KEVIN SKINNER

Outback Concerts of Tennessee

Presents:

America’s Got Talent Winner

KEVIN SKINNER

Saturday October 30th, 2010

Time: 8:00 pm

Tickets: $25.00 plus $1.00 per ticket fee

THESE ARE HAPPY TIMES IN DUBLIN, KENTUCKY, A HAMLET OF ABOUT 200 IN
THE WESTERNMOST PART OF THE STATE. YES, THE RECESSION HAS HIT HERE AS
EVERYWHERE AND DISPOSABLE INCOME, ALWAYS MEAGER IN THIS FARMING
COMMUNITY, IS A LITTLE SHORTER THAN USUAL. BUT DUBLIN RESIDENT KEVIN
SKINNER WAS THE BIG WINNER IN THE SEPTEMBER 2009 AMERICAS GOT TALENT.
HE AND HIS WIFE KRISTEN RETURNED FROM THEIR TRIUMPH TO FIND EVERYONE
CELEBRATING THIS LOCAL SINGER-SONGWRITERS SUCCESS.
 PATRICK KEVIN SKINNER WAS BORN NEAR DUBLIN TO JACKLIN AND JOE
SKINNER ON FEB. 25, 1974. MUSIC WAS A PART OF FAMILY LIFE.
 HIS MOTHER JACKIE, LIKE HER HUSBAND A GUITARIST, SAYS SHE INSISTED
THAT ALL FOUR OF THE SKINNER CHILDREN GET MUSIC LESSONS. "I TOLD JOE
THE MUSIC LESSONS WOULD COST HIM LESS THAN ALIMONY," SHE SAYS.
 THE LESSONS TOOK. OLDEST SON RODNEY IS AN ACCOMPLISHED ACOUSTIC AND
ELECTRIC GUITARIST. SECOND SON MICHAEL WENT ON TO EARN A MASTERS
DEGREE IN PIANO AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME. DAUGHTER JENNIFER
SINGS BEAUTIFULLY AND WRITES.
 AND THEN THERES KEVIN, THE FOURTH CHILD. KEVIN SO LOVED SINGING AND
PLAYING ACOUSTIC AND ELECTRIC GUITAR THAT HE REFUSED TO GIVE UP ON HIS
DREAM OF MAKING A LIVING WITH HIS MUSIC. SO WHILE HE WORKED ON FARMS,
MOWED LAWNS AND CAUGHT CHICKENS AS DAY JOBS, HE WORKED NIGHTS, TOO. HE
FORMED A BAND, SKINNER AND FRIENDS, AND SANG AND PLAYED AT HILLS
BAR-B-QUE IN MAYFIELD AND WRANGLERS CAMPGROUND AT LAND BETWEEN THE
LAKES. HE DROVE THE TWO HOURS TO NASHVILLE TO SING AT OPEN MIC NIGHTS,
HOPING TO GET MORE JOBS. WHILE MAKING A LIVING FOR HIS WIFE AND TWO
CHILDREN, HE STILL PERFORMED HIS MUSIC. ALL THE WHILE, HE HAD THE
SUPPORT, AND OFTEN THE PARTICIPATION, OF HIS FAMILY.
 WHEN THE NBC REALITY SERIES AMERICAS GOT TALENT HELD AUDITIONS AT
HARRAHS IN NEARBY METROPOLIS, ILLINOIS, KEVIN ANSWERED THE CALL. IN
ILLINOIS, AND LATER IN LAS VEGAS AND HOLLYWOOD, HE MADE A LASTING
IMPRESSION. JUDGES AND AUDIENCES SAW THE PLAIN MAN IN THE STRAW HAT
AND JEANS, HEARD THE DOWN-HOME DIALECT OF WESTERN KENTUCKY, AND
PREPARED TO DISMISS KEVIN. BUT THAT WAS BEFORE HE SANG AND PLAYED.
 UNPRETENTIOUS AND OPEN, KEVIN DISPLAYED A REMARKABLE ABILITY TO MOVE
AN AUDIENCE WITH HIS SONGS. IN THE END, THAT QUALITY GARNERED HIM
MILLIONS OF VOTES FROM VIEWERS AND THE FIRST PRIZE. FANS TOOK HIM TO
THEIR HEARTS AND THEIR FACEBOOK PAGES, EVEN RAISING MONEY TO BUY HIM
AN EARLY 2009 CHRISTMAS GIFT: A $5,500 GUITAR.
 THROUGH IT ALL, KEVIN SKINNER REMAINS HUMBLE, STILL UNAFFECTED,
STILL SERIOUS ABOUT HIS MUSIC, STILL HOPING TO SHARE HIS TALENT WITH
AUDIENCES ALL OVER THE WORLD.