By Tristan Weisenbach
Arts & Entertainment Editor
One year ago, Cara Brindisi was on stage in Hollywood performing in front of some of the biggest names in music. It was her first time singing on a full-production television stage, complete with hair, makeup and wardrobe teams. She was a top 100 contestant on NBC’s “The Voice.”
Her live audition in front of the judges, where she sang Taylor Swift’s “All Too Well,” has since been viewed over 500,000 times on YouTube. While Brindisi’s music career certainly took a turn for the best after being accepted to Gwen Stefani’s team on season 22 of the competition show, she had started consistently growing her career from a young age.
Brindisi grew up surrounding herself in everything music related. She discovered her passion for singing and playing instruments like the guitar when she was little, and it stuck with her ever since.
Her biggest music inspiration when she was younger was Sarah McLachlan, someone she says she easily connected with in terms of her writing and vocal style. Brindisi’s style today is largely an image of singer-songwriters from the 90s, she said in an interview with The Signal.
Building on those talents and inspirations throughout school, Brindisi attended Berklee College of Music to become a music therapist before auditioning for “The Voice.”
It was about nine months prior to her live audition on stage when she first began the initial auditioning process for the show. She had to perform various types of music in different styles on zoom calls to progress, such as singing without an instrument and singing a present-day popular tune.
“Finally, in April of 2022, I got the phone call that said ‘we would officially like to invite you out to Hollywood starting June 1,’” Brindisi said.
She spent a few weeks working with the production teams in Hollywood before stepping on stage in front of Blake Shelton, John Legend, Camila Cabello and Stefani.
Although Brindisi was eliminated during the knockout round of the competition, her career lit up after leaving the show.
She moved from Massachusetts, where she had grown up and lived alongside her family and friends, to Nashville for six months and started recording her upcoming album. She then returned to Massachusetts, began collaborating with a band and has since played at many new venues and events.
“We've been booking much higher end shows than I ever did before “The Voice,” she said. “Theaters, sellout performances, headlining performances, just really special events.”
While she does credit “The Voice” with helping her become more recognized, she also credits the show for lighting a spark of motivation in her.
“I've been a musician my whole life, but to really call myself an artist and a higher end performing musician, it's like doing “The Voice” sort of just pushed me in that direction where I believed in myself,” Brindisi said.
Before her time on the competition, Brindisi worked as a music therapist for 10 years. Alongside doctors, nurses and social workers, she would meet with patients living in hospice and their families to sing, write personalized legacy songs and provide comfort through their end of life care.
While she enjoyed the aspect of supporting people that the job gave her, she wanted more of an opportunity to write and record music of her own as an artist. At the gigs she played in her free time, often at local restaurants and bars while working as a music therapist, she only sang cover songs, because she did not have time to spend writing her own.
Now, one year after finishing her time on “The Voice,” Brindisi is getting ready to finally release her own music. She plans to release “Masquerade,” the first single off of her upcoming album, at the end of October. The full album, titled “I Am Home,” will be released in two parts, with Volume 1 releasing in December and Volume 2 coming in March 2024.
When writing a new song, Brindisi says she likes to journal, observe the world around her and think outside the box. She said it’s helpful to write down ideas and topics first, then go back and work out the individual lyrics later. Many of her lyrics relate to love and heartbreak, something she says people easily connect with.
“Lyric ideas are just constantly flowing — constantly,” Brindisi said. “If someone looked at my notes on my phone, they would be like, ‘what is she talking about?’”
Brindisi said she’s fascinated by the growing phenomenon of artists using social media platforms like TikTok to share their music and grow their audiences. While she’s considering using this technique for her new music, she also values in-person experiences as well.
“I'm a big believer in being present in human connection and playing the shows, meeting your fans, talking to your fans,” she said, adding that thinks of her fans as “partners” rather than simply people who buy her tickets. “They're the ones who are going to share your content, they're going to be there at every performance.”
Ahead of her upcoming album, Brindisi is planning on beginning a kickstarter page where her fans can donate to support her new music and projects. The campaign will be hosted on her Instagram.
Brindisi is extremely grateful for her loyal fanbase in her hometown of Shrewsbury, Massachusetts. However, she hopes to have the opportunity to tour the country next year and perform in many new places, including New Jersey, to connect with new fans as well.
She said she’s excited to finally release her upcoming album to the world later this year, and she’s already begun thinking about new ideas for future songs. Down the road, she also helps to expand her collaborations and potentially even produce other artists, too.
Outside of music, she enjoys hiking and nature as well. She said she loves birds in particular, and developed a newly found hobby of photography because of them. More about Brindisi’s life, achievements and backstory can be found on her website at carabrindisi.com.
