I've got friends in low places

I met Jon back in 2009 when I asked him at a open mic night if he ever wanted to sing and collaborate with me sometime. It took me like 3 seconds to realize that he was once on American Idol---top 8 no less---and that I had just asked a former contestant of American Idol if he wanted i to sing and collaborate with me sometime. Mortified, I was expecting the most arrogant holier-than-thou reaction but no! Jon was, of course, so nice and we ended up doing a few performances together through out the years in Rexburg, Idaho.

Ryan entered the picture in 2010 when he asked me to be the lead in his and Jon's new folk opera Deep Love. I was studying music at the time (Opera performance) and I totally JUMPED at the idea of a folk opera. How awesome?! So in the fall of 2010 I was Constance and fell in love with the genius music and heart wrenching story-line. Ryan basically wrote the entire thing with his friend Garret Sherwood, also attending school in Rexburg. I had the opportunity to sing with Ryan in his little side project band, Sunshine Lady and the Moonlight Lady (I was the Moonlight Lady) and we all became good friends.

When I heard they were going to be auditioning on The Voice, I knew it was a no-brainer. They are just too good. Watching them in the show was so fun because their personalities totally shined through. You fell in love with them AND their music. I wanted to catch up with them and record their thoughts. So obviously sushi was on the menu, and music was on the table. What were you thinking when Amber started singing? Jon: i think we knew already what was going to happen. We had heard her during rehearsals and it just felt like Adam had made up his mind by the time the show started. There was no hesitation after our performance, I think his mind was already made up. Were you surprised that Usher turned first? Ryan: Yes Jon: Yeah Ryan:Made me start thinking about him differently Jon: Usher was cool, the whole show he was very into what we were doing. He totally got it. Jon, How was your experience on The Voice different than your experience on Idol? Jon:The Voice is different in that at the core it's an A&R experience. The whole point of the show is to develop your talent rather than to showcase you. Idol was all about the "display and criticize". And I felt with The Voice we were fairly represented. How did being a duo give you the upper (and lower) hand? Ryan: Well with two people on stage you could say there are strength in numbers. But the weakness of the duo is that they have a stigma of not doing very well and that it's not going to work. Jon: After the show Adam came to us and basically said, "I think you're fantastic, and you'll continue this but this show is not for you". What opportunities have you had from the show? Jon: well something really cool was that we got to perform on Access Hollywood, and we were the first singers from any reality tv show to perform somewhere else other than the actual show during the competition portion. Ryan: We played a Sunshine Lady and the Moonlight Lady song (an original of Ryans from years ago) What now? Ryan: Right now we are just recording, playing shows and being musicians. We are starting a kickstart page to boost our record. Taking things one day at a time and continuing to push forward.
Alexandra Lovin Gigg Social Media Coordinator