Jared Rogerson is a former professional bronc rider, and the Wyoming musician is bringing some “rodeo rock” to the Park County Fair.

Rogerson is serving as the opener for Friday night’s grandstand concert, kicking things off at 6 p.m.

“When we show up on stage, it's a very high energy deal,” Rogerson said. “We do play a few favorite covers that people connect with and kind of make them our own. Then we play a lot of our original stuff, and we really just have a lot of fun and really sort of rock it in our shows.”

By the end of the show it can sometimes be hard to tell if it was a country concert or rock concert, said Rogerson, whose website credits both Chris LeDoux and Bon Jovi as influences.

His interest in music dates back to his days as a kid.

“I listened to the radio, like, all the time,” Rogerson said. “It was on 24 hours a day in my room, and I just loved music, and I particularly loved the words, the lyrics.”

He first got into making music through song writing. While in college, Rogerson bought a brand new guitar for $50 that “sounded like a bunch of rubber bands strung on a two by four.” He taught himself how to play by learning chords out of a George Strait guitar book and playing the songs he’d written.

While Rogerson always knew he wanted to make music, it came second to his career as a bronc rider. But it’s an injury-prone career and a torn bicep tendon signaled to Rogerson that it was time to move on to a new pursuit.

“So literally, when I hit the ground, and when I got up at that moment, it just hit me: It's time to start chasing this other dream,” Rogerson said. 

But, because of his injury he couldn’t play guitar, so he instead purchased a four track recorder, a microphone and a stand.

“I was in the recording business right there, and I decided I was going to make an album. I had written a bunch of songs, and I decided to record 12 of them,” Rogerson said.

His first album was called “Bad Hay — the home recordings,” and the 2010 release “was recorded in my kitchen,” he recalled.

By the next year Rogerson had established some connections and professionally recorded an album in Nashville. He’s since put out four more.

“When I write these songs, I often hear the full band production in my head, even though it’s coming out on just one acoustic guitar,” Rogerson said. “When I'm writing these songs, I hear the whole thing. And so that's been the bonus of being able to go to the studio and produce these things and be a producer, because it helps me really stay true to the original song and the original idea.”

Those looking to familiarize themselves with Rogerson’s catalogue ahead of Friday’s concert can visit Spotify, where Rogerson has 8,918 monthly listeners and where his 2023 song “Diamond in the Ditch” has over 100,000 plays. 

The grandstand gates will open at 5 p.m. Friday with the concert starting at 6 p.m. Rogerson will lead the way for headliner Tyler Rich.

Tickets are $23 for general admission and $28 for box seats and spots on the arena floor.