Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Her audition: Cassidy Lee, 28, Jacksonville, Fla., “You’re No Good” by Linda Ronstadt: Cassidy makes a great pick of an audition song for her style of music. And her raspy, emotive vocals earned a quick chair turn from Michael Buble. There’s a lot of grit in Cassidy’s voice, which will help her stand out. She delivered a really nice ending too, but couldn’t get another chair to turn. Gwen Stefani complimented her on a cool voice. Michael liked her unique voice, one he called feminine with a rocking growl. Cassidy automatically becomes Team Michael.

Here’s more about Cassidy.

* She’s among the singers looking for redemption in a second shot at The Voice.

* She auditioned for Season 18 in 2020 and showed off a nice vocal growl during an impressive cover of Fleetwood Mac’s (Stevie Nick’s) “Gold Dust Woman.” Surprisingly, none of the coaches turned their chairs.

* The experience wasn’t absent of bright spots. Kelly Clarkson complimented Cassidy on a “really cool tone.” Nick Jonas complimented the emotion in her voice. And Cassidy, who’s email moniker was once nickjlover@, got a hug from Nick.

* Cassidy, from Jacksonville, Fla., has certainly put in her work since then, as a solo acoustic performer and as lead singer of a cover band called South of Savannah.

* She’s currently frontwoman of a band called Annie Dukes, made up of three women and a male percussionist. On Spotify, they describe their sound as “Black Sabbath meets Fleetwood Mac … a mixture of ’70s rock with ’90s rock/grunge tones” featuring three-part harmonies.

* Annie Dukes released a pair of singles in 2022, a five-song self-titled EP in 2023 and a single called “Cherry” earlier this year.

* Below, check out the hard-driving “Did I Say Yes??” It’s an anthem against sexual violence. For an even more impressive example of Cassidy’s vocals, check out the music video for “The Fog.”

* You might say the Annie Dukes are pretty busy right now. They’ve in the middle of a month-long, 17-date tour that includes dates all over the Eastern U.S.

* Cassidy’s parents owned a karate school while she was growing up in Jacksonville.

* She says she taught herself to play guitar at age 12, got some mentoring from her Aunt Angie, a blues player, and fell in love with the music of Jewel. Other early inspirations included The Beatles, LeAnn Rimes and Ed Sheeran.

Cassidy on social media:
Instagram
TikTok (Annie Dukes)
Facebook
YouTube (Annie Dukes)