Popular local musician Sterlin “Stee” Colvin Jr. takes the national stage on The Voice

Celebrity connection: Stee

Story by Bailey Gilliam

Local musician Sterlin “Stee” Colvin Jr. turned more than heads with his blind audition on NBC’s The Voice on Oct. 2 – he turned all four celebrity coaches’ chairs. John Legend, Gwen Stefani, Reba McEntire and Niall Horan all wanted Stee on their team upon hearing Stee’s impressive performance of the falsetto-filled Maroon 5 song “Sugar.” John even blocked Niall from being his coach. If you’ve ever seen Stee with Ear Candy perform locally, and you probably have, then you know his talents already. Still, it’s even more impressive to see his familiar face on national television. To commemorate his recent achievement, we chatted with the musician to learn more about the experience.

[LOCAL Life] How did you end up being on The Voice? [Stee] I don’t want it to sound like I didn’t want to because that’s not the truth, but my cousin, Matthew, really believed in me, my ability, my artistry and the whole thing. But I had decided I wasn’t going to do any more singing-competition shows at all. I wasn’t going to do any of them. I said to myself, “I have Stee and The Ear Candy. I’ve been successful. We’re working, and I can navigate this on my own.” But Matthew was like a dog with a bone. He would say, “You really should go on the show. You’re really, really great. The world would love you if you go on the show.” So he was one of the reasons I decided to do it. The opportunity had come before, and I said no. I said no probably three times to the show. I just didn’t want to do it. It was a lot of work, and I didn’t feel like being rejected and all this other stuff. So I thought, “I’d rather just stay in my little happy place and be with my fan base and people who love me.” But Matt was like, “Dude, just do it. Go for it again. You know, strike. Now you’re young, and you’re in the middle of it. So just do it.” 

So I auditioned, and I kept getting callbacks. It was weird because I thought, “Why do they keep calling me back? Somebody’s going to say no now, right?” I was waiting for the no. And the no just never came. It was, “Hey, we like that. We liked your audition. Can you send in another audition?” and then, “We like that one too. Now we want to try you doing this one.” And then it was. “Hey, we want to talk to you,” and “Okay, now this person wants to talk to you.” And I kept thinking, “Really? Y’all really like me?” And before you knew it, I was in Hollywood in front of John, Gwen, Niall and Reba.

[LL] You were surprised that they wanted you on the show? [S] It’s funny because, by the fifth callback, I knew that I was going on. That’s when I knew. And I was like, “Oh, they’re serious.” And now, I’m not going to lie to you; I was pretty shocked. When you do something like this for a long time, you automatically assume you’re not what they want. Because it’s always been the case; you know, “You’re talented, but you’re not really what we’re looking for this year.” You know, so you hear that enough. But I have such a loyal fan base here, and that’s why I was I was OK. I was thinking, “I’m not going to. I’m not going to do it. I’m cool. I’m working. People are asking me to do weddings. I guess I’ll just do that.” But they kept calling back, and it just kept going. So I’m very, very happy with how it turned out. It was the best decision that I ever made. And I’m very happy that Matthew suggested it and kept on “annoying” me with it. Yes, he did annoy me. At a point, I was like, “Okay, dude, leave it alone. I’m fine. I don’t need it.” But Oh, my God. I did need it. I really did need it. It’s changed my life in a very profound way.

[LL] What has the process been like so far? [S] They have the audition process, and the cool thing about it is that it’s a long one. They check you out and see how good of a singer you are, and from that point, they want to get more into your personality and see if that’s a match. I’m very blessed they saw me as a match and an excellent fit for this season. The season has been a blast thus far. I can’t complain about any of it. The experience is fantastic. The co-contestants are great, and our coaches care about you doing well. And they want the best for you as far as the way that you’re presented and represented on the show. So, incredible experience.

