‘The Voice’ sparks Craig Wayne Boyd’s own Cinderella story

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Craig Wayne Boyd’s story has been told and retold enough to become the stuff of legend.

Knocking around Music City for more than a decade, looking for that one big break that would allow him to distinguish himself from the dozens of other singer/songwriters with similar aspirations, Boyd confided with his drummer that it might be time to quit chasing his long-held dream of music glory and start looking for a more secure way of making a living.

Then he got the email that changed his life forever.

Boyd answered the call from the hit NBC TV series “The Voice,” and the road to his Cinderella story suddenly became clear.

Selected by team coach, and country superstar, Blake Shelton and dropped twice along the way before being “saved” and ultimately winning the competition, Boyd’s days of dismal crowds in smoky bars came to an abrupt halt. He reveled in the newfound fame, running the relentless media gauntlet that resulted … interviews on all the network and cable talk shows, answering the same questions over and over for national newspapers and magazines.

In the midst of that mad rush, looking to capitalize on the “Voice” momentum, Boyd’s first single, “My Baby’s Got a Smile on Her Face,” dropped. And the resulting clamor it generated was heard all up and down Music Row. By the time the smoke had settled, “Smile” had become the second single ever to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard Country Charts. The only other artist to manage the feat? Garth Brooks with his 2007 hit “More Than a Memory.”

“That was definitely one of those ‘Holy cow!’ moments,” a much more polished Boyd said in a phone interview with The Albany Herald. “I was caught up in the whirlwind of all ‘The Voice’ publicity, and this happens. I didn’t know what to say. No matter what happens in my career, I’ll always be grateful to ‘The Voice’ and to all the coaches on there. That whole experience brought so much to the table.

“The beauty of the whole No. 1 single thing is that when the record company (Dot Records) first started talking about releasing it, I fought hard to produce it myself. I wanted a certain sound, and I was proud to prove myself with co-production credit.”

Boyd said his “Voice” experience was about more than competing against other singers. And he praised the support he and other contenders got from Shelton and fellow coaches Gwen Stefani, Pharrell Williams and Adam Levine.

“We never looked on it like a competition,” he said. “It was about everyone becoming better at what they were doing. I thought about that when it dawned on me I was going from playing small venues for small crowds to singing for 17 million people watching ‘The Voice’ and 1.2 billion people from 78 countries at the (recent) FIS World Ski Championships. Unbelievable.

“But all the coaches really worked with us behind the scenes to prepare us for something like that. With Blake, what you see on TV is what you get, but it was the same with Gwen — who’s one of the sweetest people I ever met — Pharrell and with Adam.”

Boyd will continue his busy schedule by playing a series of shows with Rascal Flats in Las Vegas before embarking on his own headlining tour. In the middle of his trek across the country, he will come to Dothan, Ala., for the April 23-25 Toadlick Festival.

“I’ve played a lot of these type festivals throughout my craeer, but never one of this magnitude,” he said. “I absolutely love playing these kinds of shows, getting to play in front of massive crowds and meet some of my musical heroes in the lineup.

“(Playing Toadlick) is another piece in my puzzle that’s fallen into place. I’ve learned that with this fast-paced life, it’s not so much about days as it is about hours. All of this stuff, I’ve dreamed about. Playing on a massive stage with a full orchestra, playing the Grand Ole Opry, having a No. 1 single … Man, I’m living my dream.”