Kim Yarbrough added another thing to her already-packed resume this year: Being a contestant on “The Voice.” (Photo property of NBC, Mark Burnett Productions and Warner Horizon Television.)
By: Jacob Elyachar
One of the strongest performers that appeared on the second season of The Voice was 51-year-old Kim Yarbrough. Since her Blind Audition, she captured the audience with her enchanting voice. But before she went on the NBC hit, Kim already had quite the resume. She has performed in countless theatrical productions including the national tour of Ain’t Misbehavin and two Shakespeare & Co. productions, she has also sang alongside industry veterans Stevie Wonder, Della Reese and Kenny Loggins. In addition to her impeccable acting, dancing and singing skills, Ms. Yarbrough plays the violin, which makes her a quadruple threat.
Recently, I had the honor and privilege to sit down and talk to her about her talents, career and her tenure on The Voice.
JE: You have worked with some incredible talent in the music field…. from Sheryl Lee Ralph and Kenny Loggins to Stevie Wonder and Della Reese. What lessons did you learn from them that you took for your recording career?
Kim Yarbrough: What I noticed about working with legends, celebrities and people who really know who they are, the biggest lesson I learned from them is that you don’t have to get on stage and beg. You can simply stand in your power. It does not matter if people know who you are or not, you can stand in your power and be present without acting like you are desperate. They stand in their power and I’ve learned a valuable lesson that you don’t have to do anything but just be and you are grand and you are wonderful just who you are.
JE: Do you have any memorable stories involving celebrities you have met throughout your career?
KY: I have one memorable story when I met Patti LaBelle. I wish I could see her again right now and remind her how me met. Before I moved in LA in 2000, I spent seven years in Minneapolis. Months before I left to move out to LA, I was doing a gig with a band at the Radisson Hotel, we were playing for a wedding or another event at the hotel and after the gig was over, someone said to me: “Kim, go in the restaurant…go in the bar because Patti LaBelle is in there and she is just sitting there.” I was like: “What? Are you serious right now? What is she doing here?” They told me: “Go before she’s gone!”
So I went into the restaurant and there she was sitting there at the bar with I think, her then-husband Armstead Edwards, and I said to her: “Ms. LaBelle. Hi. My name is Kim Yarbrough and I’m a singer. I just finished a gig in the ballroom next store and I just wanted to tell you how much I admire you and I am so excited because I am moving out to LA in a month to be a singer.” She said: “Well, good luck, honey!” (Laughs) She said: “Well, good luck, honey” because it is a war zone out in LA and I just smiled to myself because I knew that in some kind of way, I was going to be successful in what I was going to do in LA. I thanked her and I went back to my gig and packed up my stuff and left.
JE: I thought that you brought shades of Patti into your cover of “Tell Me Something Good.” Your Blind Audition was the best audition of the entire season. Can you tell me about that performance?
KY: Thank you! I really appreciate it. That particular performance was so much fun because at that point I had nothing to lose, either you (the judges) turned around or you don’t and I’m just out here to have fun.
JE: What was it like when Adam and Christina turned around?
KY: I did not know that they had turned around. (Laughs) I did not know because when I walked out on stage, I had in my mind this entire time that if anybody turns around, I am going to pick Cee Lo (if he turns around) and Christina, who was my second choice (and I hoped she turned around). Those were my first choices for a coach.
I get on stage and I start singing and thirty seconds before the chorus, nobody is turning around. When I let out that first wail, I thought people were going to turn around on that first wail but the audience was so loud; it kind of threw me off-balance. So when no one was turning around, I was thinking: “Oh My God! Cee Lo is not turning around; this guy is not going to turn around!” Then, I thought to myself: “Kim, pull it together girl and stop focusing on the chairs; you can’t look at the chairs because you’re dead if you do!” I kept singing because I had an audience to entertain and I didn’t worry about the chairs.
After taking my focus completely off the chairs and started watching the audience, I thought the audience was screaming for something I did. It turns out they screamed because Adam and Christina turned around and I did not even know it until they were looking at me.
JE: After your performance, you asked Adam and Christina about how they vision you as an artist. Did you have that comment prepared just in case they turned around?
KY: I did think about it before hand and they told us at our contestant meetings: be respectful but it is okay for us to ask them questions too because you are speaking to someone who will be guiding your career in the next few months. This was very important that you got feedback from them too. I had formulated my questions before I got on stage and that seemed like a terrific opportunity to ask them how they saw me as an artist.
To revisit Kim’s Blind Audition, click here: http://youtu.be/oSZfkCuCiHE
In Part Two of my interview, we will focus on the Voice’s later stages of the competition and what her plans are now that the show has ended.
Great part one of your interview! I really enjoyed it
Thank you for the beautiful interview, Jake! XO