Teenage Tyler Childers. It’s always great to see videos of country music stars before they hit it big, and this clip is no exception. Below you’ll see a video of a 16-year-old Childers singing what I’m assuming is an original song (props to him for penning this one at such a young age, if he did), and it’s absolutely glorious. How did this video come to be? Well, the “Lady May” singer grew up in the hollers of Lawrence County, which is in the Eastern Kentucky Coalfield region of the state. He then moved to Johnson County and lived there, graduating from Paintsville High School in 2009. Before even getting his high school diploma, he was exploring his musical talent and showcasing it here and there. Like with this event in 2007 that was referred to as “Big Sandy Idol.” If you are assuming that’s some sort of singing competition, you’d be correct. It was basically a local version of American Idol, and Tyler Childers chose to show off his talent on stage at the young age of 16. On one hand, it’s crazy to watch this footage and connect it with the country music megastar. On the other hand… there’s no doubt this is Childers, as his mannerisms and vocal control align perfectly with the Tyler that we know today. Everyone has to start somewhere, right? The 7-time Grammy nominee and the owner of Platinum and Gold albums (as well as multiple Platinum singles) evidently got started with “Big Sandy Idol.” I doubt this 16-year-old would have ever dreamed of selling out massive venues night after night, and being widely regarded as one of the greatest singer-songwriters in modern country music. And to add to that, I’m sure everyone that was there that day and heard Tyler Childers’ performance had absolutely no idea that they were witnessing the humble beginnings of one of country music’s brightest stars. The talent was undoubtedly there from the very beginning. An account that calls themselves “Tyler Childers Fans” recently shared the rare footage online, saying: “When Tyler Childers was just 16 years old, he was already getting his music career started. This video is from 2007 when Tyler was auditioning for ‘Big Sandy Idol,’ a local Kentucky talent show. You can still hear the resemblance and that old Childers sound today.” According to an old program from the performance, the song appears to be titled “My Name”: Not bad for a high school kid. His stage presence has gotten a whole lot better over the years, and it’s funny to see some old habits are still sticking around. Vocally he’s improved tremendously (as you would expect), but he still has a tendency to hold that right hand down near his belt-buckle in the modern day when he’s singing… just like he did when he was 16-years-old. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. Rather, it’s fascinating to see what stuck and what didn’t for Tyler Childers. I know it probably hurts some out there to say this, but 2007 was a long, long time ago. Nearly two decades later, it’s cool to be able to look back and see that Tyler Childers still deploys some of the same techniques that he did as a high schooler. For young Tyler’s sake, I hope he won “Big Sandy Idol” that year…The post WATCH: A 16-Year-Old Tyler Childers Proves He Was Destined For Stardom In Rare Clip From 2007 Talent Show first appeared on Whiskey Riff.