Jett Humphrey displays a passion for music at UCO ACM

Starting at a young age, third-year UCO ACM student, Jett Humphrey, watched his role model, his dad, perform and tour with multiple bands. Humphrey also watched as his older brother take on his passion for music. Following in their footsteps, he joined Adara Kay as the bass player at the age of 16. He later joined three other groups: drums with Rolling Eyes, bass with Carly Tate, and bass in a two-piece band called PAC (Peace Amongst Chaos).

“My dad is a touring musician. He plays with the band called Seether,” Humphrey said. “So ever since being a kid and growing up with that, and watching my brother who then picked up drums, I was like I want to do music.” 

Having watched his dad be in a band and seeing his brother pick up the drums, Humphrey saw this as a chance to try something new that either his dad or brother didn’t play. He tried the bass because his uncle played it. At the age of 13, he took on playing the bass at his church, and it taught him how to become a musician. Humphrey also picked up and taught himself how to play the drums along with the guitar.

“I wanted to be different, and I picked up bass because my dad’s brother plays bass and I wanted to do that too,” said Humphrey. “I love all of the instruments. My main goal is to be competent enough to play all three in a band if it was needed.”

Despite learning all the bands and instruments, Humphrey has not struggled with juggling them all. Keeping a schedule for all the performances helps him. He knew how different vibes are needed for different bands.

Humphrey and his brother were able to go to one of their dad’s concerts and performed on stage with the band Seether. They played the last song of the night, “Remedy,” to a crowd of 4,000+ in Texas. 

“He never forced us to play music, in fact, he probably didn’t want us to do it, but he showed us that it’s possible to have a successful music career, but more importantly how to love what you do,” Humphrey said.

When asked why he chose to go to ACM when he already has a foot-in-the-door as a musician, Humphrey said, “For me, it’s more about the networking aspect. I wanna be in a place where every day I have the opportunity to meet new people, especially like-minded musicians that want to make it. I want to be around people that give me the motivation to be better.”

Humphrey has a busy December with multiple shows coming up. Adara Kay, Dec. 7 at Chickasha Fairgrounds, Dec. 14 at Grady’s in Yukon and Dec. 28 at Starlite, Ardmore.