Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Her audition: Lindsay Bruce, 25, Santa Rosa, Calif., auditioned for The Voice with “Even If It Breaks Your Heart.” She immediately displayed a deeper tone than you’d expect from a gal singing country music. And that voice enticed Adam and Shakira to turn their chairs. Adam called her performance “thoroughly pleasant.” But Shakira offered to bring in Miranda Lambert for coaching help, so Lindsay decided to join Team Shakira.

Her background: Lindsay told The Voice she’s known as long as she can remember that she wanted to be a country music singer. During her life, she says she’s always turned to music “out of heartbreak.” One of those occasions came on 9/11, when her uncle was killed in the terrorist attacks in New York. “You didn’t have to lose someone that day to realize life is short,” Lindsay said. “One of my outlets has always been writing. I wrote three songs in this one weekend; the first one was about him.” She called auditioning for The Voice a big “make-or-break moment” for her.

On choosing Shakira: “Making that decision between Adam and Shakira was probably just as stressful as getting up and singing the song. I’m really excited about the opportunity to work with Shakira. One of the things she said was that she saw a lot of similarities between the way she sings and the way I sing and the way our voices are. Being such a talented female vocalist, I feel like there is so much I can learn from her.”

What the show didn’t show: Lindsay’s Facebook page is full of fun facts. She’s 6 feet tall; her high score at bowling is 86. She loves the sound of violins and thinks anyone who can play one deserves a medal. She’s had her heart broken 1.5 times. Perhaps this explains why she shares all that: “I feel like the things — the feelings — that people worry make them stand out are really the things that make them fit in the most,” she writes on her website. “My dream is to write honest songs that make someone go ‘I’ve felt that way, too.” And, for a while, becoming an accomplished songwriter was Lindsay’s goal. During a conference call with the media, she said she moved to Nashville three years ago to get her songs out there. “Singing is something kind of .. well, I was so shy, I backed into it as opposed to going into singing and then going to songwriting,” she explained. But she said she’s been “playing basically anywhere and everywhere” and gaining confidence in her voice in the process. As for picking Shakira … well, she calls Adam “one of her songwriting Idols,” but says Shakira held a trump card when she mentioned getting Miranda Lambert to assist in mentoring her country contestants. “That was a huge factor,” Lindsay said. “As an aspiring female country artist, it doesn’t get much better than having Miranda as a mentor.”

On iTunes: Her audition song plus a 10-track 2013 album called “Lindsay Bruce Acoustic.” Plus a 2012 three-song EP and singles called “Hannah’s Song” and “Stupid and Seventeen.” Want to hear more? You can here full versions of many of her songs on SoundCloud and ReverbNation. Check out “I Can’t Love You Anymore.”

Update: She lost to Kristen Merlin in the battle round; they sang Reba McEntire’s “Turn on the Radio.”

Keeping up with Lindsay:
Twitter: @CowboyBootsB
Facebook
YouTube
Website

Editor’s Note: For links to profiles of all the Season 6 artists on The Voice, go here.

“I Just Knew” (original)

“Stay” (original)

“Merry Go Round” (Kasey Musgraves cover)