Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Recent post-Voice music releases include county EPs from Chevel Shepherd and Grace Askew and country singles from Andrew Jannakos, Caeland Garner and Corey Kent.

Here’s a bit about each of those releases.

The links take you to the songs on Apple Music; Spotify snippets appear below.

* Chevel Shepherd, the show’s Season 15 champ, released her debut EP, “Everybody’s Got a Story” late last month. In truth, most of the songs had already been released as singles. But the EP features two excellent new tunes — “Snakes” and “Good Boy,” which are sort of opposites. “Snakes” is about guys who will leave a bit mark on a young girl’s heart; “Good Boy” has Chevel trying to convince her parents that the guy she’s dating can be trusted with her and her heart. The fun accompanying music video features Chevel and Julie and the Phantoms star Charlie Gillespie dating through the years. Said Chevel of the EP: “My time on The Voice really helped me get a sense of what fans are craving. And I hope, with this EP, I’ve delivered on the promise to bring them that classic country sound, but uniquely me.”

* Grace Askew from Season 12 has dropped a new EP called “Adobe Red.” It features seven songs, including the single “Cactus Lady,” the excellent “I Find You” and a reworking of a 2017 single, “Coyote Love.” Grace has dubbed the sound “southwest desert noir.” Oh, and for that new version of “Coyote Love,” Grace said she went for “the vibes of a Tom Waits junkyard band, playing under the spell of a swampy, lonesome full moon.” Grace will be the focus of a “Tumbleweed Woman” documentary releasing this spring. And she launched another 365-day songwriting challenge, which you can follow on her Instagram.

* Andrew Jannakos from Season 16 struck gold with his 2020 single “Gone Too Soon.” It’s been streamed 20 million times and got him signed to Sony Music and named an Amazon 2021 Artist to Watch. Now he’s back with a romantic follow-up single, “Wine Country,” and it sounds like another potential hit. Andrew was 25 when he auditioned for The Voice and his blind audition marked his first time performing solo on stage.

* Corey Kent, a top 8 finisher on Season 8, has released a new country single, “Feels a Lot Like This.” Corey also has a full slate of shows set for this month around Texas. Check out his Instagram for details.

* Caeland Garner from Season 15 released “X-Girlfriend” on Friday. It’s already his second country single of 2021 and follows “Yet,” which came out in January. Caeland has also since released the music video for “Yet.”

See also …
Celebrating 20 seasons of The Voice with my all-time favorite post-show music