17-year-old Savannah Brister wanted to see if she could audition for The Voice. She never thought she would make it on the stage and be chosen.
“I was like, what the heck, why not try it?” laughs Brister.
The Memphis native auditioned for season 16 of the popular NBC singing competition and received two chair turns, one from Voice veteran Kelly Clarkson and the other from newcomer John Legend. Brister knew it was a no-brainer when she chose the Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony award winning Legend to be her coach.
“He’s John Legend! Who else do you pick?” exclaims Brister. “He’s basically done absolutely everything in this industry and excelled at it. He turned around five seconds after I began singing and I was like wow he has faith!”
Brister’s musical journey began at age seven when she started playing piano. By age 13 she wanted to sing, so her grandparents gave her voice lessons for her birthday. From there, the upbeat teenager was hooked. She likes all music, but mostly gravitates to soul and rhythm and blues.
“I got those Memphis roots in me,” says Brister.
At the age of 15, Brister began writing songs. She sees song writing as her outlet, a place for her to say whatever she wants without her actually having to say it. She likes the process of creating positive energy through song and spreading her happiness to other people. She recorded and released two of her original songs, See Me and Emerald, in 2018. She believes she is most vulnerable when she is writing and loves creating new ideas.
Before auditioning for The Voice, Brister would sing wherever she could; church, festivals, any gig she could get around Memphis. She performed in many places around town, but there is one venue she would love to entertain the crowds.
“I’ve always wanted to sing at Lafayette’s (Music Room),” says Brister. “I’ve always thought that was a really cool place… I’ve always wanted to have a full blown gig there.”
As for her current time on The Voice, Brister loves meeting everyone involved with the show and getting to know their music.
“We are all a huge family,” says Brister.
Working with Legend has also been a wonderful experience and sees him as a father figure.
“He’s been a great mentor,” says Brister. “He’s very efficient and in moments where I wasn’t entirely myself he would just pick up on it immediately and be like ‘no, you just be you,’ and that’s just, especially for a 17-year-old, that’s awesome to hear.”
However, Brister still gets nervous around Legend in rehearsals.
“I’m standing in front of him (Legend) and I’m in another world right now,” laughs Brister. “I’m just standing there smiling!”
Brister hopes her time on The Voice will propel her to achieve her dream of performing her own music and sharing it with everyone.
“The dream has always been to release my own music and then be able to go out on tour with it,” says Brister. “Not so much headlining; just going out and have a captive audience every night and be able to share my story and my music would be a dream come true.”
The Voice can be seen Monday and Tuesday nights on NBC.
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