Idol Chatter & Voice Views

This has been a particularly productive year for past winners of The Voice.

Eleven of the show’s first 14 winners have already released music in 2019.

Six of those have released an album or EP in the past nine months.

Below is a quick look at what the former winners of The Voice are up to these days, complete with a playlist featuring some of that music.

And let’s not forget that the most successful Voice alum, Season 3’s Melanie Martinez, just released her sophomore album, “K-12” and the feature film she wrote and directed to accompany the album.

In fact, that album debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 earlier this week.

Now, as for the past winners …

Editor’s note: Since posting this blog, Chevel Shepherd has released a debut single. Sawyer Fredericks has released the lead single from his next album. Craig Wayne Boyd has released an EP. And Maelyn and Brynn have released holiday songs.

Maelyn Jarmon, Season 16: No new music yet, but it’s coming, judging from her Instagram, which includes a photo of her in the studio with John Legend. Dig a little deeper and you’ll find snippets of two originals — “Come Down, Papa” and “More Than I” — that she performed at a show in the Bahamas. And she opened for One Republic and The Fray at Toyota Stadium in San Francisco on Saturday. Oh, and did I mention she got engaged to musician boyfriend Johnny Murrell.

Chevel Shepherd, Season 15: She and a horse named Pancho will be the stars of a family film named “Wildfire” that’s been filming in Oklahoma. Chevel plays a teen who learns to cope with her dad’s death through her friendship with the horse. The film is based on a 1975 song by the same name and is supposed to feature six songs, so you have to figure Chevel will get to sing a bit too. “This movie is one you’re gonna want to see!” Chevel recently wrong on Instagram. It’s set for a 2020 release.

Brynn Cartelli, Season 14: She spent the early part of 2019 on the Meaning of Life tour with Voice coach Kelly Clarkson and Kelsea Ballerini. She returned to The voice in April to perform her second single, “Grow Young” (“Last Night’s Mascara” was her first). And the now 16-year-old recently played to a hometown crowd at The Big E — the New England State Fair in Massachusetts. She told her hometown newspaper she’s working on a debut album she hopes to release next year.

Chloe Kohanski, Season 13: She changed her stage name to Chloe MK, saying she felt it sounded more modern and somewhat digital. She released a debut EP called “Fantasy” in July, making her the first Voice winner to release a major project under her label deal since Season 9. She’s released music videos for two songs from that EP — “David Bowie” and “To Be Young” and recently told Milk she’d like to do the same for the rest.

Chris Blue, Season 12: He released his debut EP, the appropriately titled “Fresh Start” on Friday. It comes more than two years after his Voice victory and was released independently after what he said was an amicable parting of ways with Republic Records. Debut single “Inside Ya” delivers the positive, feel-good vibe Chris says he hopes to create with his music, and he’s already planning a second EP for early 2020.

Sundance Head, Season 11: He released his first album in more than three years and his first since winning The Voice on Dean Dillon’s Wildcatter Records in January. “Stained Glass and Neon” features 13 songs. And while Sundance has a writing credit on just two, the former Voice champ applauded Dillon for helping him credit an album “that just screams Sundance Head.” Sundance has been busy touring ever since and last month played the Grand Ole Opry and a sold-out show at Blake Shelton’s Ole Red in Tishomingo, Ok.

Alisan Porter, Season 10: She released her long-awaited post-Voice album, a nine-song country collection with a hefty dose of soul and sass on Sept. 13. She called it “Pink Cloud” because “you never look away from a pink cloud. You have to notice it. You have to take a picture of it … and that’s how I feel about this record. It’s undeniable.” Alisan celebrated with album release shows in Nashville and Los Angeles.

Jordan Smith, Season 9: He made news earlier this month when he crawled away with just a scratch on his arm from a crash in which his car overturned on a Kentucky interstate. Musically, he took part in a tribute to Christian artist Michael W. Smith last month and will headline the bicentennial celebration in his hometown (Harlan County, Ken.) next month. He’s also been involved in efforts to help Harlan County workers affected by the bankruptcy of the Blackjewel LLC, a coal company that employed 1,100 workers in Kentucky, West Virginia and Virginia.

Sawyer Fredericks, Season 8: Still just 20, Sawyer released a music video for “Should’ve Known Better” and a single called “Turning the Shoulder” so far this year. In a Sept. 8 Facebook Live video, he assured fans more music is coming. He’s working on an EP and will soon unveil a Patreon campaign to help fund a full album. Meanwhile, Sawyer’s been touring last crazy, having just completed an appearance at Americanafest in Nashville and announced a new slate of fall-winter shows, including several East Coast dates.

Craig Wayne Boyd, Season 7: He hasn’t released music this year, but he’s performing regularly. And how’s this for a collaboration: Former American Idol standout Casey James just completed a successful Kickstarter campaign for a new album and has been promoting a song called “Love Me When I’m Leaving,” featuring Craig and Season 10 Voice runner-up Adam Wakefield. The three will be performing a show together next month in California. And last month, Craig and his wife Taylor announced they’re expecting their third child together — Craig’s fourth.

Josh Kaufman, Season 6: He released his first album since The Voice, “Ndoxo, Vol. 1,” in March. It’s a nine-track album; most of the songs were written by Josh and producer Bleu McAuley. Josh describes the album as heavily influenced by the music he grew up with in the 1980s and ’90s. His first major post-Voice release was a six-track EP in 2016. Both were released independently, after Josh’s post-Voice record deal failed to produce music. And his busy tour schedule includes an already scheduled Christmas show.

Tessanne Chin, Season 5: The big news from Tessanne came on Sept. 10, when she posted a blurry photo of her and a male embracing with the caption: “Oh Baby !!!! #2020 #OverTheMoon #BeyondGrateful #WeCantWaitToHoldYou” Yep, the Season 5 champ and her man, later identified as Brandon, are expecting a baby girl. Musically, Tessanne’s lone release of 2019 is a song called “Be the One,” a collaboration with Natural High on Delicious Vinyl Island. You can find it on Spotify. “More to come soon!” Tessanne wrote in mid-June, when the song landed. “Thank you for your patience.”

Danielle Bradbery, Season 4: Danielle released her debut album, “I Don’t Believe We’ve Met,” in late 2017, so no major releases were on tap for 2019. But she’s treated fans to a pair of impressive covers — “Psycho” by Post Malone and “Shallow” by Lady Gaga, teaming up with Park McCollum for the hit song from “A Star is Born.” She also opened the Big Machine Vodka 400 by singing the national anthem at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway earlier this month.

Cassadee Pope, Season 3: Cassadee released her second album since The Voice in February, saying “Stages” “represents the ups and downs of the last two years of her life.” Lead single “Take You Home” cracked the Top 50 on the country singles chart; the album peaked at number 39 on the country albums chart. Cassadee, who just turned 30, also opened several dates on Maren Morris’ Girl: The World Tour; then headlined CMT’s Next Women of Country Tour. More recently, she’s been on a songwriting jaunt in Europe and happily shared photos of the trip on social media.

Jermaine Paul, Season 2: Seven years after winning the show, the former collaborator with Alicia Keys remains the only Voice champ not to release a major post-show project (EP or album). But he did release a single called “Water” last month and runs JP Entertainment in New York, providing live music for events from weddings and other sorts of events.

Javier Colon, Season 1: No new music yet from Javier so far in 2019, but he appeared on Broadway for a special show called “Javier is Home” at Feinstein’s/54 Below in May and checked off a bucket list item in June when he opened four shows for India Arie and got to sing with her on stage. “Dreams do come true,” Javier wrote on social media. His last major music release was the album “Gravity” in April 2016.