You’ve heard the old saying about how does one get to Carnegie Hall. But how does a young girl from North Dakota end up on stage with one of country music’s biggest stars?
Well…it certainly helps to have “The Voice”.
Gwen Sebastian can trace her love of music to her early childhood. “I thought I wanted to do that (singing) when I was about five”, said Sebastian. “That’s how I grew up…singing with my parents”. After spending some time on her back-up plan (nursing school), the talented singer/songwriter moved to Nashville and began to enjoy a successful career; four albums and legions of fans, then found herself at a crossroad.
Enter Blake Shelton and the NBC show “The Voice”. Sebastian competed on the program’s second season, and her audition performance of Jennifer Nettles’ “Stay” turned three of the four judges chairs…including Shelton’s. So what was that like, performing for some of the biggest names in music, not to mention viewers across America?
“It was one of the biggest things that’s happened to me in my career. I loved it!”, she said, adding “it was a little different, because I’d never been involved in a television program before. The overall experience was great”.
While she didn’t win that season, she bonded with Shelton (who became her coach on the show) and his wife, country superstar Miranda Lambert. She has been sharing back-up singing duties on both stars’ tours, not to mention keeping up with her own solo career. So how does she juggle all of the different engagements?
“The Google calendar is nice…it’s color coded. I use it a lot”!
Sebastian continues her touring duties with both Shelton and Lambert, but also looks forward to getting out on the road with her own band, and that includes her drummer/husband Louis Newman. The couple married in 2013. “I miss him right now”, she said, adding that they’ll be reunited when she plays a concert on July 4th in her home state of North Dakota.
Sebastian also owns a Billboard number one hit with the song “My Eyes”, a duet she recorded with Shelton. The two can also be heard in the new movie “Max”. Their version of the Bob Dylan song “Forever Young” is on the soundtrack. She says Shelton and Lambert are “good people”, and credits their friendship with advancing her own career.
So, with such a busy calendar, can we expect Gwen Sebastian to slow down anytime soon? Not likely.
“It’s fun!”, she said with a big smile. “Music is my outlet, and I get to live that everyday”.
