Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
I wanted to try a different way of making music. That's what made me try different things with my voice.
I have a very pop voice, but there's so much of me I associate mostly with urban music, so I try to blend the two.
I studied voice at Yale with Blake Stern from the music school, and he had me singing German lieder and Italian songs.
No one had ever told me that whites were supposed to sing one kind of music and blacks another - I sang what I liked in the only voice I had.
People like Jeff Buckley, the Mars Volta and Bjork made me listen to music differently. You learn the voice is an instrument you can do crazy things with.
I wanted to play my original music, but it was really hard because a lot of the people who would come out to the shows found out about me through 'The Voice' and wanted to hear covers.
I loved her music and the fact that she was a classically trained pianist and that her voice was so unique, but what made Nina Simone my hero is that I had never seen anyone in the public eye who looked anything like me at all, ever.
Patty Griffin is iconic, and there's no other word to really describe her. She is iconic for a lot of people - not only for me but for a lot of fans. Her voice is one of a kind, and she's such an important figure in the American music scene.
I was trained classically in violin and voice, which led to musical theater. Then I left the music scene to chase acting, which is when 'Neighbours' came along. It was a fantastic playground for actors, and the cast around me taught me a lot.
A few girls would be catty and say that my voice sounded really high, and I sang like a chipmunk, I got a few prank calls about that a few times. But it didn't really bother me that much. I think I was so focused on music that nothing could break me or get in my way.