MANKATO — To say Carol Nelson is excited as she awaits a Sunday showing of “American Idol” doesn’t touch on the real story, doesn’t come close to her emotional bond to a certain scheduled contestant.
Her nephew Sam Kelly-Cohen, who’ll turn 24 in June, is set to perform and compete on the Feb. 25 episode of ABC-TV’s long-running reality singing competition. And to let her west Mankato neighbors know, she and husband Greg adorned their garage door with the news.
“Go Sam!” appears in large letters on the Nelsons’ garage door, proudly encouraging neighbors and others to watch Sunday’s show. Kelly-Cohen is expected to go by his performance name, Kayko, she says.
But like many auditioning during the show’s 22-year history, there’s a deeper story. Five years ago, Kelly-Cohen’s mother and Carol’s sister, Annie Kelly, died unexpectedly. The Nelsons’ nephew, who had been an undergraduate student at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, was devastated, as was Carol, who was asked to step in and help guide her “nephson” through the grief journey.
Kelly-Cohen had previously graduated from North Broward Preparatory School in 2018, near where he and his mother lived in the Fort Lauderdale, Florida, area. A gifted musician, the young indie artist launched his debut album at age 18 and was off for the east coast.
But his mom’s death stunned family members. Carol stepped in as her sister had wanted, and Kelly-Cohen grew to be what the Nelsons soon called their “nephson.”
“He’s like one of us,” Carol says. “He’s like family.”
Greg adds: “He’s a great kid.”
Still, it has been a deep and emotional commitment to their nephew and the Nelsons’ two children and four grandchildren. Carol’s a longtime educator in the Mankato school system; Greg’s a retired psychologist.
And the grief journey likely continues Sunday night on national television.
“I think he’s going to sing a tribute to his mom,” Carol says.
With a busy weekend schedule ahead with auditions in Nashville, where Kelly-Cohen now lives, he is hoping to be one of 24 musicians who might make the trip to Los Angeles. Ironically, he hadn’t even planned to audition, simply serving as support for a fellow Berklee alumnus, Abby (Hoskins) Blake, a 2016 Caledonia, Minnesota, high school graduate.
Carol said it was a surprise that American Idol producers also asked Kelly-Cohen to audition. So the two Berklee alumni, now close Nashville friends, are both auditioning. Other sites for auditions are in Los Angeles and New York.
American Idol judges are country star Luke Bryan, pop artist Katy Perry and veteran musician Lionel Ritchie. Past winners who went on to become big stars include Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood and Jennifer Hudson.
Kelly-Cohen’s music genre is considered alt-pop, or as the musician’s social media message says is music “that makes Happy Songs out of Sad Words.” Like many who audition, Kelly-Cohen’s simply trying to scratch out a Nashville living.
“I believe that humans are exceptionally good at two things: stories and love,” he writes on social media sites. “My passion is to share stories and spread love through my music and story. Success to me is when I can help listeners feel something and heal their own personal scars.”
Music’s been a part of his life from early on. Greg says his nephew plays several instruments “but keyboard is what he focuses on.”
In one of Kelly-Cohen’s early social media posts, he noted: “Music is my absolute passion and for as long as I can remember I’ve been making music. I’ve been playing piano since I was 3 years old, and I wrote my first song in 2nd grade. I’ve always known that music is what I was put on this earth to do!”
His audition is scheduled to be a part of “American Idol’s” Sunday show on ABC-TV at 7 p.m. Kelly-Cohen’s music can be previewed on his social media outlets or on kaykomusic.com. On his YouTube channel, he’s amassed nearly 2,000 subscribers and has downloaded some 150 videos.
In his most recent streaming lyric video, titled, “Rock Bottom.” Kelly-Cohen calls it “my gen z nothing really matters it’s fine moment.”
As far as the TV appearance goes, Carol said her “nephson” simply told her, “It will be exciting.”