By Sarrah Peters/News Editor
Kate Falcon cannot remember a time she didn’t love to sing.
“I grew up singing in the back of my parents’ car on the way to preschool,” said Falcon.
She didn’t realize she wanted to make it a career until she was 11 and entered a contest to open for Travis Tritt.
“As soon as I got off stage, I asked my parents when I could do that again,” said Falcon.
At only 15, she has already created a name for herself as an up and coming country singer. She has opened for major country music singers like Kenny Rogers, Daryl Worley, Aaron Tippin and Travis Tritt.
At a Martina McBride concert in 2012, Falcon got invited onstage to sing with the country star after holding up a sign asking to sing with McBride. Falcon sang “Anyway” with McBride, until the star sat to let Falcon finish the song on her own.
The performance with McBride gained Falcon attention from the music industry. The incident, and Falcon’s amazing voice, attracted the attention of The Voice, which contacted her last year and invited her to audition in Atlanta. Always a fan of the show, Falcon was excited.
After passing the audition in Atlanta, Falcon went through three more auditions. Out of the 50,000 people that auditioned, only 150 made it to the last round of auditions. She was flown out to California to participate in blind auditions, which meant she sang for the four stars of The Voice, Adam Levine, Gwen Stefani, Blake Shelton and Pharrell Williams.
At only 15, Falcon was one of the youngest contestants at blinds, with only one other 15-year-old slightly younger than her.
Falcon performed, but was not given a chair turn, which is the process that the stars pick their teams, in order to train them to win the contest.
“At the time, I was really disappointed, but I believe that everything happens for a reason,” said Falcon.
Despite the fact that she wasn’t chosen, Falcon received feedback from the stars.
“Pharrell said I had a cool name, and when I told Adam that I was only 15 he said that he should have turned his chair,” said Falcon. “Everyone was really nice.”
Although Falcon wasn’t chosen to be on The Voice, she is still pursuing her dreams. Recently, her trio, Sweet Tea, won the state competition of the Country Music Showdown. They will be in the regional competition in Live Oak, FL on Nov. 22.
Sweet Tea consists of Kate Falcon, 15, Victoria Camp, 17 and Savannah Coker, 17.
“The girls are my best friends,” said Falcon. “I couldn’t imagine doing this without them.”
Sweet Tea has also been writing songs and visiting Nashville. The trio hopes to make an EP soon.