Chris Cauley, A Singer With Bath County Ties, Makes The Cut On “The Voice”

Hot Springs, VA – On Monday night February 13th, Chris Cauley appeared on the TV show “The Voice” as part of the show’s blind auditions. Chris has ties to Bath County. His grandparents are Pete and the late Faye Cauley of Millboro. Faye was a big musical influence on Chris and she was part of an introductory piece about Chris on the show.

“Oh, that was my favorite part, to be quite honest,” says Cauley. “Just to have so many conversations with my grandmother growing up about music and just to see her light up whenever I would mention any type of mild success I might be having at the time. She would ask a thousand questions after because she was so curious. It was something she never really got to be a part of.”

“But I know she’s smiling down, because she’s famous now. She was heard on national TV in front of millions of people singing a song that was at your radio station. I know that she’s smiling down and she’s thrilled that Blake Shelton got to hear her sing.”

“The Voice” features four judges, who are all noteworthy recording artists, Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green, Adam Levine and Blake Shelton. Each judge chooses a team of singers through a blind audition. Both Cee Lo Green and Adam Levine wanted Chris for their teams, but Chris chose to be on Adam’s team. On the show, Chris called his appearance on “The Voice” the biggest part of his musical life so far.

“I learned poise,” says Cauley. “To be up there in that position with four of the biggest names in music today, that are relevant in music today, to have them turning away from you and to have them spin around to say I want you on my team and then to have them almost fight over you. It’s just bizarre; I don’t know of another way to put it. I learned that I am doing what I am supposed to be doing in life, but also that it takes a ton of discipline and to get sleep when you can.”

Chris makes his living singing. He’s a soul and blues artist, touring colleges around the country. He’s also toured the world as part of stage shows. So, why did he try out for “The Voice”?

“That’s actually a great question,” says Cauley. “I’m a big anti-reality TV fan to be quite honest. A lot of it’s kind of silly. But they actually approached me. One of my college booking agents knows someone affiliated with the show and they had mentioned it to me. And at first, I was like Absolutely not, it’s kind of silly.'”

“But then I looked back at season one and Javier Colon, who obviously won season one, was somewhat of a friend of mine and we had crossed paths a few times. As soon I saw that Javier was on it I thought Ok, well if he’s doing it, then it must be a legit show’.”

The show was taped months in advance and although Chris knew the outcome of his audition, he couldn’t talk about it. He had not seen the final edited version of his appearance and he had to watch the show just like everyone else. In the days following the show’s airing, Chris was working, out on tour that included stops in Ohio and Philadelphia before going back home to Atlanta for the weekend.

“I’m a little exhausted,” says Cauley. “I haven’t slept a lot. I’ve been doing interview after interview and conference calls with NBC and press and all this kind of crazy stuff that I’m not used to. And I definitely can’t complain though, I’m exhausted, but it’s a good reason to be tired.”