Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Blind audition: JSOUL, 26, of Virginia Beach, Va., sang “Stay with Me” by Sam Smith and landed a spot on Team Adam Levine in a performance that was montaged, meaning we saw just a few seconds of it. Adam predicted he’ll go “far on this show.”

His background: JSOUL started singing professionally at age 18, according to his bio on The Voice website. He books gigs with the help of his mom, who manages and promotes him on Facebook. His dad works as his road manager. That bio says JSOUL almost gave up on music after losing his best friend in a tragic car accident, but he didn’t want to let his friend down. He adopted the stage name, according to the bio, after his friends told him repeatedly how much “soul” he has in his voice.

What the show didn’t show:
* His real name is Jonathan Guilfoyle and he says he got started in music when he was just 3 or 4 years old. “My mother used to sing to me and bring me out to restaurants to perform for people at a very young age.” He says he also used to sing every time we would go on vacation at Disney.
* JSOUL started his professional career as a deejay and says that evolved into doing hip-hop shows. Around age 22, he started a band. “Although we didn’t last long it allowed me to re-create myself into something more self-sufficient,” he says.
* That aforementioned friend, Phil Hartley, died about two years ago. It was after his death that Jonathan became JSOUL. “I was in a very bad place and very depressed, it really hit me hard,” he tells Voice Views. “So me creating JSOUL allowed me to go to a different world where I can translate my emotions into my music.”
* JSOUL says one of his biggest pre-Voice performances was playing at Steel Pier in Atlantic City. “Hundreds and hundreds of people pass by and stop to hear me sing and it brings me joy,” he says.
* With his hometown in Virginia Beach, JSOUL says he performs up and down the East Coast.
* For his blind audition, JSOUL says he went with “Stay With Me” Sam Smith “because of the emotional attachment to the song. “I have so many experiences where this song translates so I knew it would be for a great performance. Whether it is past relationships that didn’t work out because they didn’t believe in me or my potential or the death of my friend Phil. Really this all almost made me burst into tears on stage with every note that I hit. We were very close and it was probably the worst tragedy of my life having him pass away.”
* JSOUL says he previously tried out for The Voice eight times without landing in front of the judges. And while we didn’t get to see his performance, he says Adam turned around just a few seconds into his performance, allowing him to relax enjoy the moment.
* He said Adam Levine, Maroon 5 and their album “Songs About Jane” are among the inspirations that prompted him to start performing. “I feel like he’s going to ground me,” JSOUL said of Adam. “He going to help me perfect anything I need to do with my voice. So anything I can learn from him, I’m going to just soak up like a sponge.”

Keeping up with JSOUL:
Twitter @JSOUL757
Facebook
YouTube