[LL] How did you feel when you got a four-chair turn? [S] I’m going to be honest with you: I had no idea it was even happening. It’s funny because when you’re on the stage, you kind of zone out. The only person I recognized who turned was John because he was the first to turn. After he turned, I thought, “Oh, I got through.” And it was just like everything was glazed over. You could see them turning, but it wasn’t something I was paying attention to. I was just trying to ensure I was focused on making the entire audition great. Because sometimes, what can happen is if somebody turns around and you freak out, and you think, “Oh my gosh, I got a chair,” then the performance goes to crap. I was just making sure that that didn’t happen. So I recognized that they were turning, but it didn’t hit me until I was finished. And that’s why I said, “Woo!” Because I realized I got four chairs. And at the end of the day, especially competing and seeing so many of your friends go before you, you just say, “I don’t want to be too ambitious. I just need one chair.” And the outcome was four. So I’m happy.

[LL] Why did you pick John Legend to be your coach? [S] John Legend’s body of work speaks for itself. It’s funny because in my show, for years, I’ve done one of my favorite John Legend songs, which is “Tonight.” And I’ve always said I felt like John Legend could be someone I’d love to sing a song he wrote for me. His songs are beautiful. His lyrics are great. As a producer, he’s just crazy great. So the first thing you’re thinking is if I want this guy to write a song for me (and I would love to do one of his songs), of course, I want him to coach me. There’s so much I can learn from John; he does so many different genres of music and has put his producer hat on for so many kinds of music that I knew he would be the perfect coach to take me far in this competition. Everybody loves him. Why wouldn’t you want to be coached by somebody who could teach you how to be as viable of an artist as he is? It feels like there’s nothing I can’t learn from him.

[LL] What’s your day-to-day schedule like there? [S] It’s funny because it can vary. Some days you have a free day to be able just to relax. But then when you’re working, it is wheels up at 6:30 a.m., sometimes 5:45 a.m. You get to work in the studio and work with your coach. Make sure you’re sounding great. Listen to your song, like your choices regarding how you will sing the song, and they help you out as much as you can. Of course, in there, there’s wardrobe and makeup and all this other stuff. But there’s so much time to perfect what you will do. But your schedule is chock-full. Sometimes it’ll be 6 a.m.-2 p.m. Sometimes 11 a.m.-7 p.m. It just depends on what it is that day that you have to do. But we stay pretty busy.

[LL] Do you get a say in your wardrobe? [S] Yeah, I do. They ask you how you’re feeling. They’ll ask you to put together some things that you think represent you best. And then they go from there. One thing I’ll say about The Voice is that they do care about you being represented the way you want to be represented. They’re very serious about that. So you need to come in knowing what you want to be. And if you don’t know, that’s what collaboration is for. They definitely will help you to figure out a lane for yourself. But you want to know what you want to be on screen, and they are there to accommodate that. I love that part about it. You come there, and they ask, “So what do you think about this?” And I’ll agree. And they’ll say, “Well, we have two other options.” And I love everything. That was my experience. I knew some people who had a different experience, but I think that their experience wasn’t a bad one, but they wanted to find themselves even more. But that’s the beauty of The Voice. They want to get it right. But it was easy for me. I’m always easy.

[LL] What do you hope to get out of the experience? [S] I already did get out of the entire experience what I wanted to. So many talented people surround you. And my number one thing was always networking. I’ve always wanted to network. And you don’t realize who you compete with. These are people who are decorated in their own careers. And what you don’t understand is that making friends leads to collaborations and working with so many different people who have fan bases of their own. You put your talents together or your ideas together. You can do a lot of great things. The ultimate goal is to work with John and not only just work with him, but I would love to be on one of his tours and be his opening act. Being able to tour with John or to write with John, you know, let alone collaborate. If I got to that point, that would be unbelievable. But it wouldn’t even just be John. I love Niall, too, and to write a song for Niall would be insane. Anything. Even working with Gwen or if there’s a way to work with Reba, you know, these are the things that you go there for. To win is cool. But there are so many other benefits to doing The Voice and so many things they provide that you can’t even imagine the possibilities.

Watch Stee perform

Watch The Voice at 8 p.m. on Mondays and Tuesdays on NBC or streaming on Peacock TV. Hear Stee live with The Ear Candy at his regular haunts, like Kind of Blue. Check out the entertainment schedule at kindofbluehhisc.com.