers, who entertained a near-sellout crowd at The Plaza Arts Center on Saturday night.
The concert attracted a large crowd of country music fans from throughout Georgia’s Lake Country counties of Putnam, Baldwin Greene and Morgan.
The highlight of Rogers’ concert was his playing several songs from his new album.
Rogers is a native son of Eatonton, who has been singing and writing country music for the past several years. A graduate of Gatewood Schools in Eatonton, Rogers now lives in Nashville, Tenn.
While performing on The Arts Plaza stage, Rogers told the crowd he was most appreciative that he and his band had been invited to play for his hometown.
When Rogers first walked out on the stage to perform, he received rousing applause from the enthusiastic crowd, which was fired up to hear from their favorite native son.
In 2021, Rogers’ music reached its biggest audience yet. He signed with Nashville-based Vere Music and national distribution partner, ADA. His debut single with Vere Music and ADA, “Fallout,” is related to the aftermath of a painful heartbreak. His follow-up songs, “Be Like Him,” and “Thunderbird,” are inspiring. It’s a message of a father-son bonding again. Another song, “Hurt Like You,” which has received a lot of media attention, is described on his website as a searing duet about the intersection of longing and regret.
Today’s Country Magazine writes that Rogers is a country singer and songwriter that everyone needs to keep an eye on.
According to the magazine, his rich vocals, wrapped around the lyrics of his songs, hold deep emotions and strongly connect with the listener.
“I’m drawn to songs that express the granular emotion of a moment,” Rogers is quoted as saying on this website. “They are emotional at their core.”
Rogers invited two of his friends as opening acts for Saturday’s concert — Luke Boswell of Greensboro, and Heath Deloach, of Moultrie.
Boswell and Deloach received big applause.
Boswell, a registered nurse at Piedmont Athens hospital in Athens, began his music career at New Hope Baptist Church in Greshamville when he was about 11 or 12.
“I actually started picking at 8,” recalled Boswell. “I had an uncle, Kevin Leach, who still picks a little bit now, who got me interested and started in picking the guitar.”
Asked where he hopes his music someday takes him, Boswell said he would like to write a No. 1 country song.
“I want it to take me places, but the spotlight isn’t what I’m really chasing,” who graduated from Gatewood Schools in Eatonton in 2015. “I was just want to sit down and play some good country songs for people.”
Deloach, meanwhile, met Rogers when he lived in Nashville for about three years. Now back living in his hometown of Moultrie, Deloach and Rogers have worked together for several years co-writing songs.
Deloach, who recently celebrated his 40th birthday, began playing guitar when he was 12.
When he got into playing country music, Deloach said he quickly realized his wheelhouse has a bit of a storytelling time behind it.
“I’ve been doing this for a long time and I love it,” said Deloach, who works full-time with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Poultry Division.
When he is not playing on stage, Deloach can be found playing in restaurants and bars.
“And I love it,” Deloach said. “Man, what a blessing to come to Eatonton and be one of the opening acts for my friend, Matt Rogers.”