Josiah Hawley is not only returning to The Voice for the finale – but he’s also got new music of his own to reveal today! BFTV caught up with the Team Usher singer to talk about his now-available EP, plus returning to the hit NBC series and how he plans to make the most of his national exposure.
“I’m really happy exactly as it happened,” said Josiah, who left The Voice after his live show performance of Coldplay’s “Clocks,” and will be returning to sing with the rest of Team Usher for the finale. “I feel like it’s been a great stepping stone for me to step into the next phase of my career. It’s helped me to be seen and be known enough to have meetings with some very cool people.
“The good thing is too, because I got [voted] off when I [did], it also helps not to be pigeonholed,” he added. “I’m super-grateful for the show, but at the same time, you don’t want to be known as ‘the reality show person’ for the rest of your life.”
He told us that after you leave the show, “Two things happen. The first thing is, you can just kind of breathe for a second. You don’t have the stress. And then it hits you real quick that ‘Now I’ve got to do this on my own, and I’ve got to get out there and make something of myself, because that was just step one.’ Then it becomes real. And it’s exciting.”
Step two for Josiah is the release of his EP, plus a corresponding YouTube web series. “I definitely had some music in the works already, but I finished a brand new song that I’m really excited about,” he revealed. “It does have influence because of the show and what went well, and the response I got on certain songs. It’s one that I think will have good reception with people.” That song is called “Beautiful To Me” and you’ll be able to get it on Noisetrade for free, along with his other new tracks, starting today.
“It’s kind of a love song and it just highlights my musical influences. I’m a pop-rock artist,” Josiah explained. “We stuck a little bit of jazz in there. It’s just a smooth song and it’s really fun.”
He has a plan to keep connected with the new fans he made through his TV exposure, staying active on social media including YouTube, Twitter and Instagram, so that you can see fresh videos and behind-the-scenes photos. “Twitter, I wasn’t very huge on it before the show,” he admitted with a laugh. “I had 700 some followers and now I have over 61,000. The same with Instagram. The goal was, I spoke with my lawyers right after the show and they’re like ‘Your social media’s blown up, that’s great. You’ve just got to keep going, get yourself out there in front of everybody.'” Now he’s definitely in the spotlight, and he’ll hopefully stay there.
Although he found himself as the heartthrob of The Voice, Josiah wants fans to know that he’s more than just a good-looking white guy with a guitar. “When the show started, they always have a story that they want to start with, to reveal a little bit about the artist,” said Josiah, whose on-air story focused on his modeling career.
“What I wanted people to really see is I grew up in a huge family – I’m the second of six kids – and it wasn’t a small town but it wasn’t a big town. I grew up doing concrete construction. That was my whole life. Every time I go back home to visit, that’s what I do. [I'm] just a hard worker in that sense, and an athlete, and I’ve been able to take those principles and apply them to music. If you want to be successful in music, you’ve got to work hard every day, all day.”
You can check out Josiah’s new music on his YouTube channel and download it on Noisetrade today. Also be sure to follow Josiah on Twitter (@JosiahHawley). The Voice crowns its season-four winner tonight on NBC.
(c)2013 Brittany Frederick. Appears at Starpulse and Examiner with permission. All rights reserved. No reproduction permitted. Visit my official website and follow me on Twitter at @tvbrittanyf.
