An enthusiastic crowd showed up Oct. 14 for Homegrown Talent at The Plaza Arts Center, the final outdoor concert of the year at the historic downtown Eatonton performance venue.
Nashville recording artist and former Eatonton resident Matt Rogers served as emcee for the evening before taking the stage for a solo performance of his hit songs followed by a brief collaboration with Milledgeville-based Fall Line Rambler backing him up.
Prior to the show’s start, Rogers recalled the first time he played at The Plaza, in 2015 or ’16, he said, performing with a full band on the same outdoor stage he commanded Saturday night.
“It's a special place, man. Eatonton obviously holds a very special place in my heart, but it's a great night to be here to spotlight homegrown talent,” Rogers said. “There’s a lot of talent that's right here in the backyard and to kind of shine a little spotlight on them and hopefully get their local following a little bit bigger is great. Just get some folks' eyes on 'em and let folks hear 'em and hopefully they can go check 'em out again when they're playing locally.”
Since leaving Eatonton for Nashville, Rogers has enjoyed considerable success on the national country music scene and recently released a couple of new songs that are performing well on streaming music services, including “Tea was a Little Sweeter,” featured in a video shot exclusively in Eatonton and Putnam County.
Rogers now tours the U.S. regularly and just last month returned from Denmark, where he attended a songwriter’s retreat. But Eatonton will always remain his home, he insisted, and it’s where he wants to leave a lasting mark with his music.
“It's like you always want to show out for your hometown, know what I mean? You always want to show them what you've been working on and do your thing for them,” he said. “So yeah, it's exciting to get to be in front of the hometown crowd. Always.”
Fall Line Rambler was a frequent presence on stage throughout the night. Playing on the covered porch that doubles as an outdoors stage, FLR presented a blend of country and rock songs that coaxed many in the crowd out of their seats and got them up dancing in front of The Plaza’s front steps.
R.J. Sanders was the first solo act on stage and the 23-year-old Cochran native presented a solid set of original songs with a couple of covers mixed in.
Also on the bill was singer/ songwriter Luke Boswell out of Watkinsville.
“I try to stay plugged into The Plaza here and they do such a great job of supporting the young kids that are creative and want to be in the arts. And I've tried to be involved in that as much as I can, too, because I had some support early on and without it, I might've shied away,” Rogers said. “So, to support this, it's a very important thing to do and I'm just honored that they asked me to be a part of it.”