Days before it was broadcast Monday night on NBC, Stephanie Skipper was gaining fame and acclaim for her blind audition performance on ‘The Voice.’
Raised in the State College area, Skipper (née Smith) sang ‘Piece by Piece,’ by ‘The Voice’ coach Kelly Clarkson in a performance that moved Clarkson to tears. It brought praise from all four coaches — Clarkson, Alicia Keys, Adam Levine and Blake Shelton — and a YouTube clip posted three days before the show aired rocketed up the site’s trending list. As of Friday, it had been viewed nearly 3 million times.
Levine and Shelton both turned their chairs to vie to become Skipper’s coach, and on Monday night we learned she ultimately went with Levine, though she says it was a tough choice. An emotional Clarkson didn’t turn, but did join Skipper on stage for a hug.
Monday’s episode of ‘The Voice’ was television’s highest-rated show for the night and had 11.87 million viewers. Skipper’s performance of ‘Piece by Piece’ was made available for download in the iTunes store the same day.
It’s been a whirlwind for Skipper, who as a shy girl growing up in Houserville found her niche in music and has followed a winding path to ‘The Voice.’
A 2002 State College Area High School graduate, she now lives in Nashville with her husband, Tim. Since leaving State College, she’s had a solo career with an album and two EPs and multiple singles and collaborations to her name. She’s had a band with Tim that produced an EP and a few years of touring. Then she thought maybe her professional career in music might be coming to an end.
That changed once she decided to audition for ‘The Voice.’
We spoke with Skipper on Friday about ‘The Voice,’ her State College roots, and what made singing ‘Piece by Piece’ — and Clarkson’s reaction — so special.
(This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and length.)
What has this whole experience been like for you so far?
Skipper: The audition process started awhile ago, so it’s been a few months. I’ve made some great friends. I’ve learned a lot about my voice, and myself. There are a lot of amazing people who help make this show what it is. I really have great things to say about the whole staff and production and coaching, everything.
Obviously it’s been a huge week. My Facebook’s been blowing up and people have been coming out of the woodwork to wish me well. It’s been quite a thrill.
What were your musical experiences growing up, as a child and in high school?
Skipper: I was a really shy kid, just a lot of insecurity and very timid. I think I was just a slow bloomer. I needed some time to grow into my own skin. I have an older brother who is fearless and I just kind of lived in his shadow for the beginning of my life
Around middle school I knew I loved to sing. I loved music. I played flute in the middle school band and eventually realized I couldn’t sing and play flute at the same time. The singing won out and I joined choir in high school. I loved that so much… I still have dear friends I met in choir in high school. And then I sang at church at the State College CMA [State College Alliance Church] and that’s where I gained some of my confidence.
When did you know you wanted to move to Nashville and pursue a career as a singer?
Skipper: Well I sort of did the unthinkable, being a State College girl, and didn’t go to Penn State. My whole family did, but I was always such a shy kid that Penn State felt a little too big and intimidating. So I went to a really small school in Illinois [Greenville College] and studied vocal performance there.
It was my last year of college that I accidentally won a battle of the bands that the school was putting on. Some friends of mine were performing and I just went to support. I just was going to watch and hang, and I kind of got suckered on stage. The panel judged me as a contestant and that meant I got to play at a music festival. It was one of those Cinderella stories, where the headliner of the festival [TobyMac] had a music label [Gotee Records] in Nashville, heard me sing and offered me a deal. I crammed my senior year of college into one semester and then moved to Nashville to pursue the dream.
So after putting out some solo records you went on to record with your husband, Tim, right?
Skipper: Yes, we started a little band called Copperlily. We were newlyweds – and they say to write about what you know – so we wrote these cute little love songs in the honeymoon phase. It was really fun to tour. We would just throw the guitar in the hatchback and sleep in cheap hotels or on friends couches and play living rooms, coffee shops, bars, whoever would let us plug in and sing some songs. We did that for about two years. It was an adventure.
How did you decide you wanted to audition for The Voice?
Skipper: We decided to press pause on touring for awhile. My husband was offered a job and we just felt like we needed to plug into the community and being home. That’s hard to do when you’re never home because you’re touring.
There’s a little rental property I was managing and he was working. I went to the gym one morning and saw on ‘Good Morning America’ that Kelly [Clarkson] was going to be a coach on “The Voice.” I told my husband that night and he knows how I feel about Kelly Clarkson, that I have a girl-crush on her. It was kind of no-brainer. “You’ve gotta go for it,” he said. “You gonna do this?” So I did, and it seems to be going pretty well. I got my hug. She didn’t turn for me, but I got two hugs from Kelly.
