A line of Jason Rogers’ chart-climbing single says, “It ain’t braggin’ if you back it up.”
The Presque Isle native has been learning how to back it up during his time in Nashville, where he moved seven years ago.
Now Rogers, who grew up in New Brunswick, finds his single “It Ain’t Braggin’” at No. 34 on this week’s Cashbox Country Singles Chart, one notch below Tim McGraw’s “Southern Voice.”
Also, the 32-year-old signed a record deal with a major label, Cashbox Records, in August. Both the label and the charts are parts of Cashbox Magazine, a venerated publication in the music industry that folded in 1996 but is now making a comeback under dynamic president Bruce Elrod. It has been available online only until this month, when a printed version began as well.
Elrod had approached Rogers earlier, but Rogers wasn’t aware of the Cashbox legacy and was cautious.
“I had to research them first,” he said in a phone interview from his home in the Nashville suburbs. “I wasn’t aware of the history of the magazine. People who’d been around then told me, ‘You’re an idiot if you don’t sign with Cashbox.’”
Even before the Cashbox deal, Rogers already had released his self-titled debut, which came out last spring. The album, produced on the Music City Productions label by Martin Young, Clint Black’s long-time guitarist, featured seven of Rogers’ own songs and five that he had whittled down from around 300. “I tried to pick ones that are similar to what I do,” he recalled.
That album took four years to complete.
“I had a lot of learning to do, a lot of people to meet,” Rogers admitted.
Something about the way Rogers packaged the demo which he sent to Cashbox caught Elrod’s attention.
“We opened it and played it, and I said, ‘This kid’s got something you don’t hear in country music right now,’” Elrod said. “This guy’s timing is right. The old artists are fading, and they’ve got to be replaced by somebody, and Jason’s in line to do that. That’s why he got an invitation to come in.”
On his own this summer, Rogers had gained coverage in publications from 17 countries, including Country Weekly and Country Music People, and had been getting radio play in 15 countries, some as far away as India and Australia.
Elrod hopes to help Rogers take the next step. He explained that the Cashbox model leaves the artists in control of producing their CDs and videos, while the label helps out with promotion, distribution, legal issues, booking and airplay. Cashbox gets its 20 artists on 3,500 radio stations worldwide, with just over half of those in the United States.
Elrod plans to rerelease Rogers’ album on Cashbox. Rogers was set to film the video for “It Ain’t Braggin’” Oct 8 at the Silverado Dance Hall and Saloon in Nashville. Elrod is planning a debut concert for Rogers at the historic Carolina Theater in Spruce Pines, N.C.
“I’m not going to let anything happen to Jason, because he’s going to be the next Kenny Chesney or Brad Paisley,” he said. “Once everything’s done, I think he’s going to take off.”
Rogers said that signing with Cashbox so far has been the right move for him.
“Bruce is really supportive of my music,” he said. “He gets heavy radio play of his artists, and radio stations that play their countdowns. More people will talk to me now.”
For more information, visit jasonrogerscountry.com or cowboyjason.com.