‘The Voice’ star Jackie Verna just wants to sing
Rarely was there an audience. There was a debut gig at the Kennett Flash, an open mike night at Philly’s World Live Café, and some dates at Newtown Square’s amid the lattes at Newtown Square’s Burlap and Bean, but for most of her constantly singing life, Jackie Verna was a self-admitted “bedroom singer.”
“I just liked to sing, so there was me doing concerts of country and pop music in my bedroom,” Verna said by telephone from Los Angeles, where tonight at 8 p.m., she begins the live playoff rounds on NBC’s talent contest, “The Voice.”
Folks from Delco and Chester County can advance the West Chester resident’s position in the competition by texting and telephoning votes in her favor. Team captains Adam Levine, Alicia Keys, Blake Shelton, and Kelly Clarkson will no doubt have some say about who is this season’s champion. Jackie is on Team Adam and has been since being chosen by Levine during blind auditions, you know when the captains listen with their backs turned, then whip their chairs around when they hear someone they want to recruit.
Delco had an early entry in this year’s competition, Jamai from Chester, but he was eliminated in a contest within his own team headed by Keys.
Verna, as noted, has been belting out tunes since she discovered how much she enjoyed singing, and her voice, in middle school.
Between that time and “The Voice,” she has taken few lessons and did wet feet on make a name via the club route.
She just sang. First pop, then Country “because I like the way Country tells its stories.”
The lack of significant public showcase makes Jackie’s success on “The Voice” particularly astounding. There was little testing of material, little chance to learn to feel an audience, and no venue bigger than the Kennett Flash. Yet, the lights came up in a Warner Brothers television studio, a loud and enthusiastic crowd was present, Levine and company were poised for judgment, and Jackie went on as if she’d had some practice at Madison Square Garden.
“The process started in June,” she said. “I decided singing is what I want to do. It’s how I want to pay my bills. My objective was for more people to know me as a singer and my way of doing a song, which I think is different from other sounds.”
When Jackie says singing became a choice, she is not just whistling The Dixie Chicks.
At Great Valley High School, she played soccer and was a cheerleader while singing in that bedroom. At Penn State, she began working for an energy engineering degree and switched to nursing, a career she says she loves and that continues to interest her.
Music, though, became the goal, music that includes songs from the County repertoire and original compositions written at Jackie’s piano. She is currently learning the guitar but says she’s not ready for primetime with that instrument.
So singing won out over energy conservation and nursing.
With the choice came determination. Jackie obviously made it through several grueling rounds to get on the air in the blind competition.
She says she had confidence she’d make it all the way through but was surprised when the captain that turned around, and within 10 seconds of Jackie singing, was Adam Levine.
“It had to be Adam or Kelly Clarkson. Alicia and Blake had already picked their whole teams. Singing Country, Kelly was the one I thought would respond. But no. There I am in the middle of my song (Kelsea Ballerini’s “Pater Pan”), and I see the light and then Adam. The important thing then was not to react but to keep on going to finish my song. Luckily, I was tunnel-visioned and concentrated all the way through, but it was tough to keep down the emotion on knowing I was chosen and would be moving forward as part of Team Adam.”
Coincidentally, even though Jackie’s genre is Country, she lists Maroon 5, Levine’s band among her influences, along with Kelly Clarkson, who you can see fighting the urge to turn as Jackie sang, The Dixie Chicks, and Brittney Spears.
Since the blind, Jackie has been tested several times and met every challenge.
Growing up, Jackie heard a lot of music. Her Dad, Paul, favored classic pop and Country. Her Mom, Maureen combined Country and jazz. Neither of her parents, and none of her three siblings is musical, but Jackie responded to the loud singing that went on as records played.
Music went from the background to a prime position when Jackie was in the chorus at Winslow Township Middle School in New Jersey. Her family moved to West Chester when she was age 13 — she’s now 23 — and she was in the chorus of the Great Valley schools she attended. Live performance was not a thought. Jackie took a couple of lessons with local voice teachers but only to work on technique to achieve a sound she wanted, not to train her voice
“Singing came so naturally,” Jackie said. “I listened to myself and thought I might be able to make a career of this. I’ll be a superstar, right? I had my piano and Karaoke tracks, and I was ready to go. I kept exploring music, but I played sports, and when I went to college, I studied unrelated subjects.
