Craig Wayne Boyd, reigning champ of The Voice, will perform Sunday at the Meyer Theatre in Green Bay as part of the Y100 St. Jude Jam. Pssst, dont tell his friends back home in Texas, but he owns a Green Bay Packers jersey.(Photo: Chad Lee)
Craig Wayne Boyd apologizes for calling a few minutes late for an early morning phone interview on Tuesday, but once you hear his schedule, it's a wonder he found the time at all.
The winner of Season 7 of NBC's "The Voice" spent the night before taping with Christian music singer Jason Crabb for Trinity Broadcasting Network. It was up early the next morning to do an interview, wrap that one up so he could get in the car to do another and then off to shoot a Nissan commercial.
Such is life these days for the native Texan since Team Blake (Shelton) and "The Voice" put his country music career on the fast track last December.
"It's like nonstop," said the 34-year-old Boyd. "The rock star life is not what most people think it is. It's a lot of late nights and early mornings."
Not that he's complaining. At all.
"It's good to be busy. It beats sitting still, wondering what you're supposed to do next because you have no clue and there's no money coming in."
He knows a little something about that side of the country music dream, too. He moved to Nashville in 2004, pounding the pavement and playing bars before eventually signing a publishing deal and opening for Randy Houser and Jamey Johnson. It was his appearance on "The Voice," where he showed off his range by singing everything from "The Old Rugged Cross" to Alabama's "In Pictures," that gained him national attention. His coronation song from the show, "My Baby's Got a Smile on Her Face," shot to No. 1 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart.
He comes to Green Bay on Sunday as part of the Y100 St. Jude Jam, a benefit for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital featuring headliner Rodney Atkins. He'll be back in the state in August for the Wisconsin State Fair. He jokes that "y'all need to turn the heater up" in the state and he'd get up this way more often.
People often think of "The Voice" winners as achieving overnight success, but you paid your dues for 11 years before that show. How do those experiences serve you well now?
"All of the hard knocks and the struggles I have been through up until to this point have prepared me for where I'm headed to, because by no means do I think I have arrived yet. There are so many things that I want to do and places that I want to take my music to that I have not achieved. I just want to continue to keep my nose to the grindstone and work hard and take my music out to the people and hope that they continue to love it."
What can you tell fans about the album you're currently working on? Do you feel pressure to deliver after your win on "The Voice"?
"I never feel pressure, because music is something that's organic, and I feel like it's coming from a new place. It's coming from a fresh place for me, because coming off of a TV show and knowing what worked on there, I've approached the music that I'm putting out along the same lines as what I did on the show. I performed songs on the show that were songs I would've cut had they not ever been recorded. The thoughts and the feels that were on that show are the thoughts and the feels that I'm putting into this album."
Do you feel like you have a strong foundation to work from, having grown up with traditional country and gospel?
"Absolutely. It's something that has been lacking in music, and there's been an outcry I've noticed from people. They want real stories. They want subject matter they can relate to, and that's what I'm striving to give folks."
What has it meant to you to have Blake Shelton as a mentor?
"I owe a lot to him, because he brought my confidence back out. Being in Nashville and all the no's I kept getting over and over, he really encouraged me to stick to my guns and that my gut instincts would always be right."
You have a really diverse slate of artists you're playing with as you tour. Do you become a sponge and just soak up all you can from them?
"I sang one of their songs on the show, The Marshall Tucker Band, I'm playing with those guys. I'm playing with people like Buckcherry, and then turning around and playing with Marty Stuart and Dwight Yoakam. So the spectrum of other musical artists I'm playing with is very well-rounded, but I can learn something from each and every one of those guys."
Are you watching the current season of "The Voice"?
"I keep up with it vicariously through social media. I put my votes in last night."
As a child, did you ever get called out by your first name and middle name if you were being naughty?
"'Wayne' was only used if I was in trouble, and it perked my ears up."
Being from Texas, you must be a big Dallas Cowboys fan. The Cowboys-Packers rivalry is always a good one.
"Last time I was up your direction I got into a bet that I probably shouldn't have and yep, I own an Aaron Rodgers jersey."
kmeinert@pressgazettemedia.com and follow her on Twitter @KendraMeinert.
DO IT
Who: Rodney Atkins, Craig Wayne Boyd, Austin Webb and Kelsea Ballerini
What: Y100 St. Jude Jam
When: Doors at 5 p.m., show at 6 p.m. Sunday
Where: Meyer Theatre, 117 S. Washington St., Green Bay
Tickets: $25; Ticket Star outlets, (800) 895-0071 and ticketstaronline.com
Read or Share this story: http://gbpg.net/1FCTjrK
Source: http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/story/entertainment/music/2015/04/08/boyd-talks-voice-success-packers-jersey/25480885/
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