Kingston native Rogers wins a Grammy at 65th Annual Grammy Award Show

Feb. 6—WILKES-BARRE — Kingston native Matt Rogers won a Grammy at Sunday night's 65th Annual Grammy Award Show.

Rogers and Ben Stennis wrote "Till You Can't," which won the Grammy for Best Country Song.

The song was performed by country singer Cody Johnson.

Rogers and Stennis won in the category that also included nominees:

—Maren Morris, "Circles Around This Town" (Ryan Hurd, Julia Michaels, Maren Morris and Jimmy Robbins)

—Luke Combs, "Doin' This" (Luke Combs, Drew Parker and Robert Williford)

—Taylor Swift, "I Bet You Think About Me" (Taylor's Version) (Lori McKenna and Taylor Swift)

—Miranda Lambert, "If I Was a Cowboy" (Jesse Frasure and Miranda Lambert).

—Willie Nelson, "I'll Love You Til the Day I Die" (Rodney Crowell and Chris Stapleton)

Rogers, 41, said he moved to Nashville 18 years ago to pursue his songwriting career and after having doors shut in his face for a while, things began to click and now he is on a roll, having two No. 1 hits in 2022.

Rogers, who writes for Sony ATV Nashville Publishing, said getting a song to be played on the radio was his first goal.

"That would be a dream come true," Rogers said of his early days. "The thing about a Grammy is that it is so far out of reach. We thought getting nominated was as big as it gets, then it won."

Rogers said winning a Grammy will take a while to sink in, but he said he and Stennis will get back to writing this week.

"Ben had the idea of 'Till You Cant' — the everyday stuff that human beings generally put on the back-burner til another day," Rogers said.

Rogers said winning the Grammy will open some more doors, but he said the songwriting community lives in the moment.

"Yes. it looks good on my resume," Rogers said. "But I always want the next song. Songwriters are always trying to write the next hit. I am very honored to have won, and I can't wait to get writing again."

Matt's father, Barry Rogers, said his son has always had the very best work ethic. Matt talked about just how hard he worked to get where he is today.

"It took me a couple years to get my first publishing job," he said. "I was working at a warehouse and I bartended at night. I was just trying to make sure I had time during the day to write songs. It's hard to do. You really have to work at it."

Rogers said he has always finished a song and then goes on to the next song.

"I'm still hungry," Rogers said. "When you lose that hunger, it's time to hang up your hat. I'm nowhere near that."

Rogers lives outside of Nashville in Henderson, Tenn., with his wife, Shellien, and their three children, Jenna, 2; Jack Barry, 3; and Dylan, 16.

Rogers has had three No. 1 songs in the U.S. and a platinum certified hit: "We Went" Randy Houser (2016); "Freedom was a Highway" Jimmie Allen/Brad Paisley (2022); and "Til you Can't" Cody Johnson (2022).

Matt moved to Nashville 2006 after interning (CMT Magazine) for his master's degree in journalism from S.I. Newhouse at Syracuse University. His undergrad degree was was from Misericordia-Interdisciplinary Studies in writing.

"Til you Can't" was written by Matt and Ben Stennis back in about 2015. It was plugged to several artists over that time but not taken. Cody Johnson took it and recorded it in 2021. It was one of the top performing songs of the past year. It was named Music Row Magazine's Song of the Year. The Video was named "Video of the year". The song received the CMA "Single of the Year." Two weeks ago, it was nominate for a Grammy Award for "Best Country Song."

The song was honored by the (NSAI)Nashville Songwriters and industry people as "10 Songs I wish I would have Written." Matt and his co-writer performed it at the Ryman Theater on Sept. 20, 2022, in front of a sold-out theater.

The song was a multi week No. 1 on the radio play charts and was one of the longest running songs on Billboard Country charts.

Matt's parents, Betsy and Barry, live in Kingston

Matt's brother, Eric, lives in West Pittston with his wife, Megan and children, Madison, 5, and Ryan 3.

His dad is a school administrator at Wyoming Valley West, and he is an accomplished musician himself. Matt's mom, Betsy, is a music lover and, as Matt says, she is probably more excited about her son's success than anybody.

Reach Bill O'Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.