Jackson’s Jewish Community Has A Voice on NBC

Beth Israel Congregation in Jackson has a Voice on NBC.

Brian Fuente, 28, who now resides in Nashville but grew up in the Jackson congregation and is originally from Hattiesburg, was selected by Blake Shelton to be on his team in the singing competition “The Voice.”

The son of a guitar player and a jazz vocalist, as a teen he performed in between his mother’s sets at local clubs. In 2007, he moved to Nashville and formed the rock group Newmatic.

He and his mother, Lisa Palmer, went to Los Angeles for the blind auditions in October. Contestants sing to celebrity talent coaches Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green, Adam Levine and Blake Shelton, who have their backs turned and do not know what the singer looks like. When one coach decides to recruit a singer to his or her team, he or she turns the chair around.

He sang “Paris (Ooh La La)” by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, but only a short segment was aired on the Feb. 13 show.

In the “After the Audition” interview, Fuente said it was “the most exciting moment of my entire life” and he was “relieved” and “so honored” to be continuing on the show.

Being on Shelton’s team is a natural because Shelton is from Nashville as well, he noted. Performing on “The Voice” is “going to validate all the years I’ve put into music,” he concluded.