Jackson Snelling: A Harmony of Music and Advocacy

Amelia: [00:00:38] Today's guest is 18 year old storyteller singer songwriter Jackson Snelling from Austin, Indiana. He recently won the video of the year in Nashville at the Josie music awards for his video of “If I only Knew”.  You may have also recently seen his audition in front of the celebrity judges on American idol.

Welcome to the show, Jackson. Thank you so much [00:01:00] for being with me today. Let's start with American idol. What an experience to have an opportunity to audition in front of the judges. What were you feeling in that moment? 

Jackson: [00:01:10] And that very moment, I'm not going to lie. I was, I was nervous.

I've been auditioned for American idol three times, and that was my first time making it to that point and to just be there and knowing like, Walking through those doors, the celebrity judges are on the other side, just insane. A very surreal experience. 

Amelia: [00:01:31] That's an opportunity that I know that a lot of people can only dream of.

Jackson: [00:01:35] Yeah. And I mean, I, it's still surreal to me. I can't believe I still got the chance to do that. It was incredible.

Amelia: [00:01:42] Well, it was really great audition. I still think that you should have gone through.

Jackson: [00:01:47] Oh, thank you, 

Amelia: [00:01:50] Jackson. Let's go back to the beginning. Can you share a little bit about you and your brother Dawson and your background?

Jackson: [00:01:57] Of course. So [00:02:00] I started singing when I was about three. My brother, he could not talk, he couldn't lift his tongue due to medical reasons. He was born like that. So he wasn't able to talk. So my mom and me and my dad had to learn sign language and so did Dawson to communicate. And we would sign to Dawson and I started singing in sign.

My brother has a form of autism and he's on the lower end of the spectrum. So he functions at about a nine year old level. And he's 20 this year. He’ll be 21 actually. And I also have autism, but it's more so on the behavioral side of things.

So it was really hard for me to keep my temper. He would have meltdowns every so often. And I would sing and sign and I do that even now.

And it helps calm him down. 

[00:03:00] Amelia: [00:03:00] That's really great. You know, I know that there are many people listening who may have children in similar situations, or maybe even experiencing it themselves. Can you talk more about your personal journey with autism? 

Jackson: [00:03:16] My personal journey with autism. Growing up with, it was probably for a long time.

I did not want to admit that I had autism because I was embarrassed, but I thought it made me different and not in a good way, at least that's how I seen it for a long, long time. Until. And not 2018 when this whole like music journey like blew up, like my music video for Please Listen, it exploded.

And I got thrown into like the media and in an interview, I, I revealed that I had autism and I was really shy about it. At first. I was nervous about saying that. But [00:04:00] I got a lot of love and support from everywhere. And it made me realize that autism isn't something you should be ashamed of. It's something you should own and you shouldn't let it hold you back from achieving your dreams, you know?

Amelia: [00:04:15] Yeah, absolutely. Right. And I think it's important that you do share your story, you know, because you are Showing people that they can relate to you and your experiences. And I think that that's really important. You lost your father when you were just six years old.

First of all, I'm really deeply sorry for that loss and the pain that, that created. How did that impact your life? Losing him when you were just such a young boy? 

Jackson: [00:04:42] It impacted my family quite a lot, impacted me a lot. We spent a lot of time with our dad when we were younger. He worked a lot, but when he came home, he spent every waking hour playing with us with our action figures and everything.

And. He was [00:05:00] just so very major part of me. And when he passed away it like it put me in shock. I got what you would call a mental block and it blocks me even now from accessing certain memories of him. So when like my mom will be talking about him and she'll reference something. In my head, I'll remember it, but he won't be in it and I'll be like my mom and my brother, like he's blanked out entirely.

So it affected me on a mental level like that. And then as far as like a physical level, it was just, it, it was a lot. I started trying to find ways to take care of my mom, my brother, and all the ways that I could and he helped inspire, Please Listen. I mean, he, I think he, him passing is a huge reason why I got into songwriting in the first place to [00:06:00] try to find a healthy way to cope with it.

Amelia: [00:06:03] So you think you found your strength through your music? How did you balance life with everything almost being thrown at you at once?

Jackson: [00:06:17] With everything going on and trying to balance , balance was achieved essentially through music. Like anytime I felt overwhelmed which happens quite a bit, especially now with everything going on. I sit down on my piano and I Essentially start songwriting about how I'm feeling.. get it down on paper. And I, I found that helps a lot. 

Amelia: [00:06:40] You wrote the song, Please Listen about your father, which is what you sang on American idol. Can you tell me more about that song and, and what led to you writing that song? 

