Meet Jeffery Austin of The Voice Season 9

The Voice

October 2, 2015 By Mark Franklin 0

His audition: Jeffery Austin, 24, of Chicago, Ill., auditioned with Sam Smith’s “Lay Me Down.” Gwen Stefani turned around before he hit the first chorus. Gwen complimented his on a perfect performance, but wound up being the only coach to turn around.

His background: Jeffery says all of his family members have had a hand in his interest in music. That includes his dad, who died when Jeffery was 9 because of complications related to an enlarged heart. Jeffery has a background in musical theater, performing in productions of Man of La Mancha, Winnie the Pooh Christmas Tail and Brigadoon. Then he went off to college, where he majored in public relations. He now works in public relations in Manhattan. “But living in New York and seeing all of these people pursuing different dreams while I’m at a desk job felt wrong.” Jeffery says it’s been six years since he’s been on any major stage.

What the show didn’t show: His full name is Jeffery Austin McClelland, he’s a 2009 graduate of St. Charles North High School, attended Loyola College and took that p.r. job with Edelman Public Relations in New York. And according to his bio on The Voice website, after years of trying to hide his sexuality, he came out at age 16 with the support of his family.

As for music, his hometown newspaper reports that his first performance came at Haines Middle School when he decided to join his friends singing in the musical “Once On This Island.” That prompted teacher Judy Lynn Mastalski to recruit him for middle school chorus. At the time, Jeffery says he still wasn’t all that comfortable as a performer. By the time he was a senior and landed the role of the padre in “Man of La Mancha” Jeffery told The Daily Herald he was far less concerned about what others thought of him. Still, he wasn’t convinced pursuing the long-shot of a career in music would be the wisest option after graduating from St. Charles North.

Flash forward to the blind audition — his first major performance since high school — and Jeffery said he selected a Sam Smith song because he is “a current artist … that I relate to musically and personally.” During a conference call with the media, he said “‘Lay Me Down’ (is) one of my favorite songs from his album and it speaks a lot to the personal story that I have of someone calling out for someone they’ve lost, whether it’s a loved one or a significant other, so it also allowed me to show a personal connection to the coaches.”

Since making The Voice, Jeffery has returned to St. Charles to meet and speak with students at the schools there. Before his audition aired, he sang at the high school during a homecoming event. Post-audition, he visited with students at the middle school where he got his start in music. One of his messages to students, according to The Daily Herald, is that the youngsters shouldn’t be afraid to be themselves. “I was picked on for a lot of reasons,” he told the students. “My (red) hair, singing in the choir. But they ultimately think I’m cool now. So it all paid off.”

I’ll be posting profile blogs on every singer who lands a spot on Season 9 of The Voice. For links to the others, head here. Keep checking back. There are many more to come.

On iTunes: Just his performances from The Voice

Update:
Battle round: Defeated Noah Jackson, singing “Can’t Feel My Face.”
Knockout round: Defeated Kota Wade. Jeffery sang Adele’s “Turning Tables” and the song turned out to be the most popular on iTunes from Night 3 of the knockouts.
Live playoffs: He sang “Say You Love Me.” The song hit number 25 on iTunes, sixth best among the 24 live playoff songs. Jeffery advanced to the Top 12 for Team Gwen on fan voting.
Top 12: He sang “Let It Go” and was voted into the Top 11. The song hit number 9 on the iTunes Top 200 (third best of the night) and number 6 on the pop singles chart.
Top 11: Jeffery performed “Dancing On My Own” and hit number 27 on the iTunes Top 200, fifth best of the night. He was voted into the Top 10.
Top 10: He performed Labrinth’s “Jealous.” The song hit number seven on the iTunes Top 200, marking the first time Jeffery cracked the Top 10. He was voted into the Top 9.
Top 9: Jeffery sang a stripped-down version of Cher’s “Believe.” The song ranked second among Top 9 night songs on iTunes, landing at number three. But Jeffery was forced to compete with Madi Davis and Zach Seabaugh for an instant save and the last spot in the Season 9 finals. He sang “Make It Rain” and received that save.
Top 4: He placed fourth in Season 9. On performance night, he sang “Stay,” which hit number nine on the iTunes Top 200; “O Holy Night,” which hit number 21; and performed “Leather and Lace” with Gwen Stefani, which hit number 15.