URI grad gets live shot at stardom

Steve Memmolo has been singing his whole life, fronting the same band since his days at the University of Rhode Island, when they would play gigs at the Bon Vue Inn and the Ocean Mist.

He never really thought about auditioning for a singing competition show because he thought they were all “dog-and-pony” shows. That is, until a friend had a positive experience on the NBC-TV show “The Voice” last year, and he thought he might give it a try.

Memmolo, a Milton, Massachusetts, resident who graduated in 2006 from URI, where he majored in film, not only aced the audition, getting two of the show’s four celebrity judges to jostle for the right to coach him, but he has progressed to the live show airing from 8 to 10 p.m. Monday.

“I had always been resistant of auditioning because they didn’t seem to be about real artistry,” Memmolo said in a phone interview from Los Angeles, where he was prepping for the live competition that will whittle the 24 finalists to 12. “But this has been such a positive experience. I feel blessed.”

Competing on the team headed by Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine, Memmolo has been traveling to California periodically since June for “The Voice.” While home, he runs a wedding business with his band, Classic Yellow, and performs at about 50 events a year.

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Influenced by the music of his parents’ generation — his late father introduced him to Frank Sinatra,  his mother listened to oldies on the car radio, and he followed his uncles’ 1960s cover band — he says, “I think I’m just an old soul.”

“I’m definitely into anything Motown, Hall and Oates, Stevie Wonder. I have a more vintage vibe,” he says, noting that he sang the Classics IV hit “Spooky” to land his spot on “The Voice.”

Memmolo is a well-rounded performer, offering pop covers, jazz and hip-hop tunes for wedding gigs. He prefers the sound of people like Donny Hathaway and Bobby Caldwell, though, and says his go-to song when prompted to sing is “Let’s Stay Together” by Al Green.

His voice is also versatile, traipsing along the scale from mid-range to falsetto.

“I like to keep it dynamic, so I like songs that are full of flavor," he says. "If you’re just singing falsetto, you lose part of your audience."

Since college, Memmolo also has been writing his own songs, an avenue he hopes will expand from  his exposure on “The Voice.”

“This is definitely a step in the right direction for me, and I hope it opens my audience to a national level, so when I release the album I’m currently working on, I can tour,” he says. “I’d like as many people to hear it as possible.

“I like doing weddings, but it’s not my ultimate goal. I want to do my own music, develop my own brainchild.”

With his “eye on the prize,” Memmolo says he’s practicing the song he’ll sing Monday, which he could not reveal, and hopes his work ethic and vocals will carry him through to the next round. He has been extremely nervous at every other juncture in the show, but says he’s oddly calm at this point.

“Stress is part of the game, but my focus is to do well on this one song. I don’t spend time thinking about what if,” he says, adding that he’s reading and playing on the computer to keep himself occupied when not practicing his performance.

He and 23 other finalists will compete on Monday in a special two-hour show. The surviving 12 will return on Tuesday night.