Fourteen-year-old Connor Ray never planned on performing live in front of a crowd, but within hours of singing his own clean version of Zach Bryan’s “Revival”in his church, he found himself on stage at an open mic night, capturing the attention of a packed room in Little Nashville, Ill.
The teen, who had never performed publicly with a guitar before, took a risk turning a quiet, personal hobby into a shared moment that earned loud applause, encouragement from strangers, and even an invitation to join a local band.
Ray’s journey into music began long before he ever picked up a guitar. As a child, he performed in local theater productions like “Beauty and the Beast” and “Carousel,” where his love for singing started to grow. Ray also began sharing clips of his music on TikTok. His raw, acoustic style quickly gained online attention, earning positive feedback and growing a small but supportive following in just a week. It became a space for him to build confidence, connect with others, and track his progress along the way, he said.
“I always liked the singing parts,” Ray said. “And I was lucky to have a great music teacher helping me along the way.”
Earlier this year, inspired by Bryan’s music, Ray started teaching himself guitar. He said he devoted hours to learning chords and lyrics, just for fun at first.
That changed in February, when he decided to perform a clean, rewritten version of “Revival” during a Sunday church service.
“The crowd really liked it,” Ray said. “One of the members gave me a tip and said, ‘Anyone that can make me feel like I’m sitting in Nashville while sitting in Illinois deserves a tip.’ That’s when I thought I might as well give it a shot.”
Later that day, Ray’s family encouraged him to sign up for the open mic on June 22 at Little Nashville. He took the stage and performed “Heading South” and “Letting Someone Go.” Despite his lack of experience, the crowd responded.
“People were talking at their tables at first,” Ray said. “But then I noticed they stopped and started looking at the stage. At one point, everyone was just staring at me and smiling.”
The moment felt surreal, Ray said, especially when the crowd burst into applause after the MC discovered it was his first solo performance — and that he was only 14. After the show, audience members approached him with compliments, and one teen even invited him to join a band.
Since then, Ray has continued practicing and performing, but he’s also realistic about his future. He isn’t planning for a career in music, but instead hopes to study to be a radiologic technician. However, music will always be a part of his life, he said.
The biggest challenge so far, Ray said, has been overcoming stage fright. Performing in local plays gave him some experience, but playing solo is a different story.
“When I performed in plays, there were 20 or 30 people on stage,” he said. “If I made a mistake, it was hidden. But this was just me.”
Once he heard the audience’s applause, though, his fear turned to excitement, and he longed for his next time on stage. The experience changed how he sees himself, Ray said.
“Once I took that leap to go on stage, I knew I had crossed into a new level of confidence,” Ray said. “I found that I’m able to share something I love with people — and it seems to make them happy.”
For others thinking about putting themselves out there, Ray keeps it simple: “Just have fun with it. Don’t be too worried about what people think. Take the time to practice and constantly work on improving.”
–July 9, 2025–
