It was only seven years ago when country music singer-songwriter and Georgia native Matt Rogers decided to leave his job in the medical profession to move to Nashville to pursue his lifelong passion of music.
Now, he’s an award-winning singer-songwriter who has been recognized by NSAI/CMT, Music City Songstar, American Songwriter, Songwriting University, and Mid-Atlantic Song Contest.
Like many musicians hailing from the South, Rogers says he discovered his love for music while attending church as a young boy.
“Music has always been one of those things that’s been in my life as far back as I can remember,” he explained. “I kinda got my start like most country artists from the area do by singing in the church. In 4th or 5th grade, I started playing the guitar and by the time I was in middle school I had put my first little garage band together. I played in a garage band throughout high school and I actually attended college on a partial music scholarship.”
With the combination of athletic, academic, and music scholarship money, Rogers went on to study medical imaging at St. Andrews University in Laurinburg, North Carolina.
He says it was there that he met other creative individuals who helped him channel his songwriting abilities.
“I started writing songs in college and meeting other creative people,” he said. “Being from a small town, there weren’t a whole lot of other artistically creative people. So, once I got to college it was something that I could nurture a little bit more but it still was not on my radar at that point that it was something that I could do for a living.”
After graduating college, Rogers says he moved to Macon to work in medical imaging and did so for a number of years while continuing to perform on the weekends.
“The last job that I had in Macon I worked for a group of Neurosurgeons as the Director of Imaging. At the time, I was writing songs and playing in a band that I had put together. We started playing acoustic shows around town and then we started spreading out further and further and eventually started going out of state.”
“It was kinda tough hitting the road and being 10-12 hours away on the weekends and then coming back on Sunday and having to be in surgery on Monday morning at 6 o’clock in the morning. So, I dropped everything and moved to Nashville in the summer of 2015.”
Although Rogers has been living in Nashville for the past seven years, he says he hasn’t forgotten his Georgia roots and is especially proud to represent his home state in the Music City.
“Georgia is just one of those places…music is just born here and there are so many great players and artists that have come from this state,” he said. “So many of my musical heroes were once here…the Allman Brothers Band, the Marshall Tucker Band…Otis Redding. Georgia has its own sound. Regardless of genre, style of music, or how it’s being recorded, there’s just something there that intertwines it all and I’m proud to represent such a uniquely musical state.”
This past January, Rogers released his newest single titled “Hurt Like You” from his upcoming album that’s set to release on Fri., March 18.
“We’re super excited about the release of this album and we’re especially excited to be back out touring. The first weekend of our tour kicks off in Savannah and it’s really nice to know that we’re going to be able to turn loose and get after it this year!”
Matt Rogers will hit the District Live stage on Sat., March 19 at 8 p.m. To purchase tickets or for more information visit ticketmaster.com and search for the artist.
