Lenoir City’s Ethan Vincil relishes moments on the Grand Ole Opry stage, solidifying his path in the country music industry
Lenoir City native Ethan Vincil found his voice while singing in church. By middle school, he had learned guitar and his connection to music began to click. He would come home from school and practice for hours. “I’d pic until my fingers bled,” Ethan says.
Things weren’t always straight forward for him, though. At the age of 10, Ethan was diagnosed with a mild form of autism, attention deficit disorder, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. It was a lot to work through, but the music seemed to help. Ethan would eventually get up on stage at the age of 14 for his first performance, finding support from his hometown crowd. “It was different getting in front of people,” he recalls. “I’ve worked through a lot, though, and I’ve gotten a lot better.”
When Ethan eventually began dabbling in songwriting, it was the sounds of country music outlaws like Waylon Jennings that came to the forefront. “His music and [the] words of [his] songs really spoke to me,” Ethan says, as did those of Don Williams.
In late 2022, Ethan found himself on the Grand Ole Opry stage in Nashville at The Josie Music Awards, an event focused exclusively on the independent music industry. There he accepted the Country Music Single of Year award for his single, “Lonesome Drifter’s Son,” which he released earlier that year. “Walking across that stage, you know legends stood there,” Ethan says, “It was just overwhelming.”
This past October, Ethan brought home a second Josie award, this time for Country Rock/Southern Rock Vocalist of the Year, making all the hard work that much more worth it.
You can follow Ethan’s journey at ethanvincilmusic.net.