By Kalena Reynolds | Staff Writer
Late at night in a dorm room in Penland Residence Hall, singer-songwriter and “The Voice” contestant Tori Templet discovered her love of writing and creating music.
Templet didn’t grow up around music but focused most of her childhood on competitive cheerleading. At 16 years old, she received a ukulele as a birthday gift and began exploring music in a deeper sense, ultimately sparking a passion that grew during her freshman year of college.
“November of my freshman year in 2018, that was when I released ‘Right Here,’ my first song,” Templet said. “It’s so funny — I was literally sitting in the parking lot next to Penland when it came out at midnight with my friends, and we played it, and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I have a song on Spotify. That’s crazy.'”
While Templet always planned on pursuing a job in advertising or marketing after college, her mindset shifted after her song “Right Here” landed on a Spotify-curated playlist called “Fresh Finds,” ultimately changing the trajectory of both her music and career.
“The fact that I was put on that playlist right off the jump with my first song was such an honor,” Templet said. “That was the next moment where I was like, ‘Oh, this isn’t just a little thing, I could actually do this.'”
Vail, Co., senior Langley Cerovich first met Templet during freshman year and recalled connecting over songwriting and playing shows with her.
“It was just cool to sit backstage and get to know her through music and jamming,” Cerovich said. “I talked with her and was like, ‘Wow, how’d you record and all these Baylor things?'”
After Templet decided to pursue music more seriously, she created a plan to be able to manage both college and music.
“If I just needed to do something else or I needed to take my mind off this exam that’s about to happen, that’s when I would go pick up my guitar and just sit, and that’s honestly when my best songs would come to me,” Templet said.
While Templet took a break from songwriting after she graduated in May of 2022 due to demanding internships and gaining financial stability, she picked music back up in October of 2023 after a producer for “The Voice” reached out to her on Instagram.
“She was like, ‘Hey, I’ve seen your covers on TikTok, and I would love for you to audition for the voice,'” Templet said. “So that was cool that someone found me and sought me out.”
The producers and Templet had multiple interviews over Zoom, discussing her journey and music story. They told her they would contact her again in March of the following year.
As Templet began her five-month journey of waiting, she continued to write and hone in on her story until one day, she received a call from an unknown number from Burbank, Calif.
“Literally as I picked up the phone, it clicked in my head that it was for ‘The Voice,'” Templet said. “They were like, ‘Congratulations, I’ll send you all the details, but it’s going to be an audition again in June.'”
As the in-person audition date came closer, Templet flew out in June for two weeks of preparation.
“They figure out your wardrobe, you have a band rehearsal, you have a few vocal lessons, just little things like that,” Templet said. “I also did my interview where you’re sitting down in the chair, telling everybody your story.”
After going back home to Atlanta and continuing her remote job for a few months, Templet eventually went back out for the heavily anticipated blind audition in July to perform a cover of Taylor Swift’s “Lover,” which has currently amassed over 250,000 views on YouTube.
While Templet was recently eliminated from the show, she said it was an experience that brought her out of a songwriting rut and reignited musical inspiration in her life.
“The whole process made me realize that I am capable of this dream as much as I feel like people tell me I’m not, and those coaches really believed in me and saw something in me,” Templet said. “Although my time on the show seems short to the viewers, I was out there for 3 months … simply living the dream.”
Templet now has a redefined sense of her identity in songwriting and is in the process of working on releasing new music.
“I am currently working on my debut album, which I am very excited about,” Templet said. “It’s been a long time coming, but I finally feel like I’m in the perfect spot to really make my debut as an artist. This music I’m making is true and real and so authentic — a testament to who I am becoming.”
