INTERVIEW: JB Somers Talks New Season of The Voice and Blind Audition Experience

Season 23 of The Voice recently wrapped its Blind Audition round, meaning the coaches and viewers have met another cast with an abundance of talent with talents like JB Somers and Cait Martin. As the season’s first round concludes, the coaches’ panel, comprised of Kelly Clarkson, Blake Shelton, Chance the Rapper, and Niall Horan, has finished building their teams. They are gearing up for the next round of competition, the Knockout Round.

Amongst this season’s cast is Alabama native JB Somers. His performance of Joni Mitchell’s “A Case of You” garnered the interest of both Chance the Rapper and Kelly Clarkson. Ultimately, he made his way to Team Clarkson. and is looking toward learning from the “OG music competition champion.”

JB Somers spoke with Glitter about his reason for auditioning for The Voice, his experience so far, and what advice he has for aspiring contestants.

BRITTANY: JB, thank you so much for joining me. How are you today?

JB: Brittany, Thank you so much for having me on. I’m having a great day so far.

BRITTANY: That’s great to hear. I hope it continues to be great. Let’s take it back to the, you know, to the beginning. What inspired you to audition for The Voice?

JB: You know, I have watched the show for many, many years from when it first began. And back in season one, I just remember falling in love with the concept of the show, basing it around the artist’s voice, and that being the focal point of why someone would turn their chair for them and have them on their team. And so we always kind of dreamed about being a participant, it being a contestant. Never in a million years imagined that this would occur, but had always had that in my heart. So it’s been a dream come true being a part of The Voice.

BRITTANY: Absolutely. I think that was always just an interesting concept when it first came to light, the whole, you know, business and then really seeing who it is, and it’s like, oh my God, that’s you. You match the face to the voice. Congratulations on making it through the Blind Auditions. Let’s talk a little bit about that. Just take me back to that moment you’re getting ready to go out there. What’s going through your head?

JB: Don’t throw up. Have a good time. No, I’m just kidding. I mean, so many emotions are running through my head. Adrenaline is pumping full force. And I think the main thought that I had was I want to make my family and my sister, and my home state proud.

BRITTANY: And so as you’re up there, you’re giving us an exceptional cover of Joni Mitchell’s “A Case of You,” tell me, in that moment, you know, you’re seeing some of the chairs turn, and you’re singing, and you’ve got the lights and the cameras. What’s going through your body?

JB: Well, my eyes are closed for a lot of it because I was so nervous. So I remember when I did open my eyes, I saw that Kelly had turned her chair for me. The relief came over me, excitement. And then, soon after, Chance the Rapper turned for me, and I just I was overwhelmed and so humbled by their willingness to want me on their team in the first place to turn their chairs for me.

BRITTANY: Absolutely. I can only imagine. And in a way, did you kind of feel like this out-of-body experience, like, oh, my God, like I’m doing this? I can’t believe I’m here.

JB: Yes. Many of my cast members and I reminisce on the moment when we just felt like we probably just blacked out and couldn’t remember really anything occurring until we finished our song. And I feel pretty similar to that. It was such, like I said, an adrenaline-pumping moment that I was just on autopilot.

BRITTANY: Just as you mentioned, Kelly Clarkson and Chance the Rapper both turned their chairs for you. So tell me, one, was it hard to decide between the two because you’re standing there and you have to make a split decision?

JB: Yes. Oh, my gosh. That was one of the hardest decisions I’ve made so far in my life. And it seems so funny to have. The option is while to me I was just thankful that anyone turned their chair for me, it was a humbling experience for real. But to have both of these people that are superstars in their field fighting over me and I could, it was so hard to make that decision. I had my first choice, Kelly turn, and then I had my very close second choice, Chance turn, and Chance gave Kelly a run for her money in terms of the things that he was offering to coach me on. I mean, I think I went with a gut feeling, and I’m thankful that I’m on Team Kelly.

BRITTANY: Absolutely. And, you know, before joining The Voice, Kelly Clarkson is a megastar, right? Yes. What was it specifically about maybe her career, her knowledge that made you want to go with her?

JB: Well, I mean, she is the original singing competition winner, so she is the person that has the most knowledge of how this whole thing works. And I know that she’s navigated to such an immense career in music. I wanted to glean some information from her, and I wanted to. You know, for lack of a better term, sit at her feet and soak up that wisdom.

BRITTANY: Moving forward into the next few rounds, do you have maybe any strategies or any surprises in mind that we could expect?

JB: I’m just going to be me. I’m just going to do me. I’m going to be as authentically JB as I can with my delivery and in my artistry, and how I go about the choices singing-wise that I make. And yeah, I’m going to give it my all.

BRITTANY: Authenticity is key. Tell me a little bit, if any, what has the response been like from viewers?

JB: Insane. I was with my friends watching the episode on Monday night, and I remember at one point I had my watch on, and I was just getting buzzes, buzzes, buzzes, buzzes, buzzes after buzzes. And I look down at one point, and I had over 300 text messages only, and I was like, “oh, my gosh, I don’t even know how to start to respond to this.” It’s been amazing to see people from my life, at various points in my life reach out and just say how proud they are of me. In total, strangers reached out, sharing how my sister’s story touched them or how my performance was impactful in some way. It’s been immensely overwhelming in so many different ways, but in the best way as well.

BRITTANY: What has the response from your family been like?

JB: It’s been really good. I’m actually chatting with my brother this morning, and because I hadn’t heard from him, I was like, “Hey, did you really? Did you get a chance to check me out?” He said, “Oh, we watched, so sorry. We were it was so late, we didn’t want to bug you.” He was very proud. My dad texted me the morning after, and was just he said my heart was very moved by the whole experience. So thank you so much for making us proud. And my mom was as well proud as well. So it’s been awesome.

BRITTANY: That is so sweet. You know, we’re still a little bit early on in the season, but so far, is there anything new that you’ve learned about yourself throughout this process?

JB: Really good question. Is there anything new that I’ve learned about myself? I don’t know. That’s a really hard question. I don’t even know what to say. I think I’ve learned that I do surprise myself a little bit. You know, I know that I am a talented person, and I’ve worked really hard to cultivate this gift that I’ve been given. But I think just watching the episode back; I felt like I surprised myself a little bit just because, again, as I said, I blacked out, and I don’t really remember what happened during the song. Um, so some of the choices that I made, I was really, I was really pleased with my performance, and I’m thankful to have that memento of the show.

BRITTANY: That’s awesome. I know that’s like a piece of your life that you’re always going to have. It’s in the public, but still, something cool to have. Lastly, I just want to ask, you know, what advice do you have for somebody who’s a little hesitant to audition for The Voice?

JB: Oh, my gosh. I mean. I would just say jump in and just go for the worst. One of my friends from way back would say, and I’ve always lived by this kind of mantra, but the worst that someone can do is say no when you’re jumping in and asking for something or if you’re moving forward with some sort of competition or whatever it is in your life, the worst things people can do is say no in those situations. Yeah, so go for it now.

BRITTANY: Go for it. You hear that, go for it. JB, I want to thank you so much for taking the time out of your day to speak with me and to speak with us at Glitter. I wish you all the best in this competition, and we will be watching.

JB: Brittany, thank you so much for your time. I really appreciate it. Enjoy your day.

BRITTANY: Thanks, you too.

Watch the full interview below.

The Voice airs Mondays at 8:00 P.M. and on Tuesdays at 9:00 P.M. on NBC and the next day on Peacock.