James Wolpert

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James Wolpert
Born (1990-12-26) December 26, 1990 (age 33)
Strasburg, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Occupation(s)Musician
Instrument(s)Vocals, acoustic guitar
Years active2008–present
Websitewww.valeriansun.com

James Wolpert (born December 26, 1990)[1] is an American singer, best known for his appearance on Season 5 of the NBC singing competition The Voice as part of Adam Levine's team.[2]

Early life[edit]

Originally from Strasburg, Pennsylvania, where he graduated from Lampeter-Strasburg High School,[3] Wolpert moved to Pittsburgh to attend Carnegie Mellon University to pursue art, but dropped out and ended up working as an "Apple Store Genius by day and musician by night",[4] before auditioning on The Voice.[5] As a teenager Wolpert appeared on the television show High School Musical: Get in the Picture where he competed for the chance to win a record contract as well as a cameo appearance in High School Musical 3: Senior Year; he finished in fifth place.

He has a younger sister, Rachael. He is a first cousin of actor and singer Jonathan Groff.[6]

Musical career[edit]

Wolpert's first major exposure ensued after he auditioned for the fifth season of The Voice. In his blind audition, Wolpert sang "Love Interruption" by Jack White and impressed all four judges Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green, Adam Levine and Blake Shelton to turn their chairs, signifying their interest in him joining their team. Ultimately, Wolpert chose to join the team of Adam Levine.[3] Subsequently, he sang "Radioactive" against Will Champlin in the battle round, which he won.[7]

After that, despite his self-described "atrocious" performance, he advanced in the knockout round singing "More Than a Feeling" by Boston. Wolpert commented, "I picked the song because it's super challenging ... as I got on stage, something just went wrong. I am my own worst critic, so I completely recognize it was atrocious [compared] to what it could have been."[8] Nevertheless, Levine chose him to advance, and he moved on to the first live show, singing "A Case of You", which received rave reviews, and was the winner of the "iTunes Bonus" on the show, as his performance was in the top ten of the most downloaded songs on iTunes. Thus, his iTunes votes from the public were multiplied by five, and ultimately, he advanced to the next round.[9] The following week, he sang "Mr. Brightside" by The Killers, advancing to the top 10.[10] After having to wait until the very end of the show to hear that he was saved, he was the first contestant that was saved in the results show the night after he sang "Without You" by Badfinger.[11]

A week later, he sang Queen's "Somebody to Love",[12] and a night later, found out he advanced to the top six.[13] The next week would be the most dramatic of the show to that point. After waking up Monday, December 2, the day of the performance, with little voice, he did not talk all day, and sang two songs, I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That) and Fell in Love with a Girl, like each of the other Top Six. The next night, he was in the bottom two on the results show, but was saved from the Twitter save over fellow Pennsylvanian Matthew Schuler, and advanced to the next round.[14] On December 10, 2013, Wolpert finished in fifth place along with Cole Vosbury from Blake's team who finished fourth.

In 2021, Wolpert became the vocalist for hometown supergroup Valerian Sun. The band currently has five songs to its name, along with winning "Best New Artist" of 2021 at the Central Pennsylvania Music Awards (CPMAs) held at the Hershey Theatre in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

  – Studio version of performance reached the top 10 on iTunes
Stage Song Original Artist Date Order Result
Blind Audition "Love Interruption" Jack White September 23, 2013 1.14 All four chairs turned
Joined Team Adam
Battle Rounds "Radioactive" (vs. Will Champlin) Imagine Dragons October 21, 2013 9.6 Saved by Coach
Knockout Rounds "More Than a Feeling" (vs. Juhi) Boston October 29, 2013 12.5 Saved by Coach
Live Playoffs "A Case of You" Joni Mitchell November 4, 2013 13.2 Saved by Public Vote
Live Top 12 "Mr. Brightside" The Killers November 11, 2013 16.3 Saved by Public Vote
Live Top 10 "Without You" Badfinger November 18, 2013 18.8 Saved by Public Vote
Live Top 8 "Somebody to Love" Queen November 25, 2013 20.1 Saved by Public Vote
Live Top 6 "Fell in Love with a Girl" The White Stripes December 2, 2013 22.5 Saved by Instant Save (Bottom 2)
"I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)" Meat Loaf 22.12
Live Top 5 (Semi-finals) "With or Without You" U2 December 9, 2013 24.1 Eliminated

