The first time you hear Coleman Jennings ’20 sing, you could easily believe that his richly resonant, slightly melancholic baritone belongs to a country crooner from a bygone era. “This voice just came out of me—there’s no other explanation than that,” says the rising star, who, at just 25 years old, recently signed a major deal with Big Loud Texas and Mercury Records. “I had been singing my entire life, but I was always stuck in a choir voice. All of a sudden, I was able to sing differently, and I’ve just kept doing it.”

      Growing up, Jennings says, music was a constant presence. He and his sister took voice lessons and performed in children’s shows from an early age. But it wasn’t until he arrived at Taft that music became his primary focus. “All I did was play guitar. I would play in the morning, at lunch, and in the 30 minutes between the end of classes and the start of sports. I pretty much played music and did homework,” he says.

      At the same time, Jennings steeped himself in the music of past greats, counting among his most important musical idols Blaze Foley, Townes Van Zandt, Gordon Lightfoot, Jim Croce, and Merle Haggard—artists he says “actually lived the lives they sang about.” 

      Enrolling in the University of Texas at Austin, Jennings carried his love of music with him. He performed in a country cover band for a year before starting a new group to play his own original music, headlining concerts all over campus and becoming a hit on social media. To date, he has more than 200,000 followers across TikTok and Instagram alone.

      Inspired by the incomparable artists who came before him, Jennings describes his style as “an old style, but not necessarily on purpose, just because that’s what I love—no effects, no Auto-Tune, no overproduction. I just want to keep it real, keep it pointed toward truth.”

      Clearly, his music struck a chord with audiences. As a junior at UT Austin, Jennings secured a manager, and by 2025, he had recorded his first major album with Big Loud Texas and Mercury Records. Slated for release later this year, the album was doubly meaningful as it marked his first collaboration with legendary music producer Dave Cobb, whose illustrious list of clients also includes Chris Stapleton, Jason Isbell, and Brandi Carlile. “The first time I met him, it felt like I already knew him. We had the exact same ideas on art and music. We recorded the whole album in just four days,” Jennings says.

      At the same time, Jennings expanded his tour schedule beyond college students, crisscrossing the country to play for ever-increasing crowds—including one memorable night in Lubbock, Texas, when he opened for Willie Nelson in front of nearly 15,000 people.

      But as gratified as he is by his growing success, Jennings hopes his art gains him more than just fame and fortune. “Life is about more than money, and I think you can tell when a human being writes a piece of music for the sake of something other than the music,” he says. “More than anything, I want to stay true to myself and pursue making good art. Because ultimately that’s what all great art does: it points toward truth.”