PLYING his craft on the grand stage of the Falls Festival is an opportunity that won't be lost on Burringbar musician Matty Rogers.

Winner of the Falls Byron Foster a Band competition, the self-managed, independent artist plans on grasping the biggest moment of his career so far.

"This Falls slot is so important and to get the opportunity to play this massive festival really forwards my career,” Rogers said.

"It means so much to me and I look at it as the pinnacle of my career.

"I like to seize every opportunity and be grateful for that but it's also about growing, so it's a massive springboard as well.” A journeyman singer/songwriter, Rogers has been honing his craft throughout Australia for the last 12 years.

From the dusty streets of Darwin to playing in bakeries and pizzerias, Rogers has continued his artistic growth while moonlighting as a deckhand, a tiler and teaching music in Aboriginal communities.

Setting up in Burringbar, Rogers and his biggest supporter, partner Seda Rose, have a new addition to the family with baby Riley arriving in the past year.

Rogers has since cut back on his travelling but after gaining the slot at Falls, the family plans on hitting the road.

"With the family, I've stayed local, but the plan going forward is to hit the festival scene,” Rogers said.

"We're upgrading the van to take the van on the road so we can tour around and hit the festivals.”

With his unique blend of blues, folk and rock filtered through a raspy, powerful voice reminiscent of a young Joe Cocker, the foot-stomping banjo player and guitarist is sure to win over a new legion of fans at Falls.

While unsure of what stage he'll be playing on at Falls, Rogers promises to leave nothing in the bag.

Rogers' Magic moment

MATTY Rogers will never forget the moment he found out he'd won the Falls Byron Foster a Band competition.

Having had his name put forward by good friend Sharna Waters, from Tweed Creative Studios, Rogers was up against Byron based grunge-rockers The Badlands, alt-rock four-piece PLTS, and electronic outfit Tralala Blip for the prized slot and was shocked upon hearing the news of his win.

"It was early morning and I got a call to say I'd won and I said 'Are you kidding me?',” Rogers said.

"I thought I was still dreaming and had fallen back to sleep. I was stoked.”

Falls expanded the long-running Foster a Band initiative to include Falls Byron this year, giving Falls fans across Australia the chance to vote for an up-and-coming Northern Rivers act to join the 2016 Byron line-up.

Close to 2000 people voted via the Falls website, with Rogers edging out the three other finalists to claim the coveted slot.

Rogers said it was through support of people like Waters that independent artists were able to get a break in the industry.

He thanked fans for voting for him and said he would cherish the opportunity to play to a huge festival crowd.

"The most important thing for me is connecting with people,” Rogers said.

"So to get up and share with people at somewhere like Falls; it doesn't get any better than that.”