HOW TV SAVED THE RADIO STAR

The Voice runner up Gavin Edwards takes his show on the road after a long distraction

EIGHT times out of 10, the path to personal growth and redemption is not worth the hassle. It’s littered with broken glass, hellfire and a chorus of guffawing monkeys who have a host of legitimate and illegitimate reasons to want to see you fail. Sometimes it’s easier to imitate a river and carve out the easiest path. Sadly that doesn’t make for compelling viewing, which is why the saga of The Voice South Africa runner-up Gavin Edwards is so absorbing.

Born in Durban 37 years ago, Edwards has brushed up against fame more times than a lecher on public transportation. In 2002, after unwittingly performing in front of a honeymooning Brian McFadden (formerly of Westlife), Edwards and his band (Franklin) relocated to Ireland, hoping to carpe the diem.

“We got a song onto the charts at No 16 and then when Brian arrived we got so much press,” he said.

Their association with McFadden opened doors that most aspiring musicians could only dream of, including a meeting with executives from Capitol Records at their iconic headquarters in Los Angeles.

“What’s funny is that bands often don’t realise that meeting execs is like a job interview and you have to treat it like one. Normally you wouldn’t go into an interview with a couple of beers in you, but I’d get there having had a couple,” he said. The buzz around the band grew, as they performed across Ireland and the UK and worked with some of the biggest songwriting names in the industry. The sauce, however, has a funny way of meddling with your life if you become too friendly with it. “I was drinking like I was 17 and still singing the songs I had started with. When you get to that level your body and your voice just can’t take it. I wasn’t on form and it was embarrassing to myself,” said Edwards. The result was that no matter how close he got, he could never quite get success to spend the night. In 2007 he parted ways with Franklin and went solo, with similarly third-base results. Just over a year ago Edwards decided to quit drinking and give his career another shot by entering The Voice. “I thought I would never stop drinking, just because of the environment and everything, but it got to a point where it just clicked. I’d just had enough. I felt at that point that I had been humiliated and I had done it to myself. There were too many times when I wasn’t on the ball,” he said. Newly sober, Edwards finished second in that competition and subsequently signed with Universal Music. “Twenty-one years of being in the music industry and I don’t think I’ve ever learnt as much as I did on The Voice,” he said. “For example I didn’t think that 95% of my vocal fatigue was from drinking alcohol. I thought it was from a combination of things including alcohol. That’s because it made me sing differently, like you push more. You know after a couple of drinks you start to speak louder, and then I would run out of voice quicker.” One thing shows like The Voice and Idols have taught us is that it is usually better to be the runnerup than the winner. And so to take full advantage of his moment in the refracted sunlight, Edwards is dropping a new album in a rather old-school way. For the next few weeks Edwards will be driving around the country, armed with a guitar, singing for his supper.

“If I’m in Bloemfontein and people from an office get in touch with me I’ll swing by with my guitar, play a few songs and hopefully sell a few albums,” he said.

You don’t even need to be in an office. During the tour even people who are bored in traffic will be able to pull over and get in touch with him. He’ll join them on the side of the N1 for a roadside serenade.

The end goal of this adventure is to sell 30 000 records, and to finally achieve the level of success that Edwards has always believed himself capable of, but that has so far proved elusive.

This might also be his last chance. Pop music tends to be ageist and attention spans are fleeting. His stint on The Voice has at best given him 10 minutes of fame during which to make hay. It’s a time crunch he’s all too aware of.

“This is a last chance for me. It is very hard to get the type of exposure I got from The Voice but I wouldn’t change anything because everything you go through leads to where you are supposed to be,” Edwards said.

“It would’ve been nice if I had figured this out earlier in my career; I’d have gotten into a lot less trouble and pissed off a lot fewer girls, but I still wouldn’t change a thing.”

Ultimately, Edwards reminds us why we love redemption stories so much.

The hassle of repeatedly being on the cusp of success without actually making it would make most of us say “hang it all!” and go to the pub.

When we see someone getting up again after being knocked down, it tickles a G-spot in our empathy centres and temporarily lulls us into thinking that maybe we will still paint that masterpiece we’ve always thought about. For a few moments we are inspired, and perhaps those few moments are all we need.

‘I wasn’t on form and it was embarrassing to myself’ ‘It would’ve been nice if I had figured this out earlier in my career’