BATON ROUGE — In his more than 40 years of running Baton Rouge’s Texas Club, owner Mike Rogers has seen countless country music artists grace his stage.

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If you were to create a Mount Rushmore of country stars who most influenced today’s modern artists, many of them have likely plugged into the PA system at the Texas Club.

Names like Garth Brooks, George Jones, George Strait, Willie Nelson, and most recently Chris Stapleton have all played at least one show there. Now, Rogers hopes to add another name to that prestigious list: 18-year-old Addis native and “American Idol” runner-up John Foster, who reminds him of those other country greats.

Foster is scheduled to play back-to-back shows at the Texas Club on August 1st and August 2nd. Originally, only one show was planned, but tickets sold out within an hour, prompting Rogers to add a Friday performance.

Rogers told Unfiltered with Kiran that the rapid ticket sales reminded him of another show at the club more than 40 years ago.

“It kind of reminds me of 1981 when we brought Hank Jr. in, and everything went crazy,” Rogers said. “And then, of course, we had the second show with Garth Brooks that was a big hit. So John Foster’s up there with some pretty big names as far as our experience with people at this level.”

While Rogers explained that Brooks played at the Texas Club twice, it wasn’t until his 1990 performance that he had achieved widespread national success with charting singles like “Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old).”

The shows at the Texas Club come on the heels of Foster’s performance at the Grand Ole Opry on June 7, arguably the country’s most important and iconic country music venue.

When Rogers first heard Foster sing, he said he was most impressed with his versatility for such a young artist, similar to another fresh-faced baritone who once performed at the Texas Club.

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“The first time we had George Strait at the club, he had a young, fresh face. I think George was 28 when he came through, and we had a $3 show and dance with him,” Rogers recalled. “Believe it or not, I remember we only had about 500 people in here for George. Of course, he hadn’t even hit it big then, but I think the people were reacting to his youth and his talent.”

Rogers added, “And that’s the thing about country music; they’re always looking for their next rising star. And I think John fits that bill perfectly. He’s got a level head and some good people behind him and a good family behind him.”


In recent years, the Texas Club has been at the center of Baton Rouge’s country music scene. Acts like Laine Hardy, Dylan Scott, Kendall Shaffer, and Ben Ragsdale, all from within half an hour of the Texas Club, have performed there recently.

“There’s always been a country music scene here in Baton Rouge. A lot of times it went underground,” Rogers said. “(Baton Rouge) kind of flew under the radar, but now with country music being so front and present, and obviously John getting so much exposure with ‘American Idol,’ that puts it on super steroids.”

Within the broader country music landscape, Rogers believes clubs like the Texas Club play a significant role in launching the careers of artists like Foster and Hardy.

“We like to think that we’re kind of a feeder program for the major leagues, like Double-A or Triple-A ball,” Rogers explained. “If you can sell out the Texas Club, the next step is the arenas. Hopefully for John, this is a stepping stone, and we’ll gladly be that stepping stone.”

The shows are scheduled for 9 p.m. on Friday, August 1st, and Saturday, August 2nd. The Lauren Lee Band and Connor Martin will open the shows, with Chase Tyler performing an encore for the Friday show.