Amy Vachal

Last updated

Amy Vachal
Birth nameAmy Lynn Vachal
Born (1988-12-08) December 8, 1988 (age 33)
New York City, New York
Genres Pop, Alternative folk, Blues,
Occupation(s)Singer, songwriter
Instrument(s)Vocals, guitar
Years active2011–present
Website http://www.amyvachal.com

Amy Lynn Vachal (born December 8, 1988) is an American singer-songwriter. She is best known as a semi-finalist on the 9th season of The Voice, where she chose Pharrell Williams as her coach and was later "stolen" by Adam Levine. She had previously released two EPs prior to appearing on The Voice.

Contents

Biography

Amy Lynn Vachal was born on December 8, 1988 [1] [ non-primary source needed ] to an American father, Richard Vachal, and a Filipina mother, Deirdra Vachal, who is a daughter of Filipino politician, former congressman, and Governor of Cebu, Pablo P. Garcia and Judge Esperanza Fiel-Garcia. [2] She has one older brother, Jake Vachal. Growing up, Vachal's love for singing developed into a "secret passion". She graduated from the Rutgers Preparatory School before she pursued a dual degree in economics and studio art at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania and played both varsity soccer and lacrosse. [3]

After a traumatic head injury from playing lacrosse, Vachal turned to music as she recovered. [3] She started writing songs and performed her first set in New York City at the age of 20 at Arlene's Grocery in the lower east side. After finishing college, she sold a few of her paintings to move to New York and started performing in small clubs and cafes such as Rockwood Music Hall, The Living Room, and Caffe Vivaldi. While living in New York, she had several jobs as a voice-over artist, waitress, secretary, barista, and also worked in a bakery and a bar. [4]

Career

Early career

Vachal's first EP, Appleseed, was released in 2011. She also released a single in 2013, "Catapult". [5] After she was awarded positions in artist-in-residency programs at The Motley Fool in Alexandria, VA and Madrono Ranch in Medina, Texas [3] as a songwriter, she returned to New York City and recorded her second EP entitled Crinkle Bloom, released in 2014, with Ken Rockwood of Rockwood Recordings. Her second EP's songs were written during her first two years in New York. [3] She had also written one song in Medina. [3] She took on more voice-over work for commercial demos, eventually landing a national campaign as the singer for a Kellogg's commercial in 2014.

2015: The Voice

Vachal auditioned for the ninth season of The Voice , singing "Dream a Little Dream of Me" for her blind audition. Except for Adam Levine whose team was full, the three other coaches, Gwen Stefani, Pharrell Williams, and Blake Shelton, turned their chairs for her, and she eventually chose Williams as her coach. She advanced to the Knockout rounds, where she was not chosen to advance by Williams. However, Levine and Shelton then opted to steal her, with Vachal choosing Levine as her new coach. [6] Vachal's performances charted consistently, including her version of Drake's Hotline Bling charting at No. 28 on Billboard's Digital Songs chart. A week later, her rendition of Taylor Swift's Blank Space charted at No. 24. [7] She was eliminated in the semi-finals.

Chart of The Voice performances

  Studio version of performance reached the top 10 on iTunes
StageSongOriginal ArtistDateOrderResult
Blind Audition"Dream a Little Dream of Me" Ozzie Nelson October 5, 20155.7 Gwen Stefani, Pharrell Williams, and Blake Shelton turned;
Joined Team Pharrell
Battle Rounds (Top 48)"To Love Somebody" (vs. Jubal & Amanda) Bee Gees October 20, 201510.2Saved by Coach
Knockout Rounds (Top 32)"A Sunday Kind of Love" (vs. Madi Davis) Claude Thornhill October 26, 201511.4Adam and Blake stolen in, she joined Team Adam
Live Playoffs (Top 24)"The Way You Look Tonight" Fred Astaire November 9, 201515.9Saved by Coach
Live Top 12"Hotline Bling" Drake November 16, 201518.2Saved by Public Vote
Live Top 11"Blank Space" Taylor Swift November 23, 201520.5
Live Top 10"Bye Bye Bye" 'N Sync November 30, 201522.6
Live Top 9 (Semi-finals)"To Make You Feel My Love" Bob Dylan December 7, 201524.8Eliminated
Non Competition Performances:
OrderFriendSong
1.75Shelby Brown
Chance Peña
Blaine Mitchell
Keith Semple
Jordan Smith
"Diamonds"
2.13 Jordan Smith and Shelby Brown"Wouldn't It Be Nice"
27.13 Jordan Smith, Mark Hood, Evan McKeel, Korin Bukowski, and Regina Love"Any Way You Want It"

Career after The Voice

After her elimination from The Voice, Vachal stated that she would be working on her first full-length album soon. [8] She resides in Brooklyn, New York [2] when not on tour as she workshops new material for a prospective release. On March 3, 2017, she released the single "Wait" and on March 28, she appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in the segment 'Battle of the Instant Songwriters'. [9] [10]

Discography

TitleDetailsPeak chart
positions
US
Appleseeds
  • Released: April 20, 2011 [11]
Track listing
  1. Appleseed
  2. Circle
  3. What Is Love
  4. Catapult
Crinkle Bloom
  • Released: November 11, 2014 [12]
Track listing
  1. Broke into Words
  2. Honey
  3. Crinkle Bloom
  4. Let the Morning Bring Word
  5. Deep Blue
Strawberry MoonReleased: 2018

Track listing

  1. Golden Boy
  2. Taken
  3. Honey
  4. Strawberry Moon
  5. Wait
  6. Darling You
  7. Lightning
  8. You Can Have Me
  9. Cashmere
  10. Below My Feet
  11. Stones

Singles

TitleYear
"Wait"2017

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References

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  2. 1 2 Nishimori, Aleta Nieva (December 3, 2015). "Meet Amy Vachal's No. 1 fan". ABS-CBN News. Retrieved December 9, 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Carter, Caitlin (November 18, 2014). "Amy Vachal Talks New EP 'Crinkle Bloom,' Performs "Broke into Words" and Let The Morning Bring Word" [EXCLUSIVE]". Music Times. Retrieved December 9, 2015.
  4. Chung, Chung (October 19, 2015). "Amy Vachal Reflects on 'Trying to Make Ends Meet' to Making It on 'The Voice'". NBC News. Retrieved December 9, 2015.
  5. "Catapult – Single". iTunes Store. December 4, 2013. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
  6. Thorpe, Kaitlin (October 27, 2015). "'The Voice' Knockout Rounds: Rihanna Helps Send Early Favorites Home 100 Chart". HNGN. Retrieved December 9, 2015.
  7. Trust, Gary (December 2, 2015). "Adele Dominates Billboard Artist 100 Chart". Billboard. Retrieved December 9, 2015.
  8. Makin, Cheryl (December 9, 2015). "Amy Vachal looked back on her journey on 'The Voice' and forward to her sure-to-be-fantastic future". My Central Jersey. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  9. "Wait – Single". iTunes – Apple. March 3, 2017. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
  10. Cantor, Brian (March 29, 2017). "Battle of the Instant Songwriters Airs On Jimmy Fallon's "Tonight Show"". Headline Planet. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
  11. "Appleseed – EP". iTunes Store. April 20, 2011. Retrieved December 9, 2015.
  12. "Crinkle Bloom – EP". iTunes Store. November 11, 2014. Retrieved December 9, 2015.