Why did you choose “Piece by Piece?”
Skipper: I know it’s a deeply personal song to Kelly and I’m grateful that she wrote it and put it out there. Although some of the details are different, it’s also my story. I grew up without my dad. For a long time I lived in kind of a broken place with that and viewed the world through the lens of being unwanted. It’s only been in the past couple of years that I realized he was telling me something about himself. For whatever reason he couldn’t show up as a father. He has his own stuff, and that’s his, but it doesn’t mean anything about me and my worth and my value.
If I show up in my marriage like “Please tell me that you want me,” it’s exhausting for my husband. So the song, talking about being able to receive love, putting my heart back together, that has been the last three to five years of my life. It’s been this really beautiful process. I couldn’t imagine singing another song.
The goal for me was to show up and connect a voice to my heart. So it’s not just singing nice notes, but there’s a story behind it. That was my goal. This is my only story. Living this life. It’s the only one I’ve got. It was a really special moment.
What was it like for you to see Kelly Clarkson get so emotional, and then to come up and give you a hug?
Skipper: First things first… Everybody’s song is about 90 seconds long, and I’m getting to the end of this song and nobody’s turned yet, and specifically Kelly. So Adam turned, and Blake turned, and I’m like ’Kelly, are you gonna go for it?’ and fixed on her chair. When the song ended, she and Alicia turned around and I saw tears in her eyes. Turn or no turn, I knew immediately we were connected. We were sharing an experience. It felt like a victory. Whether she turned or not, connection is what we all kind of long for and it was a special moment to share.
Why did you choose Adam Levine as your coach?
Skipper: It was a tough call, to be honest. Blake had some great things to say, as did Adam. The real deciding factor for me was that Adam gave me some feedback where he said I did more than just sing a song, I told a story.
For me that’s been one of the hardest things to do. I’ve known since I was a little girl that I could hit notes, I could carry a tune. I could sing, but so can a lot of people. My journey has been to not be a chameleon and sound like so-and-so but to sound like me and tell my story through song. When he gave me that feedback, that’s exactly what I’ve been trying to tap into. I thought, that’s a no-brainer. If he heard that, then mission accomplished today and let’s see what else we can discover together.
What’s been your reaction to how popular the YouTube clip of your audition became?
Skipper: I couldn’t believe it. I’ve never been in this situation before so I didn’t know what was normal or not normal. It’s all not normal to me. But I know the show is popular. I’ve really just struggled to wrap my head around, “wait, people are connecting to me?” It’s such a funny thing, because it’s so deeply personal to me, but apparently it’s very personal to a lot of people. I think that’s such a beautiful thing when we can connect with each other through art.
How does it feel to see the really positive reaction and excitement you’re getting from your hometown?
Skipper: I struggle to find words for it honestly. I have a deep, deep love for State College. I have roots there, generations there. I haven’t lived there for several years, but it means so much. I feel the support. I feel the love. It’s just a sweet thing to know that where I’m from, even though I’ve gone, it hasn’t changed; it hasn’t abandoned me. It’s still standing with me.
It’s really sweet to be part of something that is uniting my hometown. They’re for me and I just really don’t have words for it. It’s crazy. And I’m so scared everyone’s going to be let down if I don’t win, so, everybody enjoy the show.
I don’t think anyone will be let down. I think people are just excited to see you on this national stage. But even if you don’t win, what do you hope you’ll get out of this whole experience?
Skipper: It sure is a shot of adrenaline to be writing and creating music again. Before the show I was managing a property, a pretty simple life. I thought maybe music was done and I’ll just sing in church now and then. I wasn’t sure. This really does wake something up inside of me. I just love to sing and sometimes I just want it to be that simple. Just give me an opportunity to sing. And maybe it is. Maybe I just keep exploring the songs that want to come out of me and this is an opportunity to re-launch a solo career.
What has this past week been like for you?
Skipper: It has been a crazy week. I know this world we live in is very social media-driven, and I have been so intimidated by it because I’m like an old lady. I’m like, “What is Snapchat?” I’m trying. I realized that music is this connector and it goes to places that words alone can’t. I really want to connect to people, but it’s been such a scary thing for me to dip my toe into the world of social media. But that’s where it’s at, and I’m trying.
