Turley Publications submitted photo

Nathaniel Kenyon, a 19-year-old North Brookfield native with hundreds of fans around south central Massachusetts, has been moving up the ranks and attracting a following on NBC's “America's Got Talent.”

Teen with local ties advances in ‘America’s Got Talent’

By Taryn Plumb

Turley Publications Reporter

NORTH BROOKFIELD - When they see the handsome, mop-haired teenager coming, girls shriek, ask for his autograph, and huddle close for pictures. There have been parades in his honor and sandwiches named after him; guitar companies have been calling for sponsorships. The 19-year-old has even been described as “the next Elvis.”

Yet not a month ago, North Brookfield native Nathaniel Kenyon was living unassumingly with his mother and four sisters in a small city in Georgia, working at a nursing home, singing when he could.

But then, the country discovered him.

Initially one in a teeming crowd of 70,000 aspirants, the local teenager has secured a spot as a semi-finalist on the popular NBC show “America's Got Talent” – with hundreds of area friends and relatives, including his grandfather Bill Kenyon of Brimfield, tuning in and casting votes.

For his grandfather, it's been a rewarding and pride-filled journey – and a vicarious one, too.

“I, like any young person, had a dream of making it big someday, but that day never came for me,” Bill Kenyon, who once pursued a country music career, explained in an email.

But, upon hearing that his grandson had made it onto the show, he noted that, “I can't tell you how proud I felt.”

For the past month or so, if you've found it difficult to get ahold of people on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, now you know why. Nathaniel Kenyon, with a legion of friends and family in Sturbridge, Brimfield, the Brookfields, Palmer, Monson – and elsewhere in south central Massachusetts – has been singing his way up TV rankings.

Judged by Sharon Osbourne, Howie Mandel and Piers Morgan and now in its fifth season, “America's Got Talent” pits a kaleidoscope of performers – including singers, dancers, magicians, martial artists, and various novelty acts like air guitarists and burlesque painters – against one another. Similar to “American Idol,” viewer votes then decide who gets eliminated and who stays to move on to the next round.

“It's crazy, so unbelievable, to see him on television,” said his aunt, Cyndi Olson of North Brookfield. And while watching, some have been just as rattled as him. “Everybody was so nervous,” Olson said of mass viewings of his recent appearances.

Kenyon, who moved from North Brookfield to Baxley, Georgia, five years ago, was one of more than 70,000 who initially tried out for the show. Although he's had no formal training – beyond participation in Long View Farm's Cool Kids Choir – he quickly advanced.

Through various rounds, the vast army of performers was chopped down into fractions: 2,000, then 120, then 48. Finally, 24 will remain for the semi-finals, and they will start competing in mid-August for 16 coveted spots in the finals.

In his handful of TV appearances so far, Kenyon has performed Matt Nathanson's “Come on Get Higher,” and Hinder's “Lips of an Angel,” eliciting loud cheers from the live crowd and smiles and accolades from the judges.

In fact, Osbourne – the MTV and VH1 personality and Ozzy Osbourne-tamer – told Kenyon he definitely had “something special,” and that “America Got it right” in voting him into the semi-finals.

Fans have also been gushing.

“I have seen a lot of talented singers and he will top 98 percent of them,” one poster asserted on the NBC show's site. Others noted his “presence,” and called him “cute, sweet,” or a “diamond in the rough.”

Meanwhile, his aunt recalled that he's always been “dramatic” and “outgoing,” and, “ever since I can remember, singing.” Also, she said, he has a “good, good heart.”

Indeed, up until his star turn, Kenyon worked at an elderly home in Georgia, and even volunteered his time to sing to residents on weekends.

As he noted during his televised audition – where the trio of judges pointed out his nervous, shaking hands – “music is a way to inspire people in a way that nothing else can.”

Overall, his decision to work in a nursing home was a gesture inspired by the attention and care his grandmother received before she succumbed to ALS (Lou Gehrig Disease) last year, Olson explained. “That really impacted Nathaniel,” she said.

That in mind, she contended, his goal isn't just to travel, record and become famous. Instead, he hopes to help out his mother and siblings, and also raise awareness of ALS.

In noting his philanthropic, generous spirit, his aunt recalled a story of a local girl with diabetes: A devout fan of his, she had to miss an appearance due to a hospital stay. Touched and moved, Kenyon sent an autographed picture and the handwritten message, “Feel better.”

“It's been crazy for him,” Olson said, “but he is pretty well-grounded. He really wants to do the good things.”

Others are proud for different reasons. His grandfather, for his part, recalled his stints several years ago singing with local country bands, performing at night clubs and on the radio station WARE.

Nathaniel, he said, is a “local boy that is trying to make his mark in music and so far is doing a great job. I am so proud. He is living my dream.”