Scott Collier had some advice for the young Texan standing on Thomas Caldwellstage with the guitar. 

It was a little before 11 a.m. on a Monday morning in July and the third floor of Kid Rock's Big Ass Honky Tonk Rock N' Roll Steakhouse in Nashville, Tennessee, was quiet.

“You got some pretty eyes,” said Collier, a longtime Lower Broadway frontman and guitar player. “People like to see your eyes. You got to connect with your audience, but it's hard to connect whenever you’re so focused and have your eyes squinting like that.”

The young man with the pretty eyes was Solon Holt, who moments ago had closed his eyes in concentration while singing “Tennessee Whiskey" to harness the full power of a voice that sounded much older and wiser than its 19-year-old owner.