Aspiring country pop artist Marybeth Byrd times her auditions around graduations.
Byrd, 21, first auditioned for singing competition show “The Voice” in 2019, the same year she graduated from Armorel High School.
She made it to the Top 8 while competing on John Legend’s team during season 17 of the show.
Now Byrd, set to graduate from Arkansas State University in the spring, will be auditioning in front of celebrity judges on Sunday’s “American Idol.”
Byrd, a strategic communications major at ASU, said she has always loved music.
“I am an artist of many layers. I sound country but sometimes I sing pop,” said Byrd, “I love my falsetto, my head voice, that’s considered pop. Country is the base of everything for me, so country pop.”
She said that gospel and southern influences are really shown in her music.
Byrd, who has not seen her episode yet, will be seen on TVs across the country auditioning in front of Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan along with her guitarist Charles Moody, who she brought from home.
She said she will probably just stay in and watch the episode in her bed with her dog, but she received word from her family about watch parties.
“I am really blessed to have grown up in a small town because you know everyone,” Byrd said Tuesday, “And it just feels like one big family.”
Byrd said she’s always lived in Armorel, an unincorporated community in Mississippi County, with a population of just over 300 people.
Her childhood consisted of a lot of four-wheeler riding and family time, she said.
“My grandparents helped raise me, you know being in a southern family you’re just always so close,” the singer said.
“Folsom Prison Blues” by Johnny Cash is the song that she says always reminds her of growing up in the state.
“Our house was always the ‘neighborhood house’ where my brother would have all of his friends and people would come over just to have dinners all the time,” Byrd said, “It was just southern hospitality at its finest.”
Byrd said she hopes to keep building relationships with other artists through “American Idol,” something she's learned after reflecting on her time as a contestant on “The Voice.”
“On top of being a 17-year-old doing something that big and not really knowing who I was as an artist or as a person, I also lost my grandpa, someone who was really important to me, in the midst of that,” Byrd said, “It was all of these different things in one that I wasn’t ready for.”
She said that now, four years later, she’s started finding herself though growing up and welcoming adulthood.
She said she's matured in the four years since "The Voice," and has started finding herself as she welcomes adulthood.
“I feel like ‘American Idol’ is what I’ve been waiting on. I feel like it’s a stepping stone towards my future,” Byrd said, “I am over the moon about the whole thing."
Byrd said that while it is easy to get lost in friendships she’s built with others auditioning, including Holly Grove’s Lucy Love, she’s reminding herself that she’s auditioning to start a career.
“The whole winning thing kind of gets shoved to the back of your mind, for me,” She said, “It’s just been so fun getting to watch all of my friends perform and do their thing."
Byrd said it means a lot to her to get to represent Arkansas while auditioning.
“I wouldn’t want to live in any other state, though I hope Nashville is in my future” she said, “Arkansas is where my heart is. I have a love for this place like no other.”
Byrd said she wants to inspire young girls who have also grown up in small towns.
“I think artists who grew up in small towns can feel out of their element when they love music, because there aren’t as many opportunities here compared to Nashville or Los Angeles,” the singer said, “I want to tell them that they can do it, too.”
“Success is not an overnight thing," Byrd said. "Even when there is pressure to be the next best thing tomorrow, take one step at a time.”