What does the future hold for The Voice 7 winner, Craig Wayne Boyd? For one, he’s signed to Dot Records, the recently revived Big Machine Records imprint that also features Drake White and breakout country duo Maddie & Tae.
In an interview with The Tennessean, Craig talked about his struggle in the music business, competing on The Voice and his hopes for the future.
Craig’s story begins with a move to Nashville in 2004 with everything he owned in a pickup truck. He signed with EMI and wrote songs for three years.
“I had a vocal group Southland that was having fairly good success and that dissolved so I had to reinvent myself,” said Craig, “I went out as a solo artist. In 2010, I put out a single to country radio that started climbing the charts and then the company I was about to start working with lost their funding so it dropped me all the way back at the bottom again. About a year into trying to figure it all out again, that’s when The Voice email came through.”
Although The Voice was the big break Craig needed, the experience was not without its precarious moments. He was eliminated and stolen TWICE. First when Gwen Stefani nabbed the singer from Blake Shelton. She only kept the hopeful long enough to give him a fashion makeoverm before Blake stole him right back again.
“With all of the ups and downs I’ve had in my career in the last 11 years, said Craig of The Voice roller coaster, “I think that prepared me for being able to handle the ups and downs on the show. It kept me from losing my focus because in my mind, it was yet another obstacle.”
When Craig heads back to Nashville to record his record, he hopes to bring back songs that tell “stories with meaning behind them.” He’s hoping for a successful career, and to “continue to make good music.”
The takeaway for Craig, and the message he’d like to impart to other musicians who continue to struggle to be heard, is to not give up. “I feel like I’m a spokesperson for all of those guys up there who have paid their dues and slugged it out,” said the singer, “If they truly believe in themselves, don’t quit. Find any avenue you can; it will pay off.”
Craig makes his Opry debut in Nashville on January 3.
