Ferndale Teen Luke Powell Earns Praise From Country Star Shaboozey in Nashville

At the Fox & Locke near Franklin, Tennessee last month, 16-year-old Ferndale musician Luke Powell stepped off the stage and into a conversation with Shaboozey, the country hip-hop artist whose "A Bar Song (Tipsy)" spent a record-tying 19 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The meeting traced back to a warm-up video filmed backstage at the Humboldt County Fair.

Record producers who spotted that footage last summer reached out to Powell with an invitation to Music City, arranging a trip that gave him access to two of Tennessee's most competitive rooms: the Bluebird Café and Fox & Locke. Both venues function as proving grounds for working songwriters rather than tourist showcases, and Powell performed at open mic nights alongside industry professionals at both. It was at Fox & Locke that he crossed paths with Shaboozey.

Powell arrived in Nashville as a self-taught musician who learned guitar online and built his early sound on two instruments: a vintage Martin guitar gifted by his aunt and a well-worn family piano at the Powell home in Ferndale. His local performance circuit provided the foundation. He had already played the Fortuna Chili Cook-Off, the Humboldt County Fair grandstands, and a set for approximately 10,000 students at the California FFA State Conference at Sacramento's Golden 1 Center. That track record had earned him an American Idol audition invitation before Nashville came calling.

Back home, Powell closed out March with a homecoming set at Tuyas Comida & Cantina on March 27, his first Humboldt County appearance since returning from Tennessee. He has been recording demos since the trip, putting the Nashville sessions to immediate practical use.

For Ferndale and the broader Humboldt County music community, the sequence carries a specific lesson. No publicist circulated the Humboldt County Fair footage. No prior industry contact was in place. A warm-up clip traveled on its own and reached producers with the leverage to fund a cross-country trip for a teenager who also plays baseball, basketball, and competed in high school rodeo.

Whether the demos surface as a release, and whether Nashville extends another invitation, will determine if the Fox & Locke appearance becomes a first chapter or simply the most remarkable entry so far on an already unusual local resume.