Like a big pot of pasta water that is taking its sweet time to come to a rolling boil, music lovers in the Valley of the Tunes have been watching Marty O’Reilly’s career bubble just on the verge of spilling over. That career has just hit 212 degrees.
The talented kid from Sonoma, now 36 years old, is one of the featured singers on the current season of NBC’s “The Voice.” After being a professional singer/songwriter for some 15 years, he is on the verge of a really big break.
As of press time, the outcome of O’Reilly’s second appearance on “The Voice” is unknown. And a telephone conversation with O’Reilly from his Sonoma home yielded no inside information.
The fact that a handler from Universal Studios (see sidebar) was also on the line, listening in to stop any leak of top-secret information, lends credence to the enormity of his appearance on the show.
In recent seasons, “The Voice” has averaged around 6,000,000 viewers per episode. As much as Roger Rhoten and Tony Ginesi of the Sebastiani Theatre might love to try, fitting that crowd into the Sebastiani on New Year’s Eve to watch O’Reilly ring in the new year might be a bridge too far.
Part of the large Universal organization is devoted to finding talent, and O’Reilly was found by a Uni-sleuth who discovered his music filled Instagram account. It was then that O’Reilly’s rich and raspy voice first caught the ear of a big-time network influencer. And it was then that the veil of secrecy was pulled over O’Reilly’s life. Information about the events that followed are more closely held than the recipe for the Colonel’s original blend.
Only his wife Caroline was privy to the exciting possibilities in O’Reilly’s professional future. He admitted it was “super tough” keeping the information and experience a secret. “I kept it a secret from my dad for about five months,” O’Reilly admitted.
The Sonoma Valley singer flew down to Los Angeles for an in-person preliminary audition in the fall of 2024, which he nailed. He said, “Oh, my god, I might have this in the bag.” However, he was told to “go home and forget about this. You won’t hear from us until spring.”
He actually heard the good news in February and began the behind the scenes filming in early Summer. It was then that a production team joined the campaign to prep O’Reilly for the next step.
Those preparations came to fruition in mid-Summer, in an episode that aired for all the world to see this past Oct. 6 when O’Reilly stepped onto the big stage in front of the four judges. Those four were SnoopDogg, Michael Buble, Reba McEntire, and Nial Horan.
O’Reilly sang his version of “Trouble,” by Ray LaMontagne. He nailed that one, too.
The aim for the performer on The Voice is to get the judges to “turn their chairs.” They begin by facing the audience, and as the performer is met with their approval, the judges dramatically swivel around signaling their thumbs up.
O’Reilly told of his mind running through the immediate situation when he was onstage in front of the four; he is singing his heart out, the 200 people in the audience are going nuts over his performance, but he’s thinking “this is it,” because the judges had not yet turned their chairs.
But eventually they all did, and the judges leveled strong praise on O’Reilly. Horan said, “I’ve got chills.” Snoop Dogg said O’Reilly had a voice “like I’ve never heard before.” His raspy voice and his impressive, controlled vibrato wowed the judges.
O’Reilly said, “there is no booby prize,” either you win or you go home empty handed but reveling in an experience that precious few musicians and performers will ever know. In the weeks to come, we will learn of the six performers who survived the grueling process. In December, they do their thing on live TV. During that broadcast, America will be able to vote for their favorite performer live online.
The melding of the live vote, the on-screen tallying, and the on-stage drama will be exciting. After voting closes, one lucky and talented person will be awarded $100,000, be showered with fame and glory, and forever have their life altered.
Life altered or not, O’Reilly will again be performing for his hometown fans on New Year’s Eve at Sonoma’s Sebastiani Theatre. As usual, that will be an excellent show, maybe even featuring the new king of “The Voice.”
“The Voice” airs at 8 p.m. Mondays and Tuesdays on NBC.