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Cut Week airs tonight on The Voice, and Team Queen artist Bryan Jaymes admitted that it was “intimidating.” Jaymes, however, has a wealth of music experience and he brought refreshing level of candor to the interview. He received a three-chair turn for his Blinds rendition of “Every Time You Go Away,” and Jaymes advanced in the Battles Round with his spirited team-up with Brandon Diaz for Stevie Wonder’s “As.” Even with all his vocal chops and overall talent, Jaymes did not see himself as a singer. This is just one of the candid insights doled out by Jaymes, and check out the full video interview below!
Read more: Bryan Jaymes Talks ‘The Voice,’ Gaining Singer’s Confidence, And “Intimidating” Cut Week
“Every Time You Go Away” was in the top 10 of songs that Bryan Jaymes was opting for in his Blind Audition.”That was a song that they felt like the producers and everybody felt like I would do well with,” said Jaymes. “So when they chose that song for me, I found an acoustic version on YouTube. I was like, ‘Okay, this is gonna be really awesome for me to be able to showcase, like, my tone and just kinda the emotional qualities of my voice’ I brought it to the band and they changed the key right there within two minutes, and they’re like, ‘You ready to go?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, great,’ and they made me sound like a million bucks. It went off pretty well. I got three chairs, so I’m grateful.”
As for the Battles, Jaymes accurately noted that a Stevie Wonder song is “nothing to play with,” so it would definitely take time for him and Brandon Diaz to craft their version of “As.” “That song is insane,” said Jaymes. “So it took me a little while to kind of wrap my brain around like, ‘Okay, how can I make this song work for me?’ I honestly think that Brandon kind of got it a little bit quicker than I did, and it was actually quite a pleasure performing with him because he helped open me up a little bit more, and I think we pushed each other. We’re both kind of like consummate performers (and) we love being hams on stage. But at the same time, we’re mature guys, and so we were able to respect one another’s space and one another’s talent and voice.”
Next up for Jaymes is tonight’s Cut Week and over half of the artists will be eliminated when this round is completed. “It’s quite intimidating,” added Jaymes. “But I think it’s just all about your perspective on things. For me, I just look at that as an opportunity to share my talent and my heart and my abilities with the world, and I let everything else handle itself. You know, there’s a lot of things that are beyond my control. Singing (and) music is such a subjective thing. And I think the benefit that I have of being a little bit more mature at this point of my life versus if I was 19 or 20. I just have a more settled understanding of just kinda how these things work. So I mean, yeah, of course you’re competitive and you wanna go out there and put your best foot forward, but then you just have to let it go. And whatever happens on the other side of that, you let it do what it needs to do.”
Jaymes gained confidence from his experience on The Voice. Jaymes, in his IG bio, described himself as an artist, producer, songwriter, worship leader. “I’ve been singing for a long time, but I never really saw myself as a singer per se,” said Jaymes. “I always viewed singing with this whole thing where it’s just like you had to have the shawl and you had to walk around look- looking like a singer (laughs). And I just never felt like that guy. So it’s been a bit of a mental struggle for me to kind of buy into that aspect of my identity. But going through this process and getting some of the validation from Queen Latifah and Adam Levine and Kelly Clarkson and all of that, it’s just been like, okay, like you got it, dude. Go forth and be great, you know? And that’s what I plan to do.”
Full interview with Bryan James:
