Music has always been a part of Isaac Atkins’ life.
He can remember when he was 6 his father put him and his brother in timeout for some transgression, and the two sat in their room and randomly started singing a song by the Temptations.
He recalls his dad telling him later that he recorded their duet, and telling Isaac he should get into music when he grows up.
Now, Atkins is 24 and an Army sergeant on active duty in Wahiawa, Hawaii. But there’s always been one constant in his life: music.
On June 16, he’ll get a chance to show off his lifelong passion in a big way: performing for the world on NBC’s “America’s Got Talent.”
“I never really planned to branch out in this direction,” said Atkins. “Singing has always been a thing I did for myself. And now that I’ve gotten here on one of the biggest stages in the world is crazy. This felt like an unattainable dream but now it’s a reality.”
Atkins will be performing on June 16 at 8 p.m. EST on NBC. He said he auditioned on the show back in March, and that’s what viewers will see.
There have been a few notable performers and groups from Maine that have performed nationally on TV show talent competitions, including Julia Gagnon, Charleston’s Josiah Dyer and Abi Hodgson, also Lewiston native.
Atkins, another Lewiston native, knows he’ll be stepping in front of the likes of Simon Cowell, Howie Mandel and Sofía Vergara, but that doesn’t matter to him.
He cares more about doing this for himself.
“Sure I care about winning it all, but what’s the point in having that mindset,” said Atkins. “The journey to get here is enough in itself. I’m just happy that my voice gets heard.”
BECOMING THE ‘SINGING SOLDIER’
Well before getting national attention, Atkins said he was just your average Lewiston High-schooler with a love for music.
“I remember walking down the halls of my high school with headphones on listening to whatever came up on my phone,” said Atkins in a telephone interview last week. “Music always helps me keep going, and it’s something that been influential in my life.”
Atkins’ taste in music reached back. His headphones could be playing the Beatles, the Beach Boys, or just about any artist from the Motown era, including the Temptations.
His inspiration was his father, who would often play that genre of music whenever Atkins was in the car with him.
The love for Motown followed him after he graduated in 2020, when he went straight into Army Basic Training. Atkins was part of the Maine National Guard for a year before transferring to active duty at Fort Carson, Colorado, 2,300 miles away.
“At that time, that was the first time I traveled outside Maine for anything,” said Atkins. “I definitely missed my family being away that far, and music was what kept our bond so strong.”
He stayed in Colorado for the next two-and-a-half years — except for an eight-month stint in Kuwait — before transferring to Hawaii in October 2023.
Atkins is no stranger in recording himself singing, saying he has been doing it for as long as cellphones have had the capability to record. But in 2024 Atkins started posting videos of himself singing on TikTok, coining the nickname “Singing Soldier.”
“I didn’t think much about it at first when I put it in my (TikTok) bio,” said Atkins. “I could have just put ‘singer,’ but I’m in uniform 12 hours a day. I just capitalized on this and I was hoping people would just identify the ‘Singing Soldier’ with Isaac.”
A KARAOKE POST BLOWS UP
A year later, Atkins was at a karoake bar in the Philippines.
At the time, he was with one of his Army friends, who recorded him singing “Sparks” by Coldplay. After being sent the video by his friend, Atkins posted it on his TikTok page before boarding his flight back to Hawaii.
Atkins said he had no service for about 15 hours, and once he landed he was shocked by what he saw.
“That video blew up while I was in the air,” said Atkins. “I’ve seen some of my videos, mainly military-based videos, go off. But up to that point, I never saw any of singing videos go off like that.”
Since then, he’s rolled with that momentum, building an audience of more than 73,000 followers and 6.5 million likes on his singing videos.
That growing audience led him to be discovered by “America’s Got Talent,” whose producers invited him to audition.
While Atkins couldn’t talk about what songs he sang for the audition or how it went, he did say he’s going to be dipping into the rock and soul genres.
“This whole experience will be for my family,” said Atkins. “They got me into music and I feel like I need to pay it back to them for getting me this far.”
Atkins said regardless of the judges’ reaction to his performance, he doesn’t care about the fame or recognition. He’s thankful that he’s helped people discover music they once weren’t aware of.
“I’ve had people comment saying, ‘Wow I really never liked The Smiths before, but your voice is so beautiful and helped me discover them,”’ said Atkins. “That inspires me, and makes me want to keep doing this.”
If Atkins moves onto the show’s second round, which tapes in August, he’ll need to fly back to California.
“I hope I also impact people,” he said. “Out of 70,000 people that follow me, I hope there’s at least one case where someone feels comfortable sharing their voice online. If that’s the case, then I did my job and I’m satisfied with that.”
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