A 16-year-old boy could be the biggest singing sensation from Winchester, Virginia, since Patsy Cline.
Sherando High School junior Jake Kohn sang at the Grand Ole Opry over the weekend and signed a deal with Atlantic Records.
“I can’t explain my voice; I don’t know how that happened,” he said about his soulful vocals.
Jake’s great-grandmother gave him her old guitar when he was 10 years old. Within a year, he had learned to play and was performing for hundreds of people.
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“I was completely self-taught,” he said. “I taught myself the chords from a poster on my wall.”
Jake writes his own songs, many of which are sad.
“I think that that’s the most impactful music, is sad music, and I try to have my music be impactful and resonate with other people,” he said.
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In Nashville, he got a standing ovation at the iconic Grand Ole Opry.
“It was just overwhelming in a good way, it was overwhelming,” Jake said. “Very exciting.”
He is in the process of recording music that’ll come out later this year.
“If you can find a way to express yourself and create something that is impactful and people like it, it’s probably one of the coolest things you can do,” Jake said.
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