3 questions with Max Boyle ’18

Just moments from his blind audition for season 9 of The Voice, Boyle heard the news — the last spot was filled. “In the moment, it was terrible,” Boyle said. “But, thinking back, it was a good thing I didn’t get to go out there. I wasn’t ready.” The Toledo, Ohio, native went on to finish in the Top 13 in season 17 of the NBC competition show and is now making his way in Nashville.

1. When did your love of music begin? I’m the youngest of six and, growing up, music was a hobby for some of my siblings. When I was 4 or 5, I would sing a little bit but, as I got older, I got a little self-conscious. I remember listening to CDs of Usher and Rascal Flatts in my closet, singing quietly so no one would hear me. I never really sang for anyone, not even my family. When I was 16 or 17, I threw up a video on Facebook and YouTube and my friends were like, “What the heck, since when do you sing?”
   
   
2. How do you go from singing secretly to performing on a TV show with millions of viewers watching? It’s a process. I joined my high school gospel choir, and that was really the first time I sang with an audience. When I was 19 or 20, I started to play at bars near campus and I also took voice lessons. I decided to try out (for The Voice) just after my freshman year and made it to the blind auditions, so that helped my confidence.
   
   
3. What’s next on your pop-soul-folk musical journey? I’m living in Nashville now, writing songs and performing. Pre-COVID I had a tour scheduled so, now that there is a little more normalcy, I’d like to get out on a small tour. If someone would have told me when I was a kid that I would be doing this, I definitely would not have believed them. There are times I wish I had gotten started so much earlier, but you can’t change the past — only look forward to the future.