Today we turn our focus to an up-and-coming singer and songwriter from Loganville, GA, who has already solidified his Nashville ties, aligning himself with Jason Aldean, Justin Moore and Blake Shelton.

photo courtesy of facebook.com/jordanrager/photos/
photo courtesy of facebook.com/jordanrager/photos/
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Growing up, sports was just as important to Jordan Rager as country music. The son of a pastor, he is a life-long Chicago Cubs fan, who grew up singing in church, along with the radio in the house that was always playing the artists that influenced young Jordan, such as Kenny Rogers, Travis Tritt and Tracy Lawrence. It was while singing along with that radio at age 4, that Jordan's father discovered he had the gift of being able to sing on key. As he grew, Jordan sang in church and in school, and at age 15 he picked up his first guitar and learned how to play. It was then he made a deal with his father: if Jordan's dad came home from work and saw the youngster working on his guitar playing, he wouldn't have to do any chores that day. Jordan recalls not doing any chores that entire summer.

After watching a few YouTube videos on learning to play the guitar, Jordan taught himself to play, simply using the trial and error method. Rager began writing songs about the same time, and soon after he played his first gig, at a county fair, where he got up on stage and played his four favorite songs. As he walked off stage, he turned to his mother and told her that is what he wanted to do "forever". He continued to play whenever and wherever he could throughout high school. His mother would accompany him into clubs where he was underage, sitting in the front row while he played and walking him out of the venues when he finished.

photo courtesy of facebook.com/jordanrager/photos/
photo courtesy of facebook.com/jordanrager/photos/
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It was at this time he met booking agent Barry Williams (no, not THAT Barry Williams), who booked shows for artists across Georgia, and throughout the southeast. Williams also discovered and booked shows for Jason Aldean, though that wasn't a difficult task; Williams is Aldean's father (Jason's given name is Jason Williams). Williams booked shows for Rager, as well as setting meetings and made song writing appointments for the young artist. During this time he also appeared on season 2 of The Voice, a member of Team Blake, he was eliminated during the Battle Rounds.

After years of interspersing playing clubs, frat houses and college bars, mixing in traveling to Nashville for weekly writing sessions, Rager received a call from Justin Moore's management team, looking for an opening act for several stops on Moore's Off The Beaten Path tour, a tour that also featured Randy Houser. Rager spent the fall

photo courtesy of facebook.com/jordanrager/photos/
photo courtesy of facebook.com/jordanrager/photos/
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of 2014 playing acoustically on the tour, before signing and "official" management deal with Williams and Peter Hartung. He would then sign a recording contract Broken Bow Records in September of 2014, heading back out on tour with Moore, this time with a full band behind him.

Earlier this year, Rager released his debut single, "Country Boy" which also featured Jason Aldean. The song peaked at #37 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart, the chart that measures radio air play. He is currently in the studio working on his debut album, and today we have the second single from that project in our spotlight. Justin Rager and "Now That I Know Your Name" is today's Catch of the Day, new music you haven't heard, but you'll want to hear it again.

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