Sawyer Fredericks is Working with Pharrell on Next Album (VIDEO)

The Voice - Season 9

Winner of season 8, Sawyer Fredericks, came back to The Voice on Wednesday to debut his new single, “Take it All.” The singer/songwriter also dropped a new 4 song ep to tide fans over until his full-length album debuts next spring.

In a recent interview with Reality Rocks, Sawyer revealed the exciting news that he’s been in the studio with his The Voice coach, Pharrell Williams, and that some of those songs COULD end up on the forthcoming album! Speaking of collaborations: Sawyer described how he and fellow season 8 contestant, Mia Z got together for a duet that appears on the EP.

The singer had a hand writing all four tracks on Sawyer Fredericks, and he admitted he’s had to press for artistic control.  The label wanted Sawyer to record some cover tunes–which he wouldn’t name–and was able to convince them otherwise. “I didn’t really see the point of it,” said Sawyer, “Just because I have all my original work and I felt I should be getting that out there first.” His new manager, who also handles the career of his iconoclastic idol, Ray Lamontagne, is likely familiar with waging artistic battles.

On the EP, Sawyer worked with Mikal Blue from Revolver Recordings, who produced “Still Here” and co-wrote “Lovers Still Alone.” Mikal also co-wrote Sawyer’s tune “Forever Wrong” for the Mitch Albom soundtrack. The writer/producer has also written songs for Danielle Bradbery, including “Friend Zone.”

Other collaborations include Dan Romer (Ingrid Michaelson, A Great Big World) on “Take it All” and Jamie Hartman on “Stranger,” the Mia duet. Here’s a long story fom Jamie’s twitter how the duet came to be. Mia and Sawyer recorded their vocals in Pittsburgh, with only a sound tech and a little help from Jamie. They pretty much worked out the song harmonies on their own!

During his season on The Voice, there were songs by his favorite, albeit obscure artists, Sawyer would have liked to perform, but the producers insisted on him singing songs that the audience would be familiar with. He admitted to being “picky” about the songs he would sing. “I didn’t win every time,” he said of the song selection process. “I think there were a lot of battles like that.” Sawyer was scouted for The Voice by way of his Youtube videos, and agreed to compete, believing it would be another learning experience.

Up next: Sawyer will continue to write and perform live. He hopes to release a video for “Take it All” soon.

Via Reality Rocks

About mj santilli 34841 Articles
Founder and editor of mjsbigblog.com, home of the awesomest fan community on the net. I love cheesy singing shows of all kinds, whether reality or scripted. I adore American Idol, but also love The Voice, Glee, X Factor and more!