The popular TV show “America’s Got Talent” has a penchant for discovering treasures in the rough. And indeed, Kevin Skinner seems to suit the bill. Everyone, both the live audience and the judges, chuckle as soon as this seemingly “hillbilly” opens his lips…

Anyone who heard him speak would think he came directly from the woods to the stage, with no breaks in between. They expected to see fiddles, feuds, and jugs of moonshine at any minute.

The crowd roars when he explains his work as a chicken catcher, noting humbly that he’d occasionally collect hundreds of birds in a single day. The judges are skeptical, but they push him to continue his show.

As Skinner demonstrates his skills as a singer and guitarist, the audience’s polite and possibly suspicious quiet eventually evolves into astonishment. The crowd and judges are blown away by Skinner’s performance, which makes jaws drop and the house shake. 

“There’s a time in every season, I can remember them all, when someone walks on stage dressed as you are; your cap’s on the wrong way around, and you know, we’re all thinking, ‘This is going to be a huge car accident…’,” says one of the judges. And you’ve had me in about twenty seconds. And towards the conclusion, it was one of the most emotionally charged, intense performances I’d seen in a long time. ”

The other judges were equally impressed. Kevin Skinner is affected by their appreciation, as well as the overwhelmingly positive response he received from the live crowd. Now watch and be blown away by Kevin Skinner’s incredible, heartfelt performance: