Local singer on ‘Team Blake’
Jus Jon, a self-described neosoul, R&B singer, was chosen to be on Blake Shelton’s team on the show ‘The Voice.’
Team Blake received another addition last Monday night on NBC’s “The Voice,” and this time, it’s a Newport News local.
Jus Jon, whose real name is Jonathan Holmes, is a self-described neo-soul, R&B singer with a little mix of pop, inspired by John Legend, Usher, PJ Morton, Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole and a host of other artists.
He and 10 other performers sang their hearts out during night three of blind auditions to convince coaches Kelly Clarkson, Gwen Stefani, John Legend and Blake Shelton to mentor them.
If he makes it to the end, he’ll score $100,000 and a record deal with Universal Music Group.
He was hoping to be chosen by one of his musical inspirations, Legend, who opted not to turn around and offer to coach the 30-year-old.
Jon thought he was going home until an unlikely contender, Blake Shelton, shined a light at the end of the tunnel and put in a bid to coach him.
“Blake was the only person that turned around for me,” Jon said during a phone interview Friday. “That didn’t mean that I wasn’t good. It actually meant more for me. He recognizes greatness. He knows. Blake don’t play. We’re going all the way.”
Jon’s song of choice was Khalid’s 2019 single “Talk.”
“I’d just learned ‘Talk’ with my group RaJazz,” he said. “It would show the judges everything that my voice could do. I can sing false. I can go from false to chest. I have a very strong, chest voice. I wanted them to know what I sound like and get them to be more intrigued to know what else I can do.”
Jon first joined the ranks in February in Baltimore during public auditions. After multiple auditions, he was chosen among 40,000 competitors, he said.
Because of the pandemic, he wasn’t sure whether there would even be a season this year. That’s when he got an email in May that he’d made it.
“I was ecstatic,” Jon said. “I was jumping all over the place. I didn’t know how to feel. I auditioned back when I was about 23, so in 2013. I didn’t make it. Making it this time was just like, surreal.”
He’s excited to join Team Blake because its genres differ so much and he considers himself to be a versatile performer.
“Country, I would say, is probably one of my weaker genres,” Jon said. “I definitely feel like he has a lot of guidance as far as introducing me to people that I don’t know from the country side and just the artistry of where it comes from and the history of it.”
Having worked at restaurants such as Cracker Barrel, Jon said he has heard some country songs before, but singing it himself will be new for him.
During the episode, Shelton stressed that it’s more common than folks think for him to have noncountry singers on his team. In fact, there are currently four singers on Team Blake who opted not to sing country songs, instead delving into rock, folk and gospel music.
Shelton said he’s glad he was able to scoop Jon up, and a bit shocked.
“Nobody else turned around,” Shelton said during the episode. “I can’t imagine what was going through these other coaches’ minds because I’ve got somebody that I think is going to sway people.”
Jon said his voice can transcend all genres and would love to collaborate with all of the show’s coaches at some point. He’d like to tap into country and alternative rock, too.
Though Shelton was the only one to turn around for him, Jon was able to get feedback from the other coaches as well.
Legend, for instance, said his voice is great and he’s got creativity and musicality.
“They’re all different and they’re all amazing in their own respective rights, so getting that guidance and getting that confirmation that I’m amazing and that I have a great voice was wonderful,” Jon said.
Before “The Voice” was even a thought for him, Jon remembers singing “The Lord is High Above the Heavens” at 6 years old on the altar at his family’s church, St. John Church of God In Christ, in Newport News.
“My first performance was right here on this altar,” he said on the show. “They just sprung this song on me.”
He also credits his mom, Raquel, with making him comfortable as a performer.
She coaxed him into performing on the spot wherever they went — banks, doctor’s offices, grocery stores, parking lots — telling folks, “My baby can sing.”
“That just builds character and builds a sense of not being nervous when you sing,” Jon said. “It’s cool to sing in front of a whole bunch of people and all that, but when you’ve got to sing one-on-one with somebody, just like, right in their face on the spot, that just puts you on a different level.”
She’s also at the top of his list of people to take care of if he wins. She was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1998, he said on the show.
“I definitely would want to put my mom in rehab,” Jon said Friday. “That would actually be the first thing I do before I even concentrate on the music.”
For other aspiring singers out there, Jon stressed practice and not giving up.
“I could’ve stopped after I did ‘The Voice’ the first time, but I was like, ‘Hey I’m going to give it one more shot,’” he said. “You can’t give up faith in yourself.”
Jon won’t be back on the show until the Battle Rounds on Nov. 9.
To see what happens before then, tune in Monday at 8 p.m.