“We sang about two minutes worth of material,” said Chris Atkins, lead singer for Bareback Jack.

In late March, the trio went to Nashville, but could not persuade “Nashville Star’s” judges to grant them one of a dozen elite spots on the nationally televised stage.Īlthough they met with some disappointment, the guys in Bareback Jack tested themselves against the nation’s top live acts in the country music capital and found that they could compete with the best of them. This past February, three members – John Coccia and Justin Kubiak of Elma and bandmate Chris Atkins – took their show to Pittsburgh to compete in a national qualifier for NBC’s “Nashville Star.” Their songs impressed the Steel City and garnered a ticket to Nashville for the national casting of the show. The band has been filling up the musical scene, rocking out to a combination of classic country hits and their own original compositions. 'I realized that he wasn't saying this out of hate, he was saying this out of fear.' Since, the family has strengthened its relationship.Justin Kubiak, Chris Atkins and John “Daytona” Coccia of thelocal band Bareback Jack headed to Nashville to participate in thefinal elimination round of “Nashville Star.”īareback Jack has found success here in Western New York. 'It really, really hurt to hear those words,' Ramzi said. When Ramzi told him what he wanted to hear, his father became quiet and said 'why don't you just put a bullet in my head.' Ramzi's sister, who is also queer and had come out before, was also present. His father ended up forcing the coming out, having already suspected, in an extremely intense scene. When he came to the realization that wasn't his future, he told his mother who was very supportive. 'I was so scared of what it actually meant to call yourself gay so even the first man I dated, I still thought that afterwards I was going to eventually meet a girl and get married because that's what men did,' he said. It took until age 21, even after dating someone for the coming out to occur. 'I grew up in an Armenian-American community and I grew up in a divorced family so I feel like I had to come out twice,' he said. Ramzi's story was more complex than some.

Bareback by chris owen