“In time, a sound developed, my own sound, and I thought more about a singing career. I know that would make me happiest.”
Though Jackie kidded about being superstar, that isn’t her main goal. She appreciates being on national television and having the attention of genuine superstars, but is practical about what she wants.
“If I can pay by bills by singing, I will be content. I love all that happens around ‘The Voice.’ No, I would not reject superstardom. But I wouldn’t seek it. That’s not me. One of the things that I gotten me to where I can go from being a bedroom singer to the glamor and pressure of ‘The Voice’ is I have developed my own sound and have something in me that wants me to express it in singing. Country music appeals to me because it tells its stories so clearly. I feel who I am. That’s what I want people to see.”
Meanwhile, Jackie said being on “The Voice” has improved her singing “tenfold.”
“Trelawny Rose is an amazing voice coach. I learn so much from her, and Adam, and others. One thing I learned was harmony. I didn’t know a thing about it before. Then, I have to do it for television last week and hear it.”
The only time Jackie doubted her career is when she was hit by a car in 2012 and thought her injuries might be insurmountable and stymieing to working in music.
Obviously she overcame her physical discomfort to go with, music being therapeutic.
Cheering her on, among others, in West Chester, are parents Paul and Maureen and siblings Manny Gomez, Taylor, and Matt. She thanks everyone at home for their support.
Missanelli’s radio show comes to TV
Adrenaline is high at NBC Sports Philadelphia.
At 2 p.m. Monday, the simulcast of Mike Missanelli’s radio program makes its debut.
Missanelli Has been a lightning rod personality is local sports media for a while. His radio broadcast on The Fan (97.5) has competed fiercely, with alternating results, with whomever sports radio rival WIP (94.1 FM) has pitted against him. Currently that’s Jon Marks and Ike Reese.
Missanelli has also been a fixture on television, at one time being the primary sports anchor at Channel 17, when it produced a homegrown newscast instead of being a 10 p.m. version of Channel 6’s “Action News.”
By staying captain at 2 p.m. weekdays for such a long while, and by being such a respected figure in Philadelphia sports commentary for decades, Missanelli proves he is a survivor. Especially since, like Howard Eskin, he has his detractors. Afternoon drive rivalry with ‘IP often becomes heated, and some listeners don’t how to agree to disagree.
The interesting thing today is to see the ways NBCSP adapts the radio studio to a television format, something ESPN has done successfully, and something that worked for recently retired Don Imus in syndication.
One thing you know is Missanelli is not going to pull punches or change anything that has kept him a lead figure in sports broadcasting for so loing.
Why should he? By being straightforward and not worrying whether he disappointed fans who want everyone to be a cheerleader, Mike built his style of broadcasting into a brand. He has individuated himself from a large pack. To be anything but himself would be a disaster.
Missanelli returns to daily television at a heady time in Philadelphia sports.
Come August, folks will be looking to see if the Eagles can contend for another Super Bowl appearance or even have the makings of a dynasty.
Right now, two local teams are in the playoffs, one, basketball’s Sixers, riding season-evolving momwntum that puts them in a good position to go far. Hockey’s Flyers have shown that while they account for hundreds of bitten nails and toothpierced bottom lips, they can pull tight games out of a hat. Baseball’s Phillies are like the Houston Astros from earlier in decade, a loveable team beginning to feels its Cheerios and alternating 20-run surprises and confident starting pitching with gaffes, glitches, and giveaways that make you think AAA more than MLB.
Missanelli’s arrival and three popular teams in almost daily action keep NBCSP hopping.
Today, at 8, you have the Sixers taking on the Miami Heat. In addition you have all of the preand post-game shows and general sports talk programs NBCSP does so well.
Tuesday, Mike again checks in at 2 while at 7:30, the Phillies come to bat against the Atlanta Braves.
Wednesday it’s the Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins in the spotlight, starting at 7. Meanwhile, the Phillies meet the Braves again at 7:35 on NBCSP+.
Thursday it’s the Sixers on NBCSP with the Phillies on NBCSP+, this time against the Pittsburgh Pirates, both games set for 7 p.m.
Saturday, it’s the Sixers at the Heat at 2 p.m., the Phillies and Pirates at 4.