Discography[edit]

On February 14, 2014, James released a three-track EP called Forfeiture, Portraiture on his Bandcamp web site. James decided to produce this release by himself. "I want to be literate in terms of sound engineering. I don't want to move forward going into studios where I leave all of that up to the engineer – I've dabbled in that and it's not been bad. I want to know how to exert creative control over what's happening outside of the booth and I think that the best way to do it is to self-produce an album and stumble through it."[15]

Title and details Notes
Forfeiture, Portraiture
  • Type: EP
  • Released: March 15, 2014
No.TitleLength
1."Bats"3:16
2."Portraiture (Same Old Questions)"4:34
3."White Moon"3:26

James then released a full-length album entitled The Entire City. On October 31, 2014, James released the official first single from the album called "Bats".[16][17] The promotion for the single began the day before with a cryptic message. James released his new record on January 15, 2015 on Bandcamp page and started the tour to promote his record "The Entire City" on January 20.

Title and details Notes
The Entire City
  • Type: CD
  • Released: January 15, 2015
No.TitleLength
1."Bats"3:22
2."The Entire City"4:33
3."Blondie"2:52
4."Friends"4:21
5."My Love"3:09
6."White Moon"3:57
7."Portraiture"3:40
8."Another Lonely Night"2:53
9."Transfiguration"6:25
10."Mirage"4:33
11."Reprise"4:39
12."Forfeiture"4:30

References[edit]

  1. ^ Ferguson, Jon (November 18, 2013). "James Wolpert makes strong bid to advance on 'The Voice'". Lancaster Newspapers. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
  2. ^ Noel, Carly (September 24, 2013). "Pittsburgh's James Wolpert wins knockout round, moves on to live shows on 'The Voice'". WXPI. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
  3. ^ a b Wright, Mary Ellen (September 23, 2013). "Lampeter-Strasburg grad James Wolpert shock the judges on "The Voice"". Lancaster Newspapers. Retrieved November 20, 2013.
  4. ^ "James Wolpert". NBC – The Voice. Retrieved November 20, 2013.
  5. ^ Hatmaker, Julia (November 18, 2013). "'The Voice': 5 reasons to cheer for James Wolpert". The Patriot News. Harrisburg, PA. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
  6. ^ Ferguson, Jon (November 6, 2013). "Interview with James Wolpert: L-S grad growing confident on 'The Voice'". Lancaster Newspapers. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
  7. ^ Woods, Ashley (October 22, 2013). "'The Voice' recap: the battle rounds get 'Radioactive' during season 5, episode 9". HuffPost. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
  8. ^ Hatmaker, Julia (October 30, 2013). "Strasburg's James Wolpert moves on to live shows in 'The Voice', calls his own performance of 'More Than a Feeling' 'atrocious'". The Patriot News. Harrisburg, PA. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
  9. ^ Pucci, Douglas (November 5, 2013). "The Voice on iTunes (November 4–5, 2013)". TV Ratings & News – Network TV Show Reviews and Daily Ratings. TV Media Insights. Archived from the original on November 14, 2013. Retrieved November 20, 2013.
  10. ^ "James Wolpert makes it to Top 10 on 'The Voice'". WGAL. Hearst Television. November 13, 2013. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
  11. ^ Franklin, Mark (November 19, 2013). "James Wolpert, Matthew Schuler advance on The Voice". York Dispatch. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved November 20, 2013.
  12. ^ Reiter, Amy (November 26, 2013). "'The Voice' recap: Top 8 hit their sweet spots". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 27, 2013.
  13. ^ Berman, Craig (November 26, 2013). "Thanksgiving comes early for Adam Levine on 'The Voice'". TODAY.com. NBC Universal. Retrieved November 27, 2013.
  14. ^ Hyman, Vicki (December 3, 2013). "'The Voice' 2013 results: Yardley, Pa.'s Matthew Schuler sent home". The Star-Ledger. Newark. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
  15. ^ Hatmaker, Julia (February 11, 2014). "How James Wolpert found his voice: Strasburg singer talks past, upcoming concert and EP launch". PennLive Patriot News. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
  16. ^ Bats (Single) on iTunes
  17. ^ Hatmaker, Julia (October 31, 2014). "James Wolpert releases new single 'Bats'". pennlive. Retrieved December 30, 2021.

External links[edit]

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