Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Wilkes, a Top 24 finisher on The Voice Season 14, has released a new EP

How did he accomplish that so quickly?

Planning was the key, Wilkes told Voice Views.

In fact, the singer-songwriter from Waleska, Ga., said that planning began before he ever stepped onto The Voice stage.

“My plan was the get it out as fast as possible without sacrificing quality,” he said of the EP, which features four originals and a full-length version of his highly-celebrated cover of No Doubt’s “Don’t Speak.”

“Luckily, being a songwriter I record demos for the majority of songs I write. So, I already had recording for all of the songs on the EP except for ‘Don’t Speak.’ To track the record we just had to go into what I had already recorded to make tweaks to what was there.

“I had a game plan going into the show knowing that I would want to put out music immediately. I had the track listing in my head and the demo sessions organized before I ever even got to my blind audition. I organized that plan the night I got the call from the show. So, this was very thought out.”

Originals on the EP include “Stealing from Heaven,” an excellent pre-Voice single that Wilkes gave a “new and improved mix” for the album and “Not Like That,” a country song about unrequited love with a neat twist at the end.

And more treats are coming fans way. For instance, Wilkes plans to release a music video for “Good To Be Us,” a song he wrote with Keesy Timmer and Lacy Green. The video was at least partly filmed at Wilkes’ album release show in Woodstock, Ga., last weekend.

“Me and Keesy were talking bout how we’ve both had times in our marriages when we pretty much had nothing material wise and everything in life seemed to be going wrong,” Wilkes recalls. “But in spite of that, we were completely happy because we were going through it all with the person we loved.

“(The song) stemmed from tons of conversation points about that main idea. Overall it’s a song about being content regardless of your circumstances. One line says ‘yea, we’re broke but we’re happy.’ That perfectly sums up the whole song perfectly. The relationship I have with my wife will always be full of joy regardless of what we’re going through.

“At the end of the day the people I have around me are all I need to be happy. Everything else is just a bonus, not a necessity.”

In fact, Wilkes will be playing a free acoustic set Sunday (July 29) at the grand opening of his wife’s newly expanded Bloom Hair Design salon in Canton, Ga.

Wilkes says he’s currently booking shows and is especially looking forward to one coming up on Oct. 27 in Cedartown, Ga. That night, he’ll be performing with Season 14 Voice colleagues Kaleb Lee and Pryor Baird.

“That one will be incredible,” he says.

You can keep up with Wilkes through his website and Facebook page. On Twitter, he’s @WILKESmusic.

Here’s “Good To Be Us” from the “Wilkes” EP.