Jake Wesley Rogers: The Next Era

Twenty-eight-year-old singer-songwriter Jake Wesley Rogers fell in love with performing before he fell in love with being an artist. Vogue coined him “Gen Z’s Elton John,” and he earned Elton John’s personal seal of approval, with the music legend noting that Rogers reminds him of himself at the start of his iconic career. Brené Brown called Rogers “pure light and love.” Through it all, Rogers credits his passion for the stage to his beginnings at Springfield Little Theatre. “Where I really fell in love with performing,” he says. “That place is so special—that that exists in Missouri—and in a lot of ways, it saved my life. That really began it all for me.” The Springfield native started writing songs at 13 and practicing them at local events like Cider Days and ArtsFest, often using downtown street corners as stages during First Friday Art Walks. “My friends and I would try to make enough money to get something from MudHouse,” he says. “And we usually did—we usually got $40, and I felt really rich.”

At 18 years old, he moved to Nashville to attend Belmont University, study songwriting and truly enter the music industry. National tours with Ben Platt and Panic! At the Disco, appearances on The Late Late Show with James Corden and Late Night with Seth Meyers, multiple EP releases and a decade later, Rogers is finally ready to release his first full-length album, In The Key of Love, on May 9. “It’s the deepest I’ve ever gone on a project,” he says. “I wrote it over a two-and-a-half-year span in the midst of a lot going on in my life.” Creating this album was therapy for Rogers. It explores topics of love, spirituality and an experience that is transparently human.

The album is meant to be experienced in its entirety—from start to finish—because the order is very intentional. “It kind of goes back to my theatrical roots,” Rogers says. “There’s a lot of theater in it, and I think a lot of heart. It’s really a story of trying to be myself, which is the hardest thing to do.” The song “Kitchen Table” is the cornerstone of the album. It’s about a real conversation between Rogers and his parents, revisiting moments from his childhood that required deep processing—all centered around a brand-new kitchen table.

“Which I just love as a metaphor because a kitchen table is where so many things happen in a family—everything really kind of centers around that,” Rogers says. “That song is about coming back home and coming back to that dynamic as a whole-hearted person who doesn’t want to live in the past anymore but also doesn’t want to repress it either.”

That awareness and connection also extends to Rogers’ relationships in the music industry, including fellow Ozarks-native pop star Chappell Roan. “She’s amazing, and I’ve known her since I was 16,” Rogers says. They often cross paths through the music industry and find themselves reminiscing and giggling about life in Missouri. “When people are around us when we talk, it’s kind of funny because they have no idea what we’re talking about,” he says. “It’s just beautiful. I think she is absolutely so incredible and so inspiring to me and always has been.”

The theme of meaningful interactions and shared human experiences shapes Rogers’ music. In The Key of Love is a collection of melodies, stories and strong, steady vocals, and Rogers is eager to share it with the world. One of Rogers’ best friends and bandmates recently told him, “The audience doesn’t come to see you, they come to see themselves.” “I really like that,” Rogers says. “I don’t want people to listen to hear me. I hope people listen to hear themselves.” For the next few years, Rogers hopes to be on the road, touring the country and playing many, many shows. “I can’t wait to play a show again in Springfield, it’s been too long,” Rogers says. “I love coming home.”