Fernandina Beach-based Singer Soars on NBC’s 'The Voice'

When he auditioned for the NBC hit program “The Voice,” earlier this year, Edward Preble, a 19-year-old vocalist from Fernandina Beach, thought the show might be a “stepping stone” on his quest to develop a singing career. What he experienced instead was a launch pad.

Preble, who spent most of his childhood in Fernandina Beach, has advanced into the pivotal Knockout rounds of the show on the merits of his silky, low-baritone voice and affinity for the music of Frank Sinatra and other Great American Songbook crooners.

Preble was born in Miami but attended school in Fernandina Beach until sixth grade. He went to boarding school in Rhode Island and spent one year at Hofstra University in Long Island, New York, before beginning his adventure on “The Voice.”

“It’s been surprising, honestly,” Preble says. “It was amazing for me to be there. I learned a lot. I’ve grown a lot as a vocalist. I’ve learned what I want to do in the future. I think now it’s not a question of whether I will make it big, it’s when.”

“The Voice” is a huge hit, now in its 26th season. The show, which airs two episodes a week, on Mondays and Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET, features superstar singers who serve as coaches to an initial roster of 56 talented amateur singers. Each coach has a team of 14 contestants. Those contestants are gradually eliminated throughout the course of the season after performance competitions.

The winner is determined by television viewers voting by telephone, internet, text and iTunes Store purchases of audio-recorded artists' vocal performances. The winner receives $100,000 and a record deal with Universal Music Group.

This season’s coaches are Snoop Dogg, Reba McEntire, Michael Bublé and Gwen Stefani.  Preble survived the initial “blind audition” and ended up on the Bublé team. Bublé has championed Preble throughout the competition.

"Edward is a really special kid," Bublé said. "Not only in how he sounded, but his personality. I had nobody in this genre, the Great American Songbook, crooners. I'm really excited because I have a lot of confidence that I can help him a lot."

Preble credits his family with his career path. His grandfather was a jazz musician, as were other family members. As a child, Preble says he exhibited no musical talent. But he loved music and was drawn to the music of Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin.

One day, he was humming the 1963 song “Call Me Irresponsible” when he was inspired to pursue singing, focusing on the American Songbook era.

“It came naturally to me,” he says of the genre. “You don’t hear that type of music on the radio today. I discovered it out of the blue. I would hear it and wonder: Why was it gone?”

In high school in Rhode Island, he began studying with a voice coach who came to the school once a week to teach interested students for an hour.

“He would bring me around with him outside of school,” Preble says. “He would take me to jazz places and events to cultivate my love of music even more.”

Preble then attended Hofstra University for one year, studying vocals.

“When I was at university I was always on the path of music,” he says. “But the entire year I was saying, ‘I’m going to get out in a year and work on my career, and I’m going to make it.’”

He would occasionally skip classes to perform “in little dive bars in Queens.” He sang at sorority functions and campus parties and sometimes planted himself on the school grounds and sang for passers-by. Preble typically dresses in the style of the 1950s crooners, donning a traditional suit, skinny tie, polished loafers, and sometimes, a fedora.

He was teased a good bit while in school for his fashion sense and his love of singers whom most of his hip-hop-loving peers had never heard of.

“It wasn’t always easy for me growing up,” he says. “I was always the quiet kid. I was introverted. Kids would call me ‘grandpa shoes.’ Even in high school there was less [teasing], but I would hear it. But it never got me down. It gave me more determination to prove everyone wrong.”

Preble eyed auditioning for “The Voice” as a first step toward a professional career. His first performance on the show was a “blind audition,” in which he chose to sing "Luck Be a Lady.” He tried to be “nonchalant” about his audition and downplay expectations.

“I didn’t really care,” Preble says. “I said, ‘Hey, go out there and do a great performance.’ I just kept getting through (the rounds of competition). I was surprised the whole time. It’s always nerve-wracking, especially in front of four of the biggest artists in the world.”

Preble was selected — appropriately — to Bublé’s team and continued to thrive.

“He is one of the only people out there who’s doing what I do,” Preble says. “I was expecting to learn from him; I was not expecting to gain so much of a genuine connection from such a genuine human being. He’s extraordinary. It’s a show, but he knows he’s playing with people’s lives. I love him to death.”

In episode 10 of the show, Preble thrilled audiences with a soulful performance of “What a Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong alongside Mark Shiiba, another contestant. Preble finally lost in the Knockout round, in early November to a contestant named Shye, although he was praised for his rendition of “Send in the Clowns.” In that episode, Snoop Dogg dubbed him “Fast Eddie” because he’s a “fast learner.”

After elimination, however, he was “stolen” by judge Reba McEntire to join his team. (Each coach has a limited number of opportunities to steal another coach’s performer.) “Edward, you have fascinated me since the very beginning,” McEntire told Preble on the show. “For you to be still in your teens, you’re such a mature soul.”

Preble was surprised to be selected for McEntire’s team.

“I knew I wasn’t going to make it in the Knockouts,” he says. “I knew Shye was going to win the battle. She would tell me backstage, ‘Reba has a steal left. I think she’s going to steal you.’ I said no way. I did not believe it. It blew me away.”

Preble’s fate on the show will be determined in upcoming episodes, beginning with the Nov. 18 and 19 episodes.

Preble calls his time on “The Voice” magical. He can’t name his favorite performance. They’ve all been rewarding.

“I think they all had their highlights,” he says. “For the blind audition, it wasn’t the most comfortable song I could have done. But I think it showed I wanted to be energetic and out there.”

He says he took a risk with the technically demanding “Send in the Clowns.”

“I had options,” he says. “But there was this song which I’d done many times over. In college, I would often sing it at night, standing under a lamppost. The song means so much to me, although I thought, ‘This is a big risk.’”

Preble says he is interested in trying other genres and singing styles as he continues to work on his craft.

“My overall goal being on the show and doing this career is not to be a star,” he says. “The main goal is get young people back into this style of music.”

Recently he received fan mail from a man who said he used to play jazz drums. “After hearing me he decided to take it up again,” Preble says. “That made me smile.”

He still resides on Amelia Island with his parents. Viewers of “The Voice” no doubt recognized a video clip of the show that aired a few weeks ago showing Edward standing on the banks of the Amelia River at sunset.

“I live in Fernandina Beach most of the time,” he says. “Fernandina Beach will always be my home.”

And while he sorts out the many professional opportunities coming his way, he promises to share his talent with his biggest fans.

“For my hometown, there will be performances in the future.”