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 Peacock Players mainstage production. In 2009, Peacock Players alumni who were all close friends with Jared, re-created and brought back a revival version of the show "Songs For A New World", composed by Jason Robert Brown, which they had originally performed in the summer of 2006, the same summer Jared starred in Peacock Players alumni show "The Wild Party". The 2010 revival of the show was in Jared's name, and all proceeds went to The Jared Nathan Scholarship for the Arts. This scholarship is given to a student at Peacock Players who is talented, outgoing and artistic in many different