In the fall of 2013 America was introduced to one 16-year-old girl’s very big voice. Jacquie Lee wowed the judges of the hit singing show, “The Voice” during her audition with some snazzy boots and a soulful rendition of Amy Winehouse’s “Back to Black” ultimately earning her a spot on Christina Aguilera’s team and eventually a spot as a finalist on the show.
Since the show wrapped up just over a year ago, the young singer has been busy building her career post-reality show. Lee’s experience on the show helped get her name out to a large audience, but as anyone who’s watched the rise and fall of many competitors on this singing show and others knows that it takes much more than those 15 minutes of fame to truly get their career off the ground.
“I think it definitely gives you a head start in terms of people knowing about you but you still have to stand on your own two feet as your own artist. You have to build real fans and put out great music just like every other artist,” said Lee.
In the last year or so Lee has done just that by doing a number of performances and tours and by releasing her first EP Broken Ones.
“I think people are starting to recognize me for my music, and I’ve been working hard writing, recording, touring and promoting and I am really grateful for the fans I’ve made.”
On her EP, Lee was able to channel her talents by writing all the songs for Broken Ones with the exception of a cover of Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Want to Have Fun.” On her songs Lee sings about love, heartbreak and managing on through the ups and downs of life.
“I have always been a writer and early on it was more like poetry and that poetry later became my songs,” she expressed.
And when writing and performing these songs Lee strives to be honest and genuine.
“It is important to me to be real in my music and to send out a message that people my age can connect to and to help them through things like it helps me through my own challenges. It’s my therapy and if it can help others too that makes me really happy.”
Lee was able to gain support and a fan-base from her time on “The Voice” giving her extra boost to push her in the right direction. In the last year she’s taken steps to not only maintain the connections she made with fans from the show but to also reach out to those who had yet to hear her name.
“I think some people who know me from the show are fans of me as a character on a reality show, but over the last year as my music has gotten out there and I’ve been opening tours for amazing artists like Shawn Mendes and Meghan Trainor people have started to become fans of me as an artist.”
For Lee, getting her music out on the road played a huge role in building that growing community of fans. Being able get on stage gave her the opportunity to present her music to new ears.
“Touring is a great way to connect with new fans because they get to experience you live and connect with your music on another level. It’s an amazing feeling to play a show and suddenly your twitter is blowing up with people who really connected with your performance,” Lee said.
The now 17-year-old singer has accomplished a lot since making it to The Voice finale. From playing shows all over the country to being considered by MTV as an “Artist to Watch in 2015” Lee had done more that what some teenagers only dream of. But all the success does not change the fact that she is still a teenager with the same kind of responsibilities to things like school on top of her budding career.
“It’s very challenging to balance school work and all the demands of being an artist,” she explained, “I do the best I can to balance everything and keep focus knowing that soon enough I will graduate high school and be able to focus on my career fully.”
Despite all the obstacles of being a blossoming young talent, Lee is finally where she’s always wanted to be.
“Since I was very young I knew I wanted to be a professional musician. I feel very lucky to have the chance to pursue my dream now!”
Words and interview by Annette Hansen
