Danville musician loving “The Voice.”
With each step Kiley Rothfield takes on “The Voice,” the Danville singersongwriter can feel her confidence growing. Much of the credit goes to her mentor, pop superstar Alicia Keys.
“She believes in me even more than I do myself sometimes,” Rothfield says. “She has pushed me and taught me so much. Her positive energy has rubbed off.”
Earlier this week, Rothfield, 23, scored a victory in the show’s Knockout Round with a “thick and swampy” cover of Elvis Presley’s “Hound Dog.” The win propelled the San Ramon Valley High School graduate into the Top 20 live-shows portion of the popular reality series.
It was Rothfield’s third performance on “The Voice,” all of which have earned rave reviews. Her next appearance is set for Nov. 7.
“I was a little unsure in the beginning. I was definitely afraid to put myself out there,” she says. “But it has turned into one of the greatest experiences I’ve ever had.”
Only a year ago, Rothfield couldn’t have even imagined being on “The Voice,” let alone wowing Keys and fellow coaches Adam Levine, Blake Shelton and Miley Cyrus. While performing in Nashville, she experienced a vocal cord hemorrhage that put her singing career in peril. Singer-songwriter Kylie Rothfield had to overcome a debilitating vocal cord injury to compete on “The Voice.”
“For a long time, I field, who decided to move couldn’t control my tone to Los Angeles and focus and pitch. I was fully conon songwriting. vinced that I wasn’t going All that changed, though, to sing again,” said Roth- when her vocal abilities re- turned and “The Voice” came knocking. Still, Keys initially had to persuade Rothfield to get “reckless” and pack more power into her performances.
Fearful that she might experience another vocal injury, Rothfield found that dictate to be “scary.” But she has risen to the challenge.
“I tend to fall back into a soft, bluesy range,” Rothfield says. “Alicia sees a side of me that I don’t usually pull out— the rock star side of me.”
On Monday’s episode, Keys noted that, “Kylie has a lot of growth in her. I can’t wait to take her out of herself and set her free.”
That’s fine with Rothfield, who has been in love with music since the age of 11, when her parents (“or Santa”) presented her with a guitar for Christmas.
“I became obsessed with it,” she recalls. “I played at least two hours every day, until my hands became calloused.”
Along the way, she also became industrious. At 14, Rothfield recored a threesong EP in San Francisco and became her own “publicist.”
“I brought copies to school and tried to get all my friends to buy it. I was very intense,” she says. “Even now, I’m still trying to get people to buy my work.”