Hersey alum among Chicago singers chosen on “The Voice”
Before she auditioned in front of the celebrity judges on NBC's "The Voice," Mount Prospect native Hanna Ashbrook remembers looking at the ground and focusing on her breathing.
"It was the strangest sort of calm. It's hard to explain," she said. "My mom (Laura) kept reminding me to breathe and do my best. So that was my mindset when I walked out there."
Ashbrook had just started the Tegan and Sara song "Closer" before being chosen by judge Gwen Stefani. Later, Stefani also selected St. Charles native Jeffery Austin to be on her team. Austin, singing Sam Smith's "Lay Me Down," hadn't performed for such a large audience since his days at St. Charles North High School.
Also making the cut were Chicagoans Mark Hood and Keith Semple, former lead singer of the band 7th Heaven. Semple was chosen for Pharrell Williams' team, and Hood for Adam Levine's team.
Ashbrook, 24, an alumna of Hersey High School in Arlington Heights and Columbia College in Chicago, said she didn't understand why the crowd was screaming after she'd only sung a few words, but then she saw Stefani swing her red chair around, signaling that she'd been chosen.
"That's probably one of my favorite memories I'll ever have," she said.
Ashbrook first appeared on stage when she was a student at River Trails Middle School in Mount Prospect, landing the lead in the school's first musical written by teacher Steve Flowers.
"That was my first big validation that I could possibly sing," she said.
Ashbrook starting writing her own music at 16 after her mom gave her a guitar for Christmas. She wrote songs about bullying and things going on in her life, and began performing locally.
Inspired by the success of singer Melanie Martinez on a previous season of "The Voice," she decided to audition. Martinez, she said, like her, does not have a big Kelly Clarkson-like voice.
"I thought, I have nothing to lose and I'll just put myself out there," she said.
Ashbrook's audition on "The Voice" ended up as part of a montage on television, but she and Austin will be back on the air for the battle rounds, which begin the week of Oct. 12. The winner of the show, determined by viewers' votes, will get a record deal and $100,000.
"I definitely think I can win this," Ashbrook said. "I got this."