By Mike Romero
The last time we covered Jacob Khalil, we shared his journey from scrounging for gigs in Utah to singing backup for Sam Smith on national TV. Talk about a glow up! The year since then has seen the release of Khalil’s first single “Rest Of My Life (ROML)” back in January and a slew of other opportunities as a musician in New York.
This month marks a homecoming of sorts, with Khalil returning to the Mountain West as the opener for Jake Scott’s performance on May 17 at BYU-I’s Center Stage concert series. Much like its sister school here in Provo, BYU-I hosts a number of music events each semester for students and community members. In addition to Jake Scott, other headlining acts for the spring series have included Emmy and Tony Award-winning actress and singer Kristin Chenoweth as well as an upcoming performance from American Idol winner William “Iam” Tongi in June. (As much as we here at Provo Music Magazine like to brag about Utah being the music capital of the Mountain West, we have to admit we’re a bit jealous!)
Although Idaho is a slightly different performance environment than the NYC crowds Khalil is more accustomed to, he’s still excited for the performance next Friday. The venue seats 3,000 people, making it the largest potential audience Khalil has performed his own original music for. “I can hear the ‘Na Na Na’s’ already,” he laughed. The size of the crowd shouldn’t affect the performance too much though, as Khalil already plenty proved his nerves of steel during the aforementioned performance backing Sam Smith on SNL.
Besides this brief return to the West, Khalil is looking forward to his many opportunities back east. Between gigs at rooftop concerts and iconic venues in the city, there’s always something exciting happening for him. He also teased the release of a new song, titled “Gemini,” sometime in the near future. “I cannot WAIT for you to hear this one,” he wrote.
You can find tickets and more information on Jake Scott and Jacob Khalil’s performance at BYU-I here. Be sure to also follow Jacob Khalil on Instagram and check out his song “Rest Of My Life (ROML)” below!