Jared Blake

Jared Blake (born September 14, 1978) is an country music singer whom resides in Nashville, Tennessee. A Sony/ATV and Love Monkey Music (Bob DiPiero) songwriter first, his passion to perform was quickly realized. He appeared on the debut season of the hit television show The Voice (U.S. season 1); a singing competition which aired on NBC. Season one coaches included Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green, Adam Levine, and Blake Shelton. Jared was the final selection to complete Team Blake. His singing performances included a solo of “Good Girls Go Bad” (Cobra Starship), a solo of “Not Ready to Make Nice” (Dixie Chicks), a group performance of “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” (Marvin Gaye), a group performance of “This Love” (Maroon 5), and a solo of “Use Somebody” (Kings of Leon). NBC and Universal Republic Records released recordings of the songs performed. Blake’s vocal performances broke into the charts with the first release, “Not Ready to Make Nice”, reaching No.16 and “Use Somebody” also reaching No.16 on iTunes charts. His songs have appeared in the charts more than 50 times since June 2011. Jared Blake was born in Star City, Arkansas, and started his musical career learning piano and acoustic guitar. In middle school, Jared decided to join the school’s choir. His teacher used classical choral training methods, and Jared went on be selected by the statewide all-region choir from 1991 until his graduation in 1996. In 1993, Jared entered his first competitions at the Malvern Brick Fest taking second place, and went on to take place at the Lincoln County Fair youth talent competition. Subsequent years, Jared won 1st place in the Lincoln County vocal competition, and other state and regional talent shows. Jared began writing his own songs for the competitions, and pinpointed his career decision to become a professional songwriter as well as a singer. Jared was signed to a publishing contract with Sony/ATV Music Publishing in 2006, ending in 2010. Blake worked four jobs at times, owning a decorative concrete business, writing songs for Sony/ATV and Love Monkey Music (Bob DiPiero), singing demos, and pushing his own music by playing in bars to support his family. Jared has played with David Allan Coe, Big and Rich, James Otto, Jerrod Niemann, Lee Brice, Gretchen Wilson, Randy Houser, Dierks Bentley and Jamey Johnson. Jared Blake’s music stretches the boundary of country with a hint of blues and rock n roll. Jared’s fans have dubbed the creation “country grunge”. Rolling Stone described this artist as a top pick to win the season on NBC’s hit show, “The Voice”. His “sweet 16″ (top 16) status was explained as “expected”. When the top 8 got narrowed down, Jared Blake became the show-shocker of the evening. Entertainment Weekly reported “He was robbed, totally robbed.”, the day after the live episode aired. Immediately after leaving the stage, he was then thrown into the line of reporters dying to know what his thoughts were. Jared’s reply, “Where’s my first gig and let me get to all of these new fans!!”