Local musician in The Blue Pickups Band honored as ‘Guitarist of the Year’ in Carolinas

The Carolina Country Music Association has awarded a Lexington man the honor of being 'Guitarist of the Year,' and he's a musician in a band you might know.

Columbia, S.C. (WOLO) — The Carolina Country Music Association has awarded a Lexington man the honor of being ‘Guitarist of the Year,’ and he’s a musician in a band you might know.

Jimmy Rogers is the lead guitarist in the local band, ‘The Blue Pickups.’ The band is known across the state for their music and their charity work. Now Rogers is being honored in both North and South Carolina.

“There’s so much talent out there. You go down and watch these guys and girls play, and you’re like ‘wow.’ It’s just amazing the talent out of the state of South Carolina and North Carolina,” said Rogers.

“We’re just all extremely proud of him, he does a fantastic job,” said Kelly Wyatt, the lead singer and a guitarist in The Blue Pickups.

Rogers has been playing the guitar in various bands for over 40 years. He first started when his grandfather, who was blind, taught him.

“I actually started playing guitar many years ago. I was about 10, 11 years old,” said Rogers. “I was just amazed that someone blind could play the guitar that well. And I started taking lessons from him.”

He said his grandfather would be proud of his achievement and how far he’s come as a guitar player.

“If he was still here right now, he’d have a big grin on his face,” said Rogers.

The Blue Pickups play gigs all over the state. They’ve even opened for Hootie and the Blowfish.

“Just what they portray on TV, they’re like that in person. Everybody’s just extremely nice. And it was an honor to get up there and do that. Cause they could’ve picked anybody to open up for them, so we knew we were kind of very blessed to get the opportunity to do it,” said Rogers.

The band also helps the community by playing several charity events throughout the year.

“We’ve helped raise close to $800,000 for charities in South Carolina alone. And so we’re really happy to be part of this fantastic community,” said Wyatt.

In past awards by the Carolina Country Music Association; the band was recognized as ‘Entertainers of the Year’ and ‘Humanitarian Band of the Year’ because of their charity work.

The other members of the band include Donny Rogers, who plays bass and is Jimmy’s brother, and Mike Danielsen who plays the drums.

You can listen to the band’s music on any streaming service, and for more information on their shows click here to go to their website.