WILKES selected for Team Blake
The Cedartown native is competing on NBC’s “The Voice.”
It has been a journey 17 years in the making for a Cedartown native who hopes to sing his heart out at a chance for getting to do what he loves the most.
Cedartown native Jason Wilkes — known as a solo singer simply as “WILKES” — is getting his shot at greater fame through his continuing appearance on NBC’s “The Voice” as a recently selected member of Team Blake.
Judge Blake Shelton chose Wilkes as he sang The Wallflowers’ 1996 hit “One Headlight.”
Though it wasn’t a song he said he picked himself, it fit him just right in the end.
“It is an amazingly nostalgic song, it really was the perfect song for me,” Wilkes said.
Wilkes, who began his music career with his friends in Cedartown at 16 in the band High Flight Society, which toured for 12 years before they stopped touring in 2012 after the sudden death of drummer Scotty Lockridge.
He later worked in the backing band on tour during Sam Hunt’s early touring career playing in bars and frat parties, but was right there when his friend began a rise to fame in country music.
Wilkes said that music wasn’t really his style. He grew up and focused heavily on pop rock with High Flight Society, which he feels is his roots. Hence why the The Wallflowers feel so personal to him.
The lesson he got from his time on tour with Hunt was that anyone can become successful at anytime.
“People tend to forget that guys like Sam, who I grew up with in Cedartown, or like Keith Urban, that they are real people too,” Wilkes said.
He said that lesson gave him hope and pushed him to work harder. Wilkes continued on his journey with “Disciple,” a Christian Rock band where he was co-lead vocalist and bass player. After learning to also play bass in the band and gain an understanding of his stage presence, he went out on his own.
A previous solo EP under his stage name was put together in 2014 as well, which resulted in the 2015 8-song release of “Shells.”
Wilkes also recently released a 3-song EP called “No Filter, Part 1” and last year’s single “Stealing from Heaven” (see this story online for a link.)
He believes all the hard work has lead up to this point, where he has a chance to spread the word and share his music with a wider audience. Wilkes also wants to learn as much as he can from his coach Blake Shelton, along with the other coaches Adam Levine, Alicia Keys and Kelly Clarkson.
As he works to “seize the moment” in his life, Wilkes also is thankful to have the support of family and friends back here in Polk County. He said his social media accounts have been full of positive reviews and feedback from people in Cedartown, Rockmart and the surrounding area cheering him on.
“My mom, dad, brother and sister have all been getting a lot of good feedback,” Wilkes said. “I really appreciate it and so does the rest of my family.”
He still has a long way to go before he reaches the finale. Yet Wilkes said he’ll be ready to show off what he can do on stage in the coming weeks.
“I didn’t show all my cards in my blind audition,” he said. “I have somewhere else to go with the rest of the show.”
‘My mom, dad, brother and sister have all been getting a lot of good feedback. I really appreciate it and so does the rest of my family.’ Wilkes