Jackson: [00:06:53] Of course. So essentially my brother With him having autism and [00:07:00] function in such a low, low level. He he couldn't comprehend deaths. So after dad passed away whether it be on his birthday for Christmas holidays, he come up to me or mom and say, Hey, do you think you think dad could come stop by for my birthday? Hey dad, Hey, do you think dad could come, you know, and see us on Christmas?

And this would happen every year. And I would have to say, Hey man, like, Hey buddy dad's just not coming back home. He, he passed away. Remember then we'd have to remind him. So one day I think it was my birthday. Dawson asked if a dad told me my birthday and I had to tell him that dad wasn't coming home.

And that night, I don't know why I was so emotional. I came downstairs, my grand piano and I just started balling. And as I was crying, I was singing how I felt. [00:08:00] And that's literally how I wrote Please Listen. I wrote, Please Listen in five minutes because it was just five minutes of me singing, how I felt.

And then my mom heard it and came down and she started crying and she was like, Did you write all that? And I said, yes. She said, we're gonna, we're gonna try to get it recorded. That's how Please Listen came to me.

Amelia: [00:08:24] How old were you then?

Jackson: [00:08:25] I was. 15 when I wrote it. 

Amelia: [00:08:31] Wow. Wow. You also have another song that has gained a great deal of attention for not only the lyrics, but also the music video.

Can you tell me about If I Only Knew? 

Jackson: [00:08:44] Yes. If I Only Knew, I wrote about a really close friend of mine who tragically took his own life And it's the title is about like he, my friend, he seemed to have everything. [00:09:00] He always carried himself All right. He had friends, he had like a lot of friends, family, a very talented person, and he was the happiest guy you'd ever meet in your life.

So when it happened and I got that call, I couldn't believe it. Sometimes I still can't believe it. So, but essentially it's like, If I Only Knew what he was going through. I felt like I could have done something about it. So I wrote a song about how I was feeling and after the song was done and we recorded it, we reached out on my fan page to people.

We made a post and we asked people to mail in pictures of loved ones they've lost to suicide and if they wanted to be in the music video, they could come out and we filmed and we expected like 10, maybe 15 people, but like around 50 ish, people show up with all these pictures of loved ones [00:10:00] that have passed a suicide and their ages.

They span from seven years old to 54. And it was one of the most tragic, yet amazing things you ever want to see because when you lose somebody like that, you feel like you have no one to talk to and no one can relate to how you're feeling. But when we all gathered in that, in that church, it was almost like we didn't feel so alone anymore and everybody was sharing their stories and it was, it was beautiful.

Amelia: [00:10:34] Wow. With all of the struggles that you've been through. If you could say anything to our listeners that may be facing similar challenges, what would you say? 

Jackson: [00:10:47] I would say that everything always gets better. It's going to take time and I know that some days it feels like it won't. [00:11:00] But just keep your head up and keep pushing through, because there's a light at the end of the tunnel and you're destined for better days.

Amelia: [00:11:09] So true. Do you have a favorite quote or a saying that you live by? 

Jackson: [00:11:14] Because say that I live by essentially it's a quote or I've said about a lot of interviews for if I only knew and suicide awareness in general. That if you're having those thoughts and thinking about anything like that that it's a permanent fix to a temporary problem.

Amelia: [00:11:35] What's next for you? 

Jackson: [00:11:39] What's next for me, I've just, just releasing more original music. I'm about to start traveling again for my shows from performing. I plan on auditioning for American idol again. So we'll see how that goes, but just be prepared to hear a lot of new original music for me. 

[00:12:00] Amelia: [00:12:00] And where can our listeners find you online? 

Jackson: [00:12:03] So I have an Instagram, which is my last name and my first, so Snelling Jackson. But if you want to have access to all my social medias, the easiest way is to go to www.jacksonsnelling.com

And it has links to all of my socials. If you want to follow me on there.

Amelia: [00:12:19] I will also link to all of that under this episode on VoicesofInspirationpodcast.com  And you're going to sing for us today, right? 

Jackson: [00:12:28] Yes, ma'am. Okay. So I had what you want to hear the full song of Please Listen?

Amelia: Absolutely

 Jackson: Okay.

 Amelia: [00:18:25] Thank you for sharing that. That was so beautiful. Thank you so much, Jackson, for joining me today and being so open to sharing your story. I think it's so important and I think that you are incredibly inspiring and I I have no doubts that you're going to do great things. 

Thank you to our listeners. There are hundreds of thousands of podcasts out there, and I'm just so grateful that you've chosen to join us. My name is Amelia and I'm your host of [00:19:00] Voices of Inspiration. Everyone has a story to tell. What's yours?