A Small-Town Girl with a Big-City Dream
Aubrey grew up in Littlestown, PA — a small town near Gettysburg, deep in Appalachian country music country — and says she’s been singing for as long as she can remember. There was never really a question of if she’d pursue music. The question was always how.
The answer came when she set her sights on Nashville. She auditioned for Belmont University’s music program, and on her very first trip to the city her parents scored last-minute tickets to the Grand Ole Opry. Standing inside that building, she says, was the moment Nashville stopped being a plan and started being home.
She’s now a senior at Belmont’s Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business, majoring in songwriting — a degree she jokes “sounds fake” but calls the best education money can buy. Her professors are actively working in the industry. Her songwriting professor wrote a song for Reba McEntire while Aubrey was competing alongside Reba on The Voice. That’s Belmont.
Auditioning for The Voice (With a Phone at 10%)
Aubrey’s path to The Voice was pure Aubrey — equal parts calculated and chaotic. Her mom sent her a link to the open submissions page. Her phone was nearly dead. She had a more pressing audition coming up. She submitted the tape anyway.
Months later, she got the call. She was in.
What followed was a full year of secrets, schedule gymnastics, and Zooming into college classes from a California hotel room between filming days. She calculated how many credits she could carry, negotiated with every professor, and managed to keep up with school all the way through the finale. For someone juggling all of that, her composure on screen was remarkable — though she’s quick to point out the producers had a talent for capturing every “jumping around on stage” moment they could find.
Team Reba, Snoop Dogg, and a Tissue
Aubrey’s blind audition song was “Burning House” by Cam. One chair turned — Reba McEntire’s. The reaction when that chair came around? Tears. Immediate, uncontrollable tears. She didn’t need to deliberate.
The coaches that season — Snoop Dogg, Niall Horan, Reba McEntire, and Michael Bublé — all spoke with every contestant regardless of outcome, and Aubrey says every single one was genuinely kind. Snoop Dogg, she tells us, handed her a tissue at her blind audition and “had her back the whole season.” She’s currently letting that relationship “mature a little bit” before she calls in any favors.
The highlight of her time on the show? Dueting with Reba McEntire on “Mary Did You Know” — her favorite Christmas song, sung with one of her biggest lifelong inspirations. She advanced all the way to the six-person finale, finishing fourth.
Life After The Voice: New Music and Real Momentum
Aubrey was strategic going into the finale. She already had a single lined up to drop within days of the show ending because she knew, win or lose, the window of attention needed to be used immediately. That single was “One Lane,” a song rooted in the feeling of trading Nashville’s highways for quiet back roads that reminded her of home.
She’s since released “Send Me A Sign” and a brand-new collab with fellow The Voice contestant Makenzie Phipps called “Devil Ain’t in Hell” — a song the two of them wrote together backstage before their blind auditions, purely to calm their nerves. It became a duet almost by accident, and it’s fantastic.
Stream all three on Spotify now — links in the episode description.
Her Sound, Her Goals, and the Grand Ole Opry
Ask Aubrey to describe her sound and she’ll land on “wholesome country” — think Carrie Underwood, Cody Johnson, and Emily Ann Roberts. Her producer brings a pop-country polish to the instrumentation that keeps things radio-ready without losing the roots.
Her goals are clear and sequenced: a Grand Ole Opry debut, a record deal (on her terms, when the time is right), and one day — a CMA nomination. Not a win, just a nomination. That’s the bar she’s set for herself, and given the trajectory she’s on, it doesn’t feel far-fetched at all.
Catch Aubrey Live This Summer
Aubrey is playing a string of Central PA shows right now — don’t sleep on these:
- July 25 – Summer Boots Festival (opening for The Band Perry)
- July 31 – Miss Maryland Preliminary
- August 1 – York State Fair, Froggy Free Stage
- August 2 – Car Show (National Anthem)
- August 7 – Carroll County Fair
Follow her on social media for tickets and updates.
