DELFEST 2024 | 11-year-old singer's video goes viral

May 24—CUMBERLAND — When people click on a video of 11-year-old George Tyner singing, comments include things like "I didn't expect that," "His voice packs a wallop" and "Amazing."

And as far as comments go, there are plenty.

George's mother Jennifer Tyner recorded a clip of George singing at his middle school talent show in March and decided to post it to TikTok.

Within a couple of days the number of views soared past 1 million and now has reached 2.7 million — and that's not counting other social media platforms it's been posted to like YouTube, Instagram and Facebook.

This success has led to meetings scheduled with a major Nashville recording label.

George was in Cumberland this week with his father Joe, participating in his third DelFest Academy, which features three days of music instruction from some of the top artists performing at DelFest. Held at the Allegany County Fairgrounds, the DelFest bluegrass and Americana music festival kicked off Thursday and continues through Sunday.

"My mom wanted me to do the school's talent show," said George.

The Tyners live in Woodbridge, Virginia, where George is in the sixth grade at Benton Middle School in Manassas, Virginia.

"So I thought I might as well give it a try. Why not?" said George. "So I picked my favorite song, 'Something in the Orange,' by Zach Bryan."

The result was thunderous applause, which can be heard on the video. "He got a standing ovation," said Jennifer.

"The second it hit over a million views, everyone in my family knew it," said George. "Then after that the views kept on coming. After a week it hit 2 million; now it's up to 2.7 million."

What surprises listeners is the booming vocal that sounds like it would come from someone with years of life on the road behind them.

"His voice has dropped in the last year," said Jennifer Tyner. "Before, he still had a great tone but it was lighter and airy."

"It really started out when I was listening to people with deeper voices," said George. "So I kind of followed after them. Then I matured into a natural voice."

Joe said George showed a passion for music at a young age. His parents enrolled him in guitar lessons beginning at age 5.

"He picks up things really fast," said Jennifer Tyner. "We didn't have to ask him. He would play his guitar for hours."

George's passion is country. "He likes Zach Bryan, John R. Miller, Chris Stapleton, Colter Wall ... and loves Tyler Childers," said Joe Tyner. "Tyler is like Elvis to George."

"But I didn't have much to do with it other than taking him to the shows," said Joe. "When he was 5 years old we got tickets to go see Tyler Childers play.

"We brought George along and he sat there and he was in awe of Tyler. He asked his mother, 'Do people pay him to stand up there and sing?' You could almost see a light bulb go off in his head."

Joe Tyner said Childers noticed George and invited him backstage. That meeting began a friendship that has continued till today.

Childers has taken George under his wing and given him guitar lessons.

"Tyler and his whole crew have been so kind to George," said Joe Tyner. "George loves it. He has a passion for it."

The result of the viral video has the Tyners receiving a call from a major Nashville record label with a meeting set with the firm in the coming weeks.

To watch the video, visit https://www.tiktok.com/@george.tyner

Greg Larry is a reporter at the Cumberland Times-News. To reach him, call 304-639-4951, email glarry@times-news.com and follow him on Twitter @GregLarryCTN.