Who Is Kris Jones? 'Tennessee Whiskey' Dad's Videos Going Viral
It took less than 10 days for Kris Jones' cover of "Tennessee Whiskey" to hit 25 million combined views on Facebook and YouTube, and there's no sign of it slowing down. Country music fans and the world are asking the same question of the "Tennessee Whiskey" dad. Who is he?
Taste of Country has answers. The previously unknown singer is a 38-year-old from Alvarado, Texas and yes, that is his daughter in the front seat looking on with admiration as he sings a song most recently made famous by Chris Stapleton. She's 15 years old, and one of three kids Jones shares with his wife Destinie. They also have an 18-year-old son and younger daughter.
His family is important, because without them none of this would have happened. During a Facebook Live video shot days after the "Tennessee Whiskey" cover was first posted to Facebook, Jones and his wife reveal he had no idea she was sharing it socially. He's understandably blown away by the response. The shy, hard-working Texan is eager to pursue a career in music, but it hadn't happened for him until now because he put family obligations first. Jones did grow up singing gospel music in church, and proves it with a cover of "Amazing Grace" during the 30-minute-long video.
He's a student of country music as well as old soul artists like Sam Cooke. You can get him to sing Garth Brooks and Keith Urban fairly easily, and he'll share original songs. During the video he shares one called "Mean Like Fire" as his oldest song Traelon plays guitar. The video was shot from a local steakhouse because they don't have a great internet signal where they live.
Fans are urging Jones to try out for NBC's hit reality show The Voice, something he's already done. They didn't accept him. So until now his "career" has included singing in his truck or work van, something he's done several times since his first video started to become popular. Covers of Stapleton's "Whiskey and You" and Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Simple Man" have hundreds of thousands of views thus far. It's not clear what he does for a living, but he says he travels for contract work.
Watch: 6 Unforgettable Chris Stapleton Moments
Next: Watch Kris Jones' 'Tennessee Whiskey' Cover
Filed Under: Kris Jones, TOC News
Categories: Country Music News, Exclusive Videos, Exclusives