Bay Simpson made an immediate impression in The Voice Season 29 premiere with his soulful cover of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ hit song “The Waiting.” NBC audiences saw Adam Levine turn his chair for the talented singer-songwriter from Alabama, who’s poised to be a contender in the Battle of Champions.

TVBrittanyF.com connected with Bay to discuss the meaning of choosing a Tom Petty song for his blind audition and what he feels he can learn from having Levine as his coach. He also spoke about his family history in the music world. Plus, find out what Bay wants The Voice fans to know about him as he progresses in the competition.

Brittany Frederick: The choice of a blind audition song says a lot about a Voice artist. Why did you select “The Waiting” to perform for your audition?

Bay Simpson: I’ve always loved that song. That’s always been one of my favorite Petty songs. It’s one of the first songs I ever learned to play on guitar. I remember coming home from school one day, and my stepbrother was playing it on guitar, and he was singing the chorus, and I just fell in love with it.

One of the things that makes you unique is that not only does music run into your family, but music competition runs in your family. Both your mother and your uncle were on Nashville Star, and they finished first and second respectively in Season 5. Did that help you in going through your The Voice experience?

Absolutely. Family is always good to help with advice. They kind of help you through it… It’s always good to have somebody around you who’s been through the experience too, because I think going through that kind of thing for the first time and being on camera and just doing all the things you do, it’s definitely a learning curve and it’s a great experience. So just having somebody to lean on really is the most important part of it.

The Voice Season 29 is now your chance to introduce yourself to a wider audience. Is there anything about you that you want people to know, whether it’s musically or just as a person?

I think Adam said it in my audition. He said music’s in your bones, or he said it’s in your bones, and that’s very true. I come from a musical family. I’ve always been a music guy, and I say that meaning that my ultimate love and the reason that I do this is my love for music and my love for playing and singing. It’s not really about anything else for me. I’ve always been drawn to it and I love it.

My family has been such an influence on me in that regard, because we pride ourselves on just being as pure musically as we can be. And that’s the main thing about me. There’s not a lot of flash or there’s not a lot of things behind the scenes. It’s just, I am a music guy and this is what I do. It’s what I love. It keeps me going every day.

Viewers heard what Adam responded to about your audition. What did you respond to about him? Was there something that particularly made you excited about working with him as your coach?

What I love about Adam is that he has a unique sound for a male [singer], and I feel like I have a unique sound for a male. We have that in common, so that’s really neat—and being with somebody like him, it’s just cool to me. Like I said, I grew up in a very musical family, and the Songs About Jane album from Maroon 5 was both of my parents’ favorite record for forever. And obviously that album has influenced me and my own music, because I was a little kid listening to it all the time.

It’s just really cool to get to work with somebody like that, somebody that I have that kind of tie to. I was a huge fan of his all in my youth, so it’s awesome.

What’s been the most fun or interesting thing to come out of your The Voice Season 29 experience so far?

I’d say just getting a stamp of approval from somebody like an Adam Levine. Music is really hard. It’s a hard career path, and you have to be so set in your beliefs in yourself. You have to be so sure of yourself, sometimes against so many things that are telling you that you can’t do it or that you shouldn’t do it for whatever reason.

It just takes a lot of self-will and self-belief, but having that moment where somebody hits that button and turns around and gives you that gratification and stamp of approval of yeah, this guy’s good, that means the world. That’s the coolest thing by far to me.

Along those lines, it would be fantastic if you won The Voice, but there’s so much that you can accomplish through this experience. What are the goals or hopes you have for yourself?

The main thing is just staying true to myself. Just singing stuff that I love, being myself, being the best version of myself that I can be, and letting everything else fall where it may. If I don’t win, that’s fine. I just want to be able to look back in 20 or 30 years and be like, that was really cool. I got to sing stuff that I love on such a huge platform.

That’s what’s so cool about “The Waiting,” getting to do that in my blind audition, is how much I love that song. How big of a Tom Petty fan I am. Just getting that opportunity to perform that, that’s something that I’ll always be grateful for and that I’ll cherish. Just trying to have more moments like that.

The Voice airs Mondays at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on NBC. Photo Credit: Griffin Nagel/Courtesy of NBC.

Article content is (c)2020-2026 Brittany Frederick and may not be excerpted or reproduced without express written permission by the author. Follow me on Twitter at @BFTVTwtr and on Instagram at @BFTVGram. For story pitches, contact me at tvbrittanyf@yahoo.com.