Louisiana's Karen Waldrup sings 'Bye Bye' and says hello to TV singing series 'The Voice

Mandeville singer Karen Waldrup has two new friends — one's named Dan and other Shay.

The country pop music duo didn't just jump at the chance to snatch country songstress Waldrup for their team on "The Voice," they blocked country queen Reba McIntire in order to achieve their goal. Dan + Shay are the NBC singing competition series' first judge/coach pair unit and they're coming in hot.

About that block: During the show's blind audition rounds, each coach has one chance to keep another coach out of the bidding for a contestant who they strongly want to join their team. Dan + Shay, so impressed by just hearing Waldrup's voice, used their single shot to scoop up Waldrup.

"You're a pro, so much charisma, no nerves. ... You were working the crowd like you've done it your whole life. It was incredible," Dan Smyers said after Waldrup auditioned with a smooth rendition of Jo Dee Messina's "Bye Bye."

"Do you perform a lot in Nashville?," Shay Mooney then asked Waldrup.

"Yes, I've been touring up and down the highways of America for 12 years to be here in this moment with you guys. Let's do this!," she said.

Waldrup, 36 when she auditioned for "The Voice," but 37 now, moved to Nashville to chase her entertainment career dreams after graduating with a degree in marketing from the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg.

During college, Waldrup performed "in bars, restaurants, clubs, tailgates, football games, fraternity houses, you name it."

With graduation looming, she pondered where best to move to pursue her music.

"I just kind of thought about the different music towns and I thought about Austin. I thought about Los Angeles. I thought about New York. I thought about Atlanta and Nashville and New Orleans."

Scrutinizing a map, Waldrup said her choice became clear.

"I could go to Nashville, make music and still be able to drive home to New Orleans, still come back for Mardi Gras, to get a shrimp po-boy. Boy, you know, girl's got her priorities." 

In the Music City, she took a job selling copy machines for three years, saved up her money, and then quit to focus on music full-time.

"And it's just been an incredible gift from God every step," she said.

Like many aspiring singers, Waldrup has used online platforms to grow her fan base. Her videos have brought 437 million views in all, with most of her traffic on Facebook, she said.

Waldrup also has released five EPs and two albums ("With Love, Karen"; "Justified"). In July 2018, the latter album charted at No. 26 on Billboard's Top Country Albums chart.

With her musical pursuits solidifying, a TV competition series might seem an unnecessary direction. Waldrup disagreed. 

"I think what happens to an artist that's independent, sometimes you push and push and push and you play all these shows and you try to grow, you do everything you can online, and you kind of hit this plateau," she said.

" … I was kind of maxed out on playing clubs. It just kind of felt like I needed a break to get to the next level, which allows me the opportunity to play, you know, theaters like the Manship Theatre (she'll be there in June) and the Fillmore New Orleans (she played there March 4), and these bigger clubs. I'm not playing arenas yet, but I'm playing much bigger places than bars."

Waldrup's touring band includes Debbie Flood, drums; Yata Graves, bass; John Pineiro, electric guitar; and Chris Schaffner, saxophone. Jacob Tallent joins Waldrup on acoustic guitar.

"I have a saxophone player because I'm from Louisiana. I love the horn," she added.

On Waldrup's "The Voice" audition episode, Schaffner was shown backstage, along with Waldrup's husband, Cody Henson.

Look for Louisiana's Waldrup to return to "The Voice" this week in the first of the battle rounds. The show airs at 7 p.m. Monday and Tuesday on NBC. 

Want to find out more? Visit https://www.nbc.com/the-voice or karenwaldrup.com.