American Idol is ready to come out swinging, eh?
The 23rd season if American Idol is set to premiere on March 9th, and ABC is giving fans a little preview of what we can expect. Of course, country music superstar, and former American Idol winner, Carrie Underwood, will be judging this year, alongside the great Lionel Richie and fellow country music star, Luke Bryan.
And right out of the gate, their hitting us right in the feels with a gut-wrenching performance from a 17 year old kid from Georgia.
Slater Nalley was introduced to the judges by his high school English teacher, Mrs. Davis, and while normally I don’t care all that much about the backstory… Slater’s was integral to the song. You see, eight years ago Mrs. Davis’ young son tragically passed away, and then she wrote a little poem in her grieving process. One of her talented students was able to turn it into a song, and then walk into an American Idol audition in Atlanta, Georgia.
Mrs. Davis said:
“Slater had heard the story about my son, and I had written a poem, and in the second year that I taught him I asked, ‘Would you mind looking at the poem, I would love to see what your thoughts are and how you turn a poem into a song.’ So he did and 2 weeks later he wrote the song and that’s what he’s gonna sing today.”
When Slater came in and met the judges, he gave his side of the story:
“This song is called ‘Traces Of You,’ I wrote it for Carter Davis. It is 100% the most deep thing I have ever written about. I didn’t know Carter before any of this happened and when Mrs. avis told us I just felt this presence come into my life essentially, and I knew that I needed to do something. I went home and started working away on little notebook pages and eventually it turned into a song.”
Mrs. Davis adds that the song gave her a new sense of hope after his passing:
“To not have known Carter and to write this song… it captured Carter, it captured “Oh, there’s that person that I wish was still in my life,’ just our faith that carries us. And then, it felt like there was light and hope in the middle of it too.”
Here’s a quick look at the lyrics:
In the dark night you always found the sun
One look at you and I just come undone
Now you visit me in shadows, I can’t reach and I can’t run
In the dark night you always found the sun
A moment breaks and you appear
For a second I swear you’re still standing right here
I’d give anything for love to be enough to make it true
As a memory come racing into view
Of these traces of you
Needless to say, Slater had all three judges tearing up, but Carrie Underwood in particular, a mother to a couple young boys, was in need of a Kleenex.
Check it out:
Right? I mean, as the father of two youngsters under 3… I can’t even fathom it. I’m gutted.
Carrie, fighting back the tears, said “I’m not ok,” and then followed up by saying:
“Even though this was about your son, every single person hat hears that can fill in that memory with someone that’s in themselves, and I can’t imagine you doing that any better.”
Of course, Luke is no stranger to loss himself… he tragically lost his older brother, Chris, in a car accident in 1996 and his sister, Kelly, in 2007. And then Kelly’s husband, Luke’s brother-in-law, passed away in 2014. Luke and his wife Caroline took in their 3 children and have raised them since.
it goes without saying, but Slater deservedly punched his ticket to Hollywood.
And if you want to hear more from him, his Instagram page features covers of Sturgill Simpson, Tyler Childers, Zach Bryan and more. I’ve been in this business a long time, but I think it’s safe to say that American Idol or no American Idol, the dude is going places.
Watch him sing the Tyler Childers fan favorite, “Shake The Frost.”
