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This Local Rock School Helped A Country-Singing Philly Native Find Her Voice and Live Her Dream

It only takes is a few seconds of listening to Audra McLaughlin sing before you get goose bumps. The 23-year-old Delco native has a powerful voice with a message to match, and even if her stint on The Voice is over, her journey is far from ending.

It’s not fame or record deals that make McLaughlin want to take stage night after night—it’s the chance to share her voice with those who might be as quiet as she once was.

“I’ve been singing all of my life but I was always nervous about performing in front of crowds of people,” McLaughlin says.

Her stage fright and struggles with bullying made her dreams seem more distant than ever, but she channeled her passion for music into overcoming these fears—not just for herself, but also for the thousands of fans who may share her anxiety.

“I’ve taken my painful experiences and channeled them into singing and songwriting,” she says. “[I want to show] every young person out there that when you follow your passion, you can overcome anything.”

Before McLaughlin took the stage on The Voice she was a student at the Let There Be Rock School in Folsom. There, she found her footing in country music, and suddenly, her once-distant dreams started to take shape as reality.

“Country music provides a piece of mind for me,” she says. “I grew up listening to country music—it’s a genre that everybody can relate to and any age appreciates.”

So, while McLaughlin may be traveling back and forth between her hometown of Glenolden, Pennsylvania and Nashville, Tennessee, she can always find her way back to the comfort of home in each lyric she sings. Now, she’s touring the country to promote her latest album “Tennessee Cowboy,” and empowering thousands of fans who were once as soft-spoken as her.

“To let people know I could use my voice to be theirs and understand what they’re going through is invaluable,” she says. “I just want them to know they’re not going through it alone.”

Visit the Honda display at the Philadelphia Auto Show February 3 from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. to hear a live performance from The Voice finalist Audra McLaughlin, and February 4 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. to catch up with former UFC Lightweight Champion Eddie Alvarez.