Twin brothers from Bernie, Mo., Clinton and Coty Walker, are participating in NBC’s music show The Voice and were selected last week to be coached by Usher.
The twins started playing music when they were very young, starting by singing at church at the age of 4. Most of their life they have been playing gospel but started focusing on country about three years ago.
In 1994 they opened up for Johnny Cash in Branson’s theater and it was their first experience with country music. They remember it being a very big and massive place and an intimidating experience but consider it as a defining moment because after that, they were never afraid of getting in front of somebody to sing.
Last Monday they participated on the Blind Auditions of NBC’s popular show The Voice and performed “Keep Me in Mind” by the Zac Brown’s Band in front of musical coaches Blake Shelton, Usher, Shakira and Adam Levine.
It was not their first time auditioning for The Voice. They auditioned last year for the fifth season of the show, but were unable to go to the tryouts in Chicago for financial reasons. They regretted it and tried again for season 6.
When Usher’s chair turned around during the Blind Auditions last week, they were truly relieved. Through the majority of their performance, none of the coaches pressed the famous red button to select the twins on their team and when Usher did the twins were very surprised.
“To see Usher turn around it was, needless to say, a rollercoaster of emotions because it was up and down a lot and a very nerve racking but overwhelming sense of accomplishment,” Coty Walker told KRCU.
The brothers did not expect to be selected by Usher. Their music style is more country than R&B, but when Usher told them he sees quality in their band, it meant a lot to the Walkers. Coty said his favorite thing about the show is that it is “about seeing people rise up and be better than what they were” so they are rather excited to have the opportunity to work outside the box with Usher.
The Walker brothers want to learn as much from Usher as possible because he knows a lot more about the music industry and performing. However, Coty thinks Usher will not be able to teach them all of his tricks.
“He’s not gonna be able to teach us to dance at all. He can try if he wants to but it won’t work,” Coty joked.
The brothers’ goal is to learn from their experience on the show more than winning it, even if that is something that all the participants want to accomplish.
“What I think is special about the show is that, no matter how far you get, they really do a good job helping you being a better artist,” Clinton Walker added.
But even if they are on their way to success, the Walkers brothers will never forget where they come from. Missourians at heart, they both have a real life away from the spotlight of The Voice. Clinton graduated from Southeast Missouri State University with a middle school education degree with an emphasis on Math and English in 2010. Even though he spent most of his teaching career teaching English, he is currently a math teacher. On the other hand, Coty runs their recording studio, The Walker Bros. in Bernie, Mo.
In Bernie, everyone knows about them auditioning and has seen the show. Everywhere they go, there are a lot of conversations about it. There is a sense of pride and people are happy to see them get a break. The brothers said it is nice to know their town is behind them and that everybody is supportive of them.
Life is where they take inspiration when writing music. The Walkers love to put their quirky personality into their writing, but also care about writing about God and things in the everyday life. They still play worship music every Sunday at their church, and said they will never stop doing that. Country music will always be their area of predilection even if they are a little bit different in the genre because they “will always do stuff people don’t expect.”
“We live that life, it’s songs about us we can relate to, and I think it’s a fitting genre for us,” Clinton said.
If they manage to go far on The Voice, Brothers Walker will spend a lot more time playing music than producing. To them, producing is something they can do down the road when they are older. They think the more they play music to crowds, the more they get to know people and that makes them better as producers and engineers. Growing as performers is their plan right now and they are excited to break into that.
“As far as staying in Bernie, you know that’s one of those things. Bernie will always be home so we’ll find our way back if we’re leaving here or not,“ Clinton concluded.