American Idol contestant Alex Miller, a 17 year old from Lancaster, Kentucky, wowed country music fans when his performance of original song "I'm Over You, So Get Over Me" earned him a golden ticket to Hollywood.
Videos by Wide Open Country
If you can't get enough of the audition that floored Luke Bryan and earned thumbs up from Lionel Richie and Katy Perry, check out Miller's YouTube account, which features video clips of performances dating back to his pre-teen years as "Little Hank."
For example, a cover of Hank Williams' "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" was uploaded to YouTube after Miller's initial Idol appearance. Miller brings country twang and down-home charm as he sounds like both a local radio DJ and a throwback country singer. It's among several videos of old country favorites, with other clips including a live rendition of the song Miller sang on Idol as a duet with Bryan, Merle Haggard's "Big City."
For a taste of how well his vocal style suits the work of bluegrass giants and Nashville greats, check out Miller's medley of Jimmy Martin's "Freeborn Man," the Stanley Brothers' "Mountain Dew," Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys' "San Antonio Rose," Ernest Tubb's "Walking the Floor Over You" and Flatt & Scruggs' "Roll in My Sweet Baby's Arms."
A clip from 2020 for the Garrard County FFA chapter spotlights Miller's promise as a songwriter with the original tune "There's Always More Fish Out in the Sea."
According to a 2020 feature in Miller's hometown newspaper, he first performed publicly outside of church at age 4, singing Josh Turner's "Me and God" at the Garrard County Fair. At age 7, he appeared as part of downtown Lancaster's Tobacco Festival.
The real gems on Miller's YouTube channel have to be clips from his 2014 Renfro Valley debut. Each clip proves that Miller was ready to wow audiences by age 10. Plus, we get to see what the 6'5" farm boy looked like as a young 'un.
"Farm boy" isn't just a rural cliche when talking about Miller, who also answers to Kentucky Kowboy. He earned that label the old-fashioned way.
"I've grown up around Garrard County and the farming community," he told the Garrard Central Record. "My first word was 'tractor.' It's always been special to me -- a way to escape and go out and work and stay in shape. I've learned a lot through farming -- how to work hard and do things on your own. It's transitioned over into my musical career and aspirations."
Read More: Carrie Underwood Announces Track List For Gospel Album 'My Savior,' Shares 'Softly and Tenderly'
Looping back to "I'm Over You, So Get Over Me," Miller sang the original song about an ex-girlfriend during the 2019 Pigeon Forge Path to Fame talent competition.
If Miller's old flame didn't know about the song after he sang it in the Smoky Mountains, she certainly caught wind of him performing it on ABC.
"She did reach out, and we had a nice, long conversation," Miller said during an appearance on On Air With Ryan Seacrest. "She was very supportive, though. She said she was very proud of me, and I thanked her for breaking my heart."
Hopefully, she's still a sport if Miller gets to sing the song that's changed his life on the Grand Ole Opry stage.
Now Watch: Craig Morgan Leaves Blake Shelton and Kelly Clarkson in Tears With 'The Father, My Son and the Holy Ghost'
https://rumble.com/embed/u7gve.v62i19/
