Three chairs turned Monday, Sept. 25, as Brandon Showell sang for his blind audition on NBC’s The Voice. Showell, an instructional assistant at Arlington’s Kenmore Middle School, is now one of Adam Levine’s 12 team members.
Here’s what he had to say when we asked him about his past, present and future music career.
How did you first get into music?
I started singing in third-grade chorus. I instantly felt a connection to music and began to do school talent shows. Music was always playing and I drove my brothers, Willie and DeShawn, crazy because I always walked around the house singing. Later, I was fortunate to get accepted into District Chorus, All-State Chorus and the Virginia Senior Honors Choir. Chorus and theater have always been outlets … but I always knew I wanted to be an artist.
What is your earliest music memory?
My earliest memory of music is sitting in front of the TV watching Showtime at The Apollo and wishing that that could be me one day. I used to sing along with the hopeful artists and ask my parents to take me to New York to sing at that stage. My parents didn’t take me to New York, but I did a lot of local shows because of them. My mom quickly became a “stage mom,” but within reason.
It seems like you have to take a leap of faith to pursue your dreams and sacrifice stability. How do you balance teaching and pursing your music career?
Balancing teaching and music does get difficult. Miley Cyrus mentioned this struggle during the season premiere and I completely agree—it is confusing. The life of a musician typically consists of odd hours of work, and the life of a teacher has early mornings that require a lot of energy and enthusiasm.
I love the opportunity to have two careers I am passionate about on a daily basis. With the huge exposure of The Voice, the classroom does get a little distracted from time to time, but it’s never a bad thing to inspire and spark the interests of students. My advice about taking a leap towards something you love versus stability is to remember stability comes with sacrifice and hard work. Everything will fall into place, and the opportunity to do what you love will ultimately provide stability, as long as you stick with it and don’t give up.
You previously competed on The X Factor. What lessons did you learn from these experiences?
I learned from my experience on The X Factor to stay true to myself. On The X Factor, I was in a group named 4Shore. We were four different artists, but it worked, and we created magic. We were pulled in many different directions by different people, and the results usually ended in disappointment. It isn’t a good feeling.
The best way to get back on course is to remind myself why I do this; I have always wanted to perform, and I never want to stop, no matter how many speed bumps are in the road. With this, we all decided to take ownership of our artistry, and I have done the same with my solo journey. The opportunity to have people connect to Brandon Showell as a person and not just a singer is an incredible position to hold, and I have grown to always be a role model and know who I want to be as an artist.
What do you want your students to take away from this experience?
I always strive to encourage my students, as I know this is a very impactful time in their lives. I hope this huge experience with The Voice inspires my students to shoot for the stars. Being a contestant on The Voice didn’t come easy. It has taken persistence, discipline, disappointment and many life lessons to get here, but I didn’t give up. I hope my students see that goals take hard work to achieve, but once they are obtained it is all worth it.
