Kings of Leon originally embraced country music. While there, they met songwriter Angelo Petraglia, who helped the siblings hone their songwriting skills and introduced them to the musical influences of Thin Lizzy, the Rolling Stones and the Clash in particular. Their youngest brother, Jared, who had briefly attended public school, was more influenced by the music of the Pixies and the Velvet Underground. When he and their cousin Matthew also moved to Nashville in 1999, Kings of Leon was formed. They named the band after their grandfather Leon, who died in January 2014. By 2002, Nathan and Caleb had received interest from a
Jared Nathan season of the newer version of "ZOOM" on PBS. He co-starred with Zoe Costello and Alisa Besher. He eventually became too old for "ZOOM". Jared Nathan was replaced by . After his death, "Zoom" executive producer Kate Taylor said, "If he hadn't entered adolescence, we would have loved to have had him back for additional seasons." Nathan attended Bishop Guertin High School in Nashua for two years before switching to the arts-oriented Walnut Hill School in Natick, Massachusetts. After graduating from Walnut Hill in 2004, he studied drama at the Juilliard School and was a third-year student on winter break