Having finished fifth on “The Voice” this year (Season 10), she then made her Grand Ole Opry debut two weeks later. A singer, songwriter, and guitar player, she put out an album in 2014 called “Bridges,” featuring performances with some of the biggest names in the business, and then followed it up with an eight-song release last year. She had actually released her first album at age 14 and is now working on material for another new album.
“That’s my definite goal, like, going into the studio now, if I could sing the song three times through… and it be perfect every time, then I have definitely achieved something.”
“When I started singing it was never, singing wasn’t like, ‘I knew from the beginning this is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.’ It was just kinda something at a young age I was like, ‘Oh, yeah, vocal lessons, let’s just do it.’ It’s like you’re doing tennis or the football team. It’s just something you do. It was kind of a hobby.”
“I went up for my solo and I started to sing and the whole entire crowd started singing along with me to the song and it sounded like a choir of angels. I can still picture in my head standing there on that stage when that happened… And I remember after that show I went to my mom and I was crying and laughing all at the same time and I was like, ‘Mom, this is what I want to do for the rest of my life!’”
“I somewhat kind of call myself a modern traditionalist because I do have somewhat of a taste of the new stuff but also keeping it classic country and respecting the roots of where country has come from.”
“He took me under his wing and was able to call Willie (Nelson) and Merle (Haggard) and Ray Price, and Tanya Tucker and say, ‘Hey, I really believe in this girl and she’s working on this project’ and once he said, ‘Dolly (Parton) is already on it too’ they were, like, ‘Oh, okay, well great, let’s do it.’ And they all did it just out of kindness. There was nothing in it for them. And I think it also shows kind of what the legends like that in country music, how they want to inspire artists like me who are coming up in country music and to just kind of influence and be there.”
“I didn’t end up going to college but I feel like with everything I’ve gone though I’ve been in college.”
“I was mentored by the legends in country music and I looked at The Voice the same way – to get the opportunity to work with people like Blake Shelton and Pharrell and Adam Levine and Christina Aguilera and just work with many a people on that show, it was just an opportunity to learn and grow as an artist again.”
“During that whole entire process (of The Voice) I grew. I learned so much about my voice and what I can do. I think I definitely learned more to trust the instinct of myself when choosing songs and what to do with the song and where to take it. It really was such a growing experience and I would not take a single second back from that whole process.”
“I would recommend (The Voice) to anybody who’s performing and singing. But I would say make sure you know who you are before you go too ‘cause it’s not the best thing to try to figure out who you are while you’re on live television.”
“I love what I do and I want to do it for a very long time, but that doesn’t mean I have to be ‘the most famous person in the world.’ If I can get a stage and perform for people, I’m happy.”
"Heartaches by the Number"
"Lost With You"