Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Singing shows like The Voice have certainly created their share of overnight sensations, like Season 8 winner Sawyer Fredericks.

But it’d be difficult to describe Craig Wayne Boyd as an overnight sensation.

After all, he was 35 when he auditioned for the show and had been working – in some cases, struggling – to make it as a country singer in Nashville since 2004, releasing a pair of quickly forgotten albums along the way.

Well, people aren’t forgetting quite so quickly now.

Not after his twice-saved, storybook, Season 7 triumph on The Voice.

Six months later, Craig is working on a new single and a new album and looking at a 2015 concert schedule chock full of appearances from coast to coast.

One of those shows will bring him to the Pullo Center at Penn State York Thursday night.

“It’s been crazy, non-stop,” he says of life since The Voice. “But I’m doing exactly what I set out to do, which is taking the music to the people.”

Fans who turn out Thursday night will be treated to a mix of new music, material from his first two albums and, of course, some favorites from the show, Craig says.

The latter are likely to include his blind audition song, “The Whiskey Ain’t Workin’,” and his version of Johnny Cash’s “I Walk the Line,” which became a fan favorite and cracked the Top 10 on iTunes singles chart.

It’s a song he wrote during his final week on the show, Craig said. And it’s all about his own story of perseverance, though he says lots of fans have related the song to their personal situations, including soldiers who are returning from the war zones of the Middle East.

In fact, it tells his story so well, Craig said he’s leaning toward “I’m Still Here” as the name of his upcoming album.

Another new song fans in York will likely hear is called “Baby Doll,” which Craig describes as “The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band meets Def Leppard.”

“We do that right at the top of the show, and I’m really excited about responses we’re getting to that one,” Craig says. “It’s a fun-loving song about this girl that you meet, you just fall in love with her and she’s you’re baby doll.”

While he can’t project a timetable for a new single or new album, he says the new music “is coming along great.” Between a third and a half of the songs on the upcoming album will be tunes he wrote; the rest , he says, come from “phenomenal writers that are friends of mine in Nashville.”

As the winner of The Voice, Craig signed with the Dot Records/Big Machine label group, also home of Taylor Swift and former Voice winners Cassadee Pope and Danielle Bradbery.

Craig’s relationship with Dot Records came to an end earlier this year. He says he “asked off the label,” but adds that he’s confident his music will have a home with a new one by the time his album comes out.

He’s also confident people will enjoy what they hear when that happens, because he’s following the same format he did on The Voice, mixing up-tempo “ rock-leaning songs” with thought-provoking ballads.

“If they liked what I did on The Voice, they’re going to love this album,” Craig says.

Tickets are still available for Thursday’s show, where Craig says he plans to bring York’s own Season 7 finalist, DaNica Shirey, on stage to join him for a couple of songs. For ticket details, head here.

And If you can’t make that concert for some reason, Craig will be back in the area later this year, with a Sept. 26 show at the Hagerstown Fairgrounds and two shows the next day at Hershey Park.

For a complete list of upcoming shows, head to his website. If you’d like to follow Craig on Twitter, he’s @CWBYall.