Who is Caleb Kennedy? South Carolina teen on 'American Idol' impresses judges with his 'storyteller's voice'
Caleb Kennedy's audition on 'American Idol' is about to play out on Sunday, March 7, night's episode. The show's official channel on YouTube has already posted his audition in advance and people who have watched it are in complete awe of this extremely young and raw artiste. It wouldn't be wrong to assume that he's one of the frontrunners for the winning title, the trophy, and that coveted recording contract.
'Idol' has the reputation of having the best of the best singers coming on to the show to try and establish themselves in the highly competitive music industry. However, there are times when a voice beyond all competition joins the show to give everyone else a run for their money, and from the audition and the responses he received from the judges, it looks like Caleb is that voice this season. Continue reading to know more about him.
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Who is Caleb Kennedy?
Caleb is a 16-year-old from Spartanburg, South California. He is a sophomore at Dorman High School and was invited to audition in front of the judges on October 28 by producers of the show after he bowled them over with Marshall Tucker Band's song 'Can't You See' and Luke Combs' song 'When it Rains it Pours'. Caleb had never been on an airplane before and flying to Ojai California for the auditions was his first time flying, according to a report.
What inspired Caleb Kennedy to turn to music?
Caleb was shattered when his parents decided to divorce each other and it was during this phase that he had lost a bit of himself. To cope up with the loss and the flood of emotions, he decided to turn to music which helped him rise from the tragedy. Caleb is very close to his mother who also appeared virtually during the auditions along with his stepfather to give him a pep talk.
What did Caleb Kennedy sing for his audition?
Apart from being a singer, he is also a songwriter and told the judges that he wrote music almost every day. He also confessed to the judges that he considered himself to be more of a songwriter than a singer. For the auditions, he sang one of his original songs titled 'Nowhere', the lyrics for which went, “Make money at a job that no one likes just to pay the bills and get by / Try to move on. Fight off my wrong / Hop in the truck / Just to go nowhere.”
Caleb's raspy tone immediately had the judges in awe but that was it, he had just finished a verse of the song and was in the process of writing the next one. Judges Luke Bryan and Katy Perry were more than happy to help him get a breakthrough for the next verse. “You’d better finish that song 'Nowhere' because that song’s gonna take you somewhere. You’ve got something real special," Katy said to Caleb.
"You’re a real songwriter but you’ve got a grit and gravel and crack in your voice that says ‘I’m in pain, someone please come save me through this song',” she added. “There’s a lot of people like you and a lot of people want to process whatever the heck they’re going through by listening to your music. If you want to change your reality the power is in your hands right there with that guitar," Katy further said.
Luke too assured Caleb, who had earlier confessed that he lacked self-confidence: "You ain’t the only kid out there that’s lacking self-confidence these days. Your voice tells a story far beyond a 16-year-old kid," Luke told him. Lionel Richie too had all good things to say to Caleb: "You have mastered. at the young age of 16, a storyteller’s voice." Caleb left the audition room with a golden ticket and will be seen in the Hollywood round next.
Caleb Kennedy wants his music to tell a story
Caleb performs at a lot of gigs around Spartanburg with his band and during one of those nights he chose to sing his originals 'That's My Papa' and 'Nowhere'. Speaking about the inspiration behind these, he said, "'Nowhere' is what got me to where I am now. When I write songs, I want to make somebody feel something. I don’t want to talk about drinking beer around bonfires. I want my music to tell a story."