BIO
Drew Hutson Rogers
Raised in the Ozarks in the late 90's and early 2000's, Rogers split time between divorced and remarried parents in Rogers, Arkansas (no connection to his last name) and Cassville, Missouri. Amid the constant back and forth between Missouri and Arkansas, he recalls gravitating to music at an early age. “My mom used to play classical piano really well and I remember hearing her play a lot when I was 3 or 4 and my dad would play a John Denver cassette tape in his truck on long drives that really opened my eyes to a world of music…some of those beautiful portrayals of America and the sounds a person can accomplish with an acoustic guitar, their voice, and a story to tell.” On his 11th birthday when his aunt gifted him an Alvarez acoustic guitar, a Bon Jovi greatest hits CD was cemented into the listening rotation. As he describes it, the soaring sound of Richie Sambora’s 'melodic but New Jersey tough' lead guitar playing “lit a fire in me where I knew I had no choice but to play guitar and I wasn’t going to stop until I could really play it. So I mowed lawns all summer to save up and buy a crappy electric guitar and amp just to try (and fail) to emulate those sounds. To be honest I don’t think I ever fully got there but the beauty of it now is I sound like me. And that’s something to be proud of."
In high school and college, Rogers often felt he was juggling competing social expectations. A jock to the arts kids but a sensitive arts kid among the jocks and their lackeys, he felt like an in-betweener. At times this disconnect was isolating and he admits he wasn’t super adept at handling those feelings with any grace for himself or others.
"I could always go home and escape into the guitar and the records I loved. In my room with Stevie Ray Vaughn, or John Mayer, or Richie Sambora, whoever it was; those feelings were validated and I believed I could slowly wrestle power away from the no-win social scenario by immersing myself in guitar."
After pursuing academic guitar studies from 2013-2019 and earning a master’s degree in guitar performance, Rogers has spent the last few years writing, recording, and refining his mid-southern rock sound, and is committed to leaving a lasting mark as a songwriter and guitarist. The Arkansas native’s debut single “Bad Motivator“ released in March 2023, followed by his debut EP “In-Between Radio” that April, and “Demons at Bay” his first full length album in October 2023. He is currently busy recording and producing his second album, and has a full summer of live shows across the Ozarks in 2024.