Artist Cait Martin competed during The Voice’s Knockout round. She delivered a stunning rendition of “Iris” by the Goo Goo Dolls. After impressing the judges, she advanced to the Playoffs. Coaches Blake Sheldon, Chance the Rapper, Niall Horan, and Kelly Clarkson hoped to discover the next big singing phenomenon. The Knockout rounds continue on Monday nights on NBC.
Cait had spent years traveling and performing as a theatrical vocalist. She acted in tour and cruise ship productions. She performed in musicals and saw success in voice-over work. To learn about Cait’s exciting performances on The Voice, read the interview transcript below.
The Knockturnal: Can you first talk about how you got started with The Voice? How did you audition and what did that process look like?
Cait Martin: Yeah, for sure! Just getting through the entire process it’s so crazy to think that it started almost a year ago last May was when we found out that I would be able to have this opportunity, and you know you go through a series of just different interviews and auditions before you even get to L.A. to rehearse your song and perform it for the coaches, and it’s definitely a scary and nerve-wracking experience getting to do that, but once you see a chair turn around, all of that fear just kind of goes and you just go for it and you know it just starts and takes off from there!
The Knockturnal: OK, that’s really interesting. How did singing on The Voice connect with your previous experiences of being a singer and a musician?
Cait Martin: Yeah, I mean yeah, I mean being a singer just getting on stage and singing is the easy part right it’s the cameras and the lights and the very daunting four chairs that are right there behind you with the names of these mega superstars behind them and you’re like “Wow Kelly Clarkson is right behind this chair! Niall Horan is right behind this chair!” And if I do a good enough job, they’re going to turn around and say, “Hey girl, come along, be on my team.” So it’s really scary to think that and that’s different from just getting on stage where you can kind of see the audience and you know hopefully, everyone is going to enjoy it but you know, not only having one person turn around but having all four coaches turn around was kind of like the validation I needed to be like “Okay, I think I can actually do really well in this competition.”
The Knockturnal: That’s great, so how has music been therapeutic for you?
Cait Martin: Oh my gosh, music is the thing that has kept me going in the most difficult of times. You know we’ve had a family tragedy in the last couple of years and I kind of lost my drive for singing and performing in general, but you know when the pandemic hit I had so much family that was like “Maybe you could just come online and sing a couple of songs”, and I saw how that connected everyone and how it brought a little bit of joy in such a really dark time, and it made me realize that, okay if I have a gift, if I have something that could help unite people if I could bring joy to someone’s life, and I’m doing a disservice not going out here and doing that. So I really started slow in getting back into singing and trying to find my voice as an artist and the second I committed myself to do that, this opportunity came around so I’m like OK this is what I’m meant to be doing.
The Knockturnal: How do you choose what songs to sing on The Voice?
Cait Martin: You sing… For me, I don’t want to sing anything that I didn’t emotionally connect with in some kind of way. So I would try to connect with the lyrics of a song, I would try to connect with the feel of a song, and if it wasn’t there, then I’m like, “This probably is not gonna be a good choice for me.” So if it checked all of those boxes, I was like, yeah, and then it was a matter of trying to figure out how to make those songs my own.
The Knockturnal: So what does that look like, the process of making those songs your own?
Cait Martin: Listening to the lyrics really intently, listening to the lyrics really intently picking out spots that I connect with and seeing how I can convey the emotion and in a different way vocally, like [how it would] like there are certain parts of ‘As It Was’ that just felt so much bigger to me as I was singing them than I think what the original melody line was allowing for. So that’s when I set that down with my vocal coach, Noel Smith, and we kind of put an arrangement of the song together that felt like more connected to myself and my story.
The Knockturnal: OK that’s great. So it says that you competed during the knockout round of The Voice and that you’ve advanced to the playoffs. Congratulations! So [how are you preparing] how are you preparing for the playoffs specifically?
Cait Martin: Well actually, the playoffs that are normal life have been pretaped so we’ve already kind of done the playoffs, but it’s a really similar journey, you know just finding songs that you connect with and resonate with emotionally and finding a way to add your voice and your heart to that song.
The Knockturnal: Okay, that makes sense. How did you decide what to sing specifically for the playoff round, since you already recorded it?
Cait Martin: Yeah we did, and I mean at the moment, I go back and forth with the different ideas of what it could be, what would be the best choice, and then at the end of the day too, it’s like, it’s a TV show, and you want to do something that is exciting and powerful as well, and not just you know “This is what I want to sing for this week”, so take into consideration all of that stuff when I’m picking out the songs that I want to sing for the show.
The Knockturnal: Okay, that’s really interesting. So, what have you learned from being a singer on The Voice, and competing in this high-stake competition?
Cait Martin: Um, the biggest two things that I’ve learned is one you can do a great job, and give your best performance, while still being kind to everyone around you and still hopeful and helpful to all of the other contestants. You know, it is a competition but we’re all just doing our own individual thing, so trying to give encouragement and passing that along has been so helpful to me in my own process, in my own journey during this. And also that goes on to number two, which is that I am capable! You know, I’ve sung in a lot of musicals and a lot of other arenas where I kind of became another character. This experience has shown me that I can be successful being just me.
The Knockturnal: Okay, that makes sense. Do you have future plans beyond The Voice?
Cait Martin: Yeah, of course! I, um, I would love to put out a record and make music that is for myself. I sing and I song write as well, and I do voiceover too, so I would love to get into the world of voiceover and animation and big movies, and things like that. This opportunity had kind of shown the world what my voice can do. It’s kind of unlocked a window for me that I didn’t even think was possible for opportunities, so I’m really excited to just go forward and see what all is available to me in using my voice as a career.
The Knockturnal: Okay, that’s really great! Do you have anything else you’d like to share?
Cait Martin: Only if people are really enjoying it, to follow me on all of my socials. It’s CaitMartinSings, I’m at C-A-I-T Martin Sings, and hopefully, I can be putting out music and just would love to just get more support as we keep going through the show.
The Knockturnal: That’s great! So I guess as one last follow-up to that, what can fans of The Voice do to support you? Is it like a voting competition where you vote for it
Cait Martin: Yeah I mean the biggest thing that you can do is just follow, and share the videos that I’ve been able to do on The Voice so far. I have three really amazing performances that have been put out by NBC, and the more [of] those are our shared around, the more support that we get from the show and the network, and even for myself. You know if you like it, and you know someone who might like it, share it! You know the more fans, the better, and the sooner it’ll be before I can put out my original music.
The Knockturnal: OK, great! I have no other questions, so thank you so much for allowing me to interview you today!
