J. P. Cormier
As a child he displayed an unusual ability to play a variety of instruments by ear and won a guitar contest at age nine.[2] Cormier has stated that he learned to play guitar by listening to such noted country / bluegrass musicians as Chet Atkins and Doc Watson.By age sixteen Cormier had recorded his first album (a collection of bluegrass instrumentals)[2] and he began working the U.S. festival circuit.He continued to perform live on the festival circuit and at the Grand Ole Opry[3] with country artists Waylon Jennings, Marty Stuart, Earl Scruggs, Bill Monroe and others.The song, inspired by Cormier's 2007 Afghanistan tour and news about soldiers' suicides,[1] went viral, with millions of Facebook visits and 800,000 YouTube views (July 2015).