Jason Rogers Country Music

Article Date: 7/23/09
Source: Dalles Chronicle, The (The Dalles, OR)

Jade McDowell The Chronicle
Published: July 23, 2009

When Christie Rogers answered a call for an interview with The Chronicle, she was flattered. “No one ever wants to talk to me,” she said.

That ‘s because the phone calls are usually for her husband, and these days the phone is ringing off the hook.

Rogers, a graduate of The Dalles High School, is married to country singer Jason Rogers. He’s not a superstar yet, but the singer and songwriter has been getting quite a bit of attention lately.

His song “Breathe into me” was voted Country Song of The Year by VH1′s Save the Music Foundation in 2007. Since then he has been steadily gaining attention from fans, the media and the music industry.

This month he will appear in both Country Weekly magazine and Europe’s Country People magazine.

The couple l ive in Nashville with their 8 month-old daughter, but Christie said she visits her parents in The Dalles whenever she can. “I miss Oregon,” she said. “It’s so beautiful. I miss the mountains and the trees.” She was already living in Tennessee, working in property management, when she met Jason at a singer-songwriter party about six years ago. She had gone to the party to support the friend who was throwing it but said she had no interest in dating a musician.

Jason noticed her and tried to get to know her better through their mutual friends. He started playing pranks to get her attention and eventually persuaded her to go on a date with him.

“After the first date we were pretty much inseparable,” she said.

One thing she said really attracted her to him was the value he placed on marriage. Both she and Jason said they were raised to take marriage very seriously and were looking for a partnership that would last a lifetime.

They found that partnership with each other.

Christie said she was always more of a classical music person but she enjoys hearing her husband’s music. She isn’t musical herself, but Jason is already teaching their daughter, who loves watching her father play his guitar.

Jason Rogers is clearly a family man. He is also a people person. After a just a few minutes on the phone with him it is obvious Christie would have been hard pressed to marry a friendlier or more genuine guy.

He keeps up a steady stream of pleasant conversation in his even drawl, and nearly every sentence is punctuated with his warm, infectious laugh.

He has been advised to let an agent handle all of hi s publ ici ty but he prefers personal contact.

He said he has gotten a good response from the hours spent picking up the phone and introducing himself to local radio DJs and newspapers. At first he was nervous about dealing with the media, but said so far everyone has been “100 percent awesome.” “I guess it’s because nobody’s really anti-music,” he said.

He often plays at the Loveless Café in Nashville, where he said he enjoys the homey environment and chance to mingle with the locals during breakfast before his morning show.

He is planning to do a radio tour soon, which will involve performing and chatting on air rather than giving big concerts. He said he wants to bring back the old days when musicians got in a bus and went town to town, eating dinner with local families and “just getting friendly with people.” His music is heartfelt and warm. Some of it is upbeat, some is mellow, but it all has a definite but not overbearing country feel. His genuine smalltown background shines through in a believable way, as does his likeable personality.

“A song has to personally touch you for you to be able to sing it and touch other people,” he said, and it’s a feat he seems to accomplish.

He said he is grateful for the support of his wife and also his in-laws, Larry and Anita Wolf, who still live in The Dalles.

“They’ve never been anything but good to me,” he said.

The Wolfs are enthusiastic about their son-in-law’s music and said they believe he’s got a good career in store for him, especially in terms of song writing.

“I think he writes from the heart,” Larry said.

That’s all anyone can ask for.

JASON ROGERS, a rising country western singer in Nashville, Tenn., is married to The Dalles High School graduate Christie Rogers. Contributed photo.