CUMMING — Riley Biederer is not new to performing in front of crowds, but her spotlight may be growing as she takes the stage this fall to audition for a hit TV show.
The 19-year-old singer/songwriter/musician from Forsyth County announced Friday night that she recently traveled to Los Angeles to try out for the upcoming ninth season of “The Voice,” a reality singing competition broadcast on NBC.
Biederer revealed her surprise to a crowd of supporters at the Castleberry Ale House near Cumming. Some had showed up because of her, while others who heard her for the first time were cheering after each song.
Her 89-year-old grandfather even got up from his front-row seat to dance to one of her songs.
“The Voice” premieres at 8 p.m. Sept. 21 with several weeks of blind auditions during which four celebrity coaches — Adam Levine, Blake Shelton, Gwen Stefani and Pharrell Williams — select singers to their teams by only hearing them.
Biederer does not know when her audition will air. If she makes it past the auditions, she would have to go through a series of singing challenges to advance through rounds before potentially making it to a final live voting phase.
As of Friday night, she could not officially comment due to network procedures. But anyone in the restaurant could see the excitement leap from her face.
“I have video tapes of her … standing in front of the snowman — before she could form the words of ‘Frosty the Snowman’ — singing ‘Frosty the Snowman’ on pitch and key but not the words,” said her father, Frank Biederer. “She’s always been a singer.”
Though Biederer has traveled across the country to plant her vocal roots, Forsyth County is well-represented throughout her family.
The singer attended West Forsyth High before transitioning to home school. Her mother, Tisha Murhpy, teaches at North Forsyth High. And her brother, Parker Biederer, is the starting centerfielder as a senior at Forsyth Central High.
Singing runs in the family, too.
“[Riley’s] grandmother was a singer, and her mom was a really good vocalist,” Biederer said. “When I met her mom, she pretty much lured me in with piano and songs.”
The young vocalist has been “seriously singing” since she was about 11 or 12, according to her father.
She has since performed at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, the national Orange Conference at the Gwinnett Arena, in Nashville, Tenn., and all around the metro Atlanta area, morphing her style away from country and more toward a pop sound.
At age 15, she was signed by Elton John’s music management company, Rocket Music.
A year later, she accepted the Bill Lowery Horizon Award at the Georgia Music Hall of Fame Awards Show, which is given to young artists expected to make a significant contribution in the music industry.
Justin Bieber had won the award a year earlier.
“She walked in and said to me at one point, ‘I’ve just decided that if I’m going to make this happen, I’m going to sing in front of everyone. I’m not going to be afraid. If I’m going to get where I want to go, I’m not going to say no,’” her dad said. “At 12. ‘Anybody who asks me to sing, I’m going to sing.’”