Katrina Cain, who was just knocked off 'The Voice,' talks about music career

Rosana Eckert, a principal lecturer in UNT’s jazz studies division, led discussion for much of the talk before opening up the floor for questions from audience members. University officials decided against opening the event to the public, fearing a lack of space to accommodate a large crowd.

On The Voice, vocalists compete against each other in five rounds of competition with the hopes of earning a record contract and the inevitable publicity the show brings.

Cain spoke broadly about her experiences with the international television program — much of her experience is veiled behind nondisclosure agreements and other legal documents — before answering a barrage of questions from faculty and students.

Cain graduated from UNT in 2012 with a degree in jazz studies. She has performed widely in a solo capacity and with band members in the years since, most notably with her band Tomkat.

Luis Muñoz, 21, is studying jazz guitar performance at UNT. Even though he doesn’t watch The Voice, he arrived early to hear Cain speak for her other credentials: being a musician able to pay her bills through music.

“I figure she’s somebody that has insight into what happens after you get a jazz degree here,” Muñoz said, echoing a sentiment shared by other attendees.

Cain’s appearance on the television show was most often brought up in its context as a career milestone. Attendees were curious about what it takes for a musician to reach that stage, and what it means for Cain going forward.

The right stuff

“I just had to go through a lot of failures,” Cain said of her career. “That’s the first thing.”

Band leadership was a frequent line of questioning Tuesday evening. Cain insisted bands must choose between one of two options: having clearly defined roles for each band member, which might even include signing agreements, or selecting a band leader.

She equated a band without leadership to a three-legged race that might have far more than three participants.

Cain also encouraged aspiring musicians to “treat every single day like it’s an audition.”

“I wish I could take that knowledge and go back to college and not be such a brat,” she said. “You can be who you are and you don’t have to be fake, but if you are having an off-day in a situation where you are being looked at for a role, or for a show or for whatever, you will not be booked for that show.”

No discussion with college students seems complete without a lesson in self-promotion. One of her final pieces of advice was simple: “You cannot sit back and wait for things to happen to you; you have to always ask for them.”

To illustrate this point, she concluded the evening by saying, “Thank you, follow me on Instagram.”

She expects to release tour dates via her social media accounts in December.