Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Her audition: Kota Wade, 23, Hollywood, Calif., auditioned with “Bring it on Home to Me” by Sam Cooke. Very early in the performance, she earned chair turns from Blake Shelton, Gwen Stefani and Adam Levine, which seemed to make Kota’s performance even stronger. Gwen praised Kota’s style and versatility. Kota opted to join Team Gwen.

Her background: She and her parents run a music venue called Amplyfi, which they opened about five years ago. Kota explains that she grew up playing in bands, but had trouble finding places to play at her young age. She says she especially appreciative of all the support her parents have shown for her musical endeavors over the years. Right now, Kota performs with a band called Bad Wolf, and Kota says she takes every opportunity “to show people what we’re about.” As for her future — “there’s no backup plan for me,” Kota says, “because I know this (music) is what I want to do.”

What the show didn’t show: Kota started writing songs when she was 9, attended the Hollywood Pop Academy and formed her first band — an all-girl group called Bomb Shell — when she was 16. She’s now lead singer of Bad Wolf, a four-member band that “forges sci-fi, fantasy, and a touch of steampunk magic into a unique brand of alternative rock,” according to the band’s Facebook page.

Bad Wolf released singles in 2012 and 2013 and an EP last October. Kota sounds especially good on the EP closing ballad “Need You Now.” Bad Wolf also includes Tommy O., Tim Falco and Amy Alison Clark. And in a conference call interview this week, Kota says she’s committed to that band. “I’m still very much with my band,” she said. “We’re still working on music every day. … So they are 100 percent with me on this journey. And we can’t wait until we can start releasing more new music after this whole new bump of activity that has happened.”

As for AmplyFi, Kota opened the music venue when she was just 19 in her band’s former rehearsal room. And she’s something of a YouTube sensation on her “Steamfaerie” channel, where she posts makeup and wardrobe tutorials of a different sort as well as cover songs. That page has attracted more than 35 million views.

For links to more bios of Season 9 artists on The Voice, head here.

On iTunes: Bad Wolf released a six-track EP called “Time is Falling” last October. It followed singles called “Drowning Beautiful” and “A Better World.” Kota also has a couple of covers on iTunes — “Dark Horse” and a mashup of “Let It Go” and “Let It Be.”

Update:
Battle round: Defeated Alex Kandel, singing “It’s My Life.” The performance was montaged.
Knockout round: Lost to Jeffery Austin. Kota sang Heart’s “Barracuda.”

Keeping up with Kota:
Website
Bad Wolf Website
Facebook
Bad Wolf on YouTube
YouTube
Twitter: @kotawade

Let It Go / Let It Be (mashup cover)

Stay With Me (with Bad Wolf)

Drowning Beautiful (2013 single with Bad Wolf)

Blind audition — Bring It On Home to Me