Jack Skuller

Jack Skuller

If your tweens have moved on from Recess Monkey but don’t crave sugary Top 40 radio, Jack Skuller is poised to become your family’s next obsession. The Weehawken, New Jersey, resident is a handsome 15-year-old musician with innocent charm and a hip hairdo, but the comparisons to Justin Bieber end there. Skuller is old-school, gigging regularly and putting his unique stamp on first-generation rock & roll.

The love of artists 60 years his senior came from his dad, Eddie, also a musician. As a toddler, Skuller swayed to the likes of the Everly Brothers, and at age eight, his first public performance was a rendition of “Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child.”

A complex figure who croons about love without relying on the “Baby, baby, baby” cliché, Skuller possesses an innate songwriting ability. “I’m attracted to the simplicity of the beat and melody,” he says. “I’m bringing that back with a twist, mixing it with modern rock, pop and punk.” And he’s good at it: Older teens rock out to the edgy guitar riffs, while middle- schoolers gleefully sing the catchy choruses.

A debut CD is in the works, but for now he shares the stage with local bands like Supercute! and Care Bears on Fire (see “Local teen girl squads!”)—both appear in his first music video for the song “Love Is a Drum.”

While Skuller may be a frequent guest vocalist for the Loser’s Lounge tribute shows at Joe’s Pub—channeling greats like Dean Martin, Michael Jackson and, this summer, Prince (June 25 at 7pm)—he is an original. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself at Madison Square Garden chanting his name alongside thousands of screaming tweens sometime soon.