THE VOICE, Season: 16, Trey Rose Photo by: Chris Haston/NBC)
Story by Mary Jane Farmer, SceneinTown.com, first printed in the March 13 edition The Paris News.
Trey Rose, who now qualifies to be identified as “of ‘The Voice,’” will be playing at Buffalo Joe’s in Paris, Texas, Friday night. The concert begins at 8 p.m., and he’s excited to be offering some new merch at this event.
Rose talked a bit more about his experience in trying out for NBC’s “The Voice,” and the decisions he had to make in the process, which has now led him through the chair-turning, or Blind Audition, round and let him advance into the Battle Round.
Trey pretty much lucked out when it came to trying out, he said. “Luke Wade asked me to audition in private and all I had to do was drive to Dallas. This was the day after open auditions.” He said so many people go to the try-outs and have to wait for hours and longer to even get inside the studios to get their turn at the mic. Luke Wade is another Texan who moved through the “The Voice” ranks, Season 7, and Trey said they ran in the same circle of Texas musicians, and that it was members of American Aquarium to urged Wade to give Rose a call. So, Rose made that audition, and waited to see if he would go onto the next step, the Blind Auditions.
He got the call back in August to go to Los Angeles. “I was in L.A. all of October, for the complete audition,” the Hugo native said. Having a couple of months, between the first audition and the trip to L.A., gave him time to prepare, financially, for the time he wouldn’t be on the road, earning money. Rose is the single father of two kids, and does a lot to be sure they are taken care of. He said, “I knew I could be gone for all of October. Financial planning is not my strong suit, but I managed.”
THE VOICE, “Blind Auditions” Trey Rose (Photo by Tyler Golden/NBC)
Rose chose the song “Wake Me UP” to perform for his blind audition, which is when all four ‘coaches’ — Blake Shelton, Kelly Clarkson, John Legend, and Adam Levine — are sitting in their big chairs with their backs to the stage, listening only to each musician who comes onto the stage. If they like what they hear, they turn the chair around and that puts them in the position to be selected as a coach for that particular artist.
However, instead of having the full 3.5 minutes to sing the song, he, and all contestants, have 90 seconds to show the four music icons just what they can do with a song. When asked how he chose which parts of “Wake Me Up” he would sing, Trey answered, “That was one of the coolest parts, getting to work with the show’s band. One of the best bands on this planet. They are ridiculous(ly good). And you have the month to collaborate with those guys, over and over again. I tried to use the time to just enjoy and learn from it, it’s one of those things that will make you better. They knew what would work best, and that night, then, all I had to do was walk out there on the stage with my guitar. It’s about like showing up to batting practice with your bat.”
There were two aspects of the blind audition, in addition to Trey’s winning delivery of “Wake Me Up,” that people are remembering. The first was when, after two of the ‘coaches’ turned their chairs and he was taking critique from all four, that Trey was invited to just sit down on the floor. It was Levine who said something like “Trey is tired, sit down, Trey,” and so Trey did. With that, Levine got out of his plush chair and sat down on the floor in front of it. “I did, I just sat down,” Trey said. “I didn’t realize just how long I would be up there. There is a lot going on that you don’t see on camera. I was tired, Adam was right.”
Trey Rose, photo by lil’ ol’ Mary Jane Farmer
The second memorial time was when the cameras turned to Trey’s family backstage. His son, Beckhem, smiled at first, obviously proud of his dad. But when the second of the two chairs turned around, Beckhem couldn’t hold it in, and that pride and joy spilled out through tears from his eyes. Rose said later, that of all the things people were posting after that episode aired in late February, most of them were posting on Twitter, Facebook Instagram, just about everywhere, about Beckhem’s proudful tears.
“He’s not a super-emotional kid,” the equally proud father said. “No one other than Carson Dailey realized Beckhem was crying so. Carson’s job is to interact with the family. All you have want is to have your kid to be proud of you. I’ll have it (the video) to watch all my life. Other than the days they (his children) were born, that was the proudest I’ve ever been.”
It was so hard for him to choose which coach he wanted to work with, he said — Shelton or Levine. “You know, there’s room full of people screaming names at you. And four of the biggest stars on the planet all of a sudden are in front of you. I didn’t want to ever upset any one of my idols.” But, in the end, he had to pick one, and he chose Adam Levine.
The Voice continues on Monday and Tuesday nights for a while, but then will go to just one night a week. There is no word yet on when Trey Rose’s Battle Round is airing.
“I’m excited to be back on the road again, now, and playing as much as I can. And I’m excited to be back at Buffalo Joe’s. I’ve been working on a bunch of new stuff lately.
“I’ve gotten so much support from our area, the Northeast Texas/Southeast Oklahoma area. No matter what happens, I hope that keeps going. This has always been home to me.”
Trey Rose’ full calendar will be published here, on SceneInTown.com, in its Official Texas Music Calendar which lists gigs up to a month at a time, for those who plan ahead.
