August 15, 2009

  • Response to Examiner Review

    http://www.examiner.com/x-12169-Americas-Got-Talent-Examiner~y2009m8d4-The-Top-40-in-review-36-Ke

     i just had to add my 2 cents...

    the writer of that article says  

    "It’s almost hard to believe that someone really could fit the southern stereotype that accurately.

    This is worth mentioning because, all things considered, his actual performance was not particularly exciting. It was good, but hardly seems befitting the start of a web sensation.
    In other words, people like Kevin Skinner for his personality before his talent. Skinner is the very definition of a simple modest country boy, something millions of Americans enjoy thinking of themselves as being.
    He is therefore also the literal definition of a spoiler contestant. He cannot compare to the big three, but with a big drop-off between the third and fourth most talented in the 40, he may already have one foot into the finale. Skinner’s success will only be impeded by the influence of Simon Cowell and America’s faith in the wild cards."



    One of the more interesting ways of seeing how Skinner's music affects people is to read deeply into the comments on the youtube videos. A closet sociologist, i've read almost all 12,000+ of them (and would love to preserve them as an historical document, but google currently has no way to do that....)

    Over and over, people write of their connection with the emotion in his voice, that he made them cry, that they dislike country music but would gladly purchase any music he records, country or not, for there is something there, unique to him (many comments report having listened to Garth Brooks, for instance, and finding his version of If Tomorrow Never Comes lacking in comparison). 

    Sure, we idealize small town/rural ways and people, and there is that element of appeal. 

    However, I think it is his ability to connect, his what I call in "Kevin Skinner, One Man, One Guitar..." the "high lonesome sound" that reaches into people, moving them, often to tears.