“Last year, he (Jake) was picked on and bullied at school; so bad and to the point that he stopped going. Shortly after that, his dad passed away. He became very depressed and anxious and had zero confidence in himself. At some points, he thought about taking his own life,” Jake’s Mom, Sheri, said before she introduced him to the crowd.

“All of that began to change when he started to attend the school at The House of the Good Shepherd, Tilton School. He met this angel named Teresa Dunn, and she just wrapped her wings around Jake and showed him what he was capable of. She gave him the confidence to start working on his music. She made him start to smile again. She allowed him to look back and have his dreams and aspirations – that he had hoped before but had gone away – to reemerge.”

On Monday, August 12, our very own Shepherd Star Jake performed at this year’s Levitt AMP Utica Music Series as the youth intermission singer at Kopernik Park in Utica! This is the fourth year that Utica has been awarded the competitive Levitt AMP Grant Award from the Levitt Foundation in Los Angeles and the second year that they have included singers affiliated with The House in their line up. The Levitt Foundation empowers communities to transform their underused public spaces into welcoming destinations where the power of FREE, live music brings people together and invigorates community life. It is about creating community and human connection.

Jake performed “Titanium” by David Guetta and “Lovely” by Billie Ellish in between Utica’s Ladies of Soul and Kaleta & Super Yamba Band in front of over 800 people. Jake received a STANDING OVATION for his performance, and when the hostess of the evening asked how he felt standing in front of all those people, Jake answered, “Special.”

He also had another boost of fame as he signed autographs for his new fans. We would like to thank Michelle Truett for inviting Jake to perform. Great job Jake!

WATCH JAKE’S PERFORMANCE HERE (and feel free to share it!)