The second time was the charm for The Voice contestant Kaleb Lee. After moving to Nashville, landing a record deal, and having that fall through, Kaleb said that he learned a lot about the music industry. “I learned firsthand you’re going to get a lot of ‘noes.’ I feel like anybody that’s anybody has a story like that where they’d run into so many hurdles and obstacles […]”
Kaleb made the difficult decision to leave Nashville and move to Florida to support his family. He revealed, “The discipline of choosing my family over the music was a big struggle for me in the beginning.”
Family is very important to Kaleb, and his wife and he have two biological daughters, along with an adopted son from Nicaragua. They started having kids at a young age and he admitted, “It was like, we looked at each other and we were pregnant.” After having the two girls, they knew they wanted a third child to complete their family. They strongly felt that it was time and after a 3 ½ year adoption process, they picked up their son Jojo when he was 11 months old. “We wouldn’t be the same family if we didn’t have him.”
Years later, Kaleb received a call from the producers at The Voice, asking him to audition for season 14 of the show. He said that his wife encouraged him to get back into music and back to Music City, so when this opportunity arose, she was his biggest supporter.
It’s always risky to audition for a competition where the contestants need to step away from their lives and into the unknown, but in this case, it worked out. After being away from music for so long, Kaleb felt like he had nothing to lose and he stated that he didn’t want to live with the regret of not trying. Kaleb’s voice turned both Kelly Clarkson and Blake Shelton’s chairs during his audition and he spent one round with Blake, until Kelly stole him. “Kelly is amazing,” he began. “I really can’t say enough…she’s the real deal. I’m so thankful that she stole me.” Kaleb reached the top six on The Voice that season and although he didn’t win, good things came out of it.
After The Voice
Kaleb recently released his first single titled, “Cooler Weather,” which is an upbeat, feel-good, summer song and perfect for this time of year. “Thank God for bringing the heat and cooler weather,” it says.
He continues to work with Kelly, who is the executive producer of his new EP being released in the fall. Kelly will also appear on the album, singing on one of the tracks. Kaleb described her as a hard worker who advocates and makes things happen.
Kaleb is also spending a lot of time playing shows and even had his first CMA Fest appearance in Nashville this year. He mentioned how excited he was and said, “It’s always great to see people come out– people who saw me on the show and have heard my music.”
Kaleb is looking forward to new music and we can’t wait to hear the rest of the EP. You can learn more at https://kaleblee.com/.
