Having competed in last year’s inaugural The Voice of Ravenna Competition, Streetsboro Bus Driver Carl Seiter said that he knew he would return. Seiter delivered on his promise and won the second annual singing competition at the Ravenna Rocks concert last Saturday evening at the West Main Street Winery.
“It feels awesome, especially last year when I was in it and I didn’t win, so to have the opportunity again to be blessed enough to make the finals and not only do that but to actually win it this year is a phenomenal feeling,” Seiter told The Weekly Villager on July 28.
He won the crowd vote this year performing country music hits “Nothin’ on You” by Cody Johnson and “Either Way” by Chris Stapleton.
For his final performance after being crowned as the champion, Seiter performed “Feeling Good” by Michael Buble.
He acknowledged that his final song was in stark difference from his usual taste of country music but felt it was an appropriate choice.
“I also dabble in other genres and Michael Buble’s “Feeling Good” is one of my absolute favorite songs,” he added. “I just felt like after you won, how would I feel? I am probably going to be feeling good, and I was thinking about the song and the imagery.”
For winning the local singing competition, Seiter will once again perform in Ravenna during the annual Ravenna Ballon-A-Fair the weekend of Sept. 24 at the Portage County Fairgrounds.
He added it will actually be his first ever attending the Ballon-A-Fair, as work commitments had prevented him from going in the previous years.
“It is one of the biggest events,” he said. “To have the opportunity now to not only finally go but experience everything this community throws together for this is so exciting because I get to share my music and what I love for this Portage County community that I have fallen in love with again.”
Seiter will co-host next year’s The Voice of Ravenna competition alongside local DJ Fallon Schwab-Davis aka “DJ Krooze”.
Although Seiter works as a bus driver for the Streetsboro School District, he has not lived in Portage County for several years, as he now lives in Bedord. He spent seven years living between Mantua, Streetsboro and Ravenna at one point when he returned to the State of Ohio after living in Texas for 11 years and developed strong roots in the community in a short time.
He said that the rural nature of Portage County reminded him of Texas.
“Just that sense of community and how they act and treat each other and come together, it reminds me a lot of Texas in the south and I have just fallen in love with everything in Portage County,” he said.
Seiter said that he wanted to compete in The Voice of Ravenna not just because of the local feel of the competition but liked that the winner would be determined from an audience vote instead of relying on a panel of judges.
He qualified to be in the final six last year and said he immediately knew he would return the following year if the singing competition returned for a second season.
“I looked back at my videos and I tried to figure out where I could improve and I used the year to hone my craft, work really hard, work on my stage presence, my crowd work and my delivery and finding an outfit that would fit,” he noted. “I built a fanbase and a small following, but Saturday night proved that part of my following is very loyal and they came.”
Seiter attributed his love of country music to his father, who was an avid country music fan but found his voice from listening to R&B gospel music and even at one point wanted to become a R&B music performer but merged the two.
“I have that opportunity to bring that when I sing songs, I try to bring a bit of soul and almost that rhythm and blues and that sultry sound from R&B while mixing it with all of the little cool things that make country music,” he said. “Combining the two has really formed the sound that I have, so I just leaned in on that and just sing.”
