Thunderstorm Artis wasn’t allowed to say he didn’t like a genre of music until he’d taken the time to understand it.
That was his dad’s rule, a “mentality (that) helped me so much,” Artis said. “You can’t just take things at face value.”
Growing up with 10 siblings — six boys and five girls — in Haleiwa, Hawaii, on the island of Oahu, the Artis Family Band laid the foundation for the now-23-year-old Hendersonville resident, who has toured the U.S. for the past six years to jump-start his musical career.
Now, Artis is looking ahead to competing on "The Voice" after a blind audition so powerful that he quickly achieved a four-chair turn.
How Artis turned all 4 chairs
The NBC competition show features four celebrity coaches — Kelly Clarkson, John Legend, Nick Jonas and Blake Shelton in season 18 — who select contestants to coach. Selections happen during the blind audition rounds, in which coaches sit with their backs facing contestants to decide solely on vocal ability.
If coaches want that contestant on their team, they turn their chairs to face them.
Within one minute of Artis finishing his audition, with “Blackbird” by The Beatles, all four coaches turned to face him.
Vying for the addition to their respective teams, coaches hailed Artis as a “ridiculously talented” singer who didn’t need much help.
“I am notoriously stingy about turning around for anybody,” Legend said after Artis’ audition. “But when I do turn, I usually turn fast because I can hear in someone’s tone that magic, and Thunderstorm, your tone was magical.
“We heard it and one second in, we’re like, ‘this guy belongs on 'The Voice,’” he said. “And I would love to coach you, Thunderstorm.”
Artis said he was “in awe,” not expecting the praise he got from his audition.
Free to select any of the four coaches to work with, Artis agreed to move forward with Legend.
Family values led to opportunities today
When asked which artists have inspired him over the years, Legend was among the first Artis named — followed by Nat King Cole and Marvin Gaye, among others — after his oldest brother Ron Artis who “took me under his wing.”
Artis said “we all play music,” and the tight-knit family ingrained at a young age that the most important thing in life was one another.
Those values and a deep love for music also got the family through hardships. Artis’ father, Ron Artis Sr., died of a heart attack in 2010.
Turning to music was how Artis found a "healthy way" to cope with the loss.
“Music was one of the ways I was able to process what I was going through,” Artis said. “My mom was the first one who encouraged me to step out and really share that music with people ... Writing from a place of pain (shares) some things that people can really relate to.”
Artis’ eldest brother “took me under his wing.” They began playing as a duo for a few years before pursuing solo work.
Artis, who described his voice and his style as a cross between Legend and James Taylor, played several instruments in nearly every genre with his siblings and began songwriting seriously at age 14.
“I don’t think I would even have the opportunity I have today if it wasn’t for my family,” he said.
'Am I good enough to turn these chairs?'
Artis moved to Hendersonville last year for the singer-songwriter culture in Middle Tennessee.
“(If you) want to get better at something in life, (you should) surround yourself with people better than you,” he said. So, he moved to Tennessee and “engulfed” himself in music, wanting “to be inspired” by other songwriters.
When he decided to audition for "The Voice," Artis said it was “pretty nerve-wracking,” performing first in front of producers before advancing to blind auditions.
“I’ve performed all my life, but never had I had to do it and be criticized,” he said, wondering, “am I good enough to turn these chairs? ... (The coaches are) four powerhouses in their own professions.
“(I was) nervous, but at the same time I knew that I trained for this for my whole life,” he said.
Trial and error before 'The Voice'
Training for blind auditions, Artis said he selected “Blackbird” because it’s “such a beautiful song.”
He just had to “fine-tune it,” and “connect with people.”
Playing shows before the audition, Artis played “Blackbird” and tested audience responses. If he didn’t get a good response, he put in “a lot of work” to develop it into a version that fit for him.
And based on the response he received on "The Voice," that version worked.
During auditions, contestants don’t hear the sound effect of one of the coaches pushing the button to turn their chairs that viewers recognize at home. Artis began the song with his eyes closed.
By the time he opened them, he was “super shocked” to see three of the four coaches had turned around already. Shelton, the last to turn around, didn’t take long to join his counterparts facing Artis.
“It’s so crazy (and) not at all what I was expecting,” Artis said. “A lot of people (on 'The Voice' are) going out there and doing a lot more musically and presence-wise ... I just wanted to go out there and be me.
“To get the response that I got was so surreal and super cool.”
Artis couldn’t go into too much detail about his next steps on "The Voice" when speaking with the Tennessean, but said he looks forward to the opportunity to work with Legend.
“I’m just an example, if you work hard at something in your life ... you never know the response you’re going to get,” Artis said. “It’s been a dream, something I’ve been reaching for. ... There’s no better time than now.”
Kelly Fisher can be reached at KPFisher@gannett.com, 615-801-3866 or on Twitter at @KellyPFisher.
Read or Share this story: https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/local/sumner/hendersonville/2020/03/18/voice-joined-thunderstorm-artis-hendersonville/5063703002/
2020-03-19 00:03:00Z
https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/local/sumner/hendersonville/2020/03/18/voice-joined-thunderstorm-artis-hendersonville/5063703002/
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