Girl Named Tom, season 21 winner of ‘The Voice,’ to perform at Rose City Airfest

Published 5:30 am Wednesday, June 28, 2023

Girl Named Tom, season 21 winner of “The Voice,” will perform Friday at the Rose City Airfest in Tyler.

The group, made up of siblings Bekah Grace, Joshua and Caleb Liechty, has performed all over the U.S., including Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania, Colorado, California and New York.

“We grew up in a little town in Ohio called Pettisville and we’ve loved singing our whole lives,” Bekah said. “We formed our band back in 2019, so it’s been four years, and that was the first time we sang as a trio.”

The trio’s name originated from a nickname one of the brothers called their sister when she was a baby.

“Back when we were all babies … I called her Thomas instead of Bekah for some reason,” Joshua said. “I don’t really know why but that’s where the name Girl Named Tom comes from.”

During their first year as a band, Girl Named Tom played 67 shows in 27 cities.

“Back in 2019, we took our parents’ minivan and drove all around the country singing in people’s backyards and people’s basements and just sleeping on people’s couches,” Caleb said. “We ended up doing 67 shows that way, all around the nation.”

Caleb said most of the places they performed were in front of small groups of people. But that all changed in 2021.

“To all of a sudden be on ‘The Voice’ and to be accepted on that TV show and sing in front of millions was mind blowing,” he said. “Winning it really made us grateful for all of our fans and our communities for believing in us and investing in us and voting for us.”

For their blind audition on “The Voice,” the group sang “Helplessly Hoping” by Crosby, Stills and Nash.

“That was a song we would play in backyards all across the United States and it was surreal to perform it on television,” Bekah said.

Singer/songwriter Kelly Clarkson was the group’s coach on “The Voice.”

“Kelly is such a well-rounded person and she’s very humble and she works so hard,” Bekah said.

“She gave us a lot of great advice on how to develop our sound and blend our three voices together while highlighting the unique qualities of each individual voice,” Bekah said.

The trio describes their music style as folk pop.

“We are a folk pop group and harmony is at the center of what we do. We have a really nice sibling blend and we all love to play instruments as well,” Joshua said. “We like to change up the instruments we play between guitar and piano and we have a bassist and drummer as well on the road with us. It’s a nice full band sound, but harmony is at the core of what we do.”

After “The Voice,” the group went on a national tour in 2022, playing more than 90 shows. They also released their first album, “One More Christmas” and opened for Pentatonix during their “Holidays Around the World” tour.

“Our single, ‘One More Christmas,’ went to No. 1 on the iTunes chart and we got to perform that on ‘The Voice’ during the finale of Season 22,” Caleb said.

The group is excited about performing at Friday’s Rose City Airfest.

“We’ve been to Texas before but never to Tyler,” Bekah said. “So, this will be exciting and the airfest will be fun to see.”

The group also has new music coming out soon.

“We have music that’s on the way and a lot of what we play at our shows is original music,” Bekah said. “So, fans will be able to hear what will hopefully be the first single at the show.”

After the airfest, the group has a show in another part of Texas.

“We’re going to stay in Texas for a little bit. We’ve got a show in The Woodlands the night before the airfest and then we’re going to play in Lavon, Texas,” Caleb said.

As part of their 2023 tour, the group has shows scheduled later in the year in Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Colorado and California.

Bekah recalled another piece of advice from Clarkson.

“She told us no matter how many fans you have or how much music you’ve written or put out, you have to just work hard and keep working hard and that the industry doesn’t really owe you anything,” she said. “You have to love what you do … because it’s hard work. So we’re still thankful to have worked with her.”

Anyone wanting to connect with the group can follow them on social media at https://www.facebook.com/girlnamedtom .

“We post a lot of videos all the time,” Bekah said. “So, that’s a great way to connect with us.”

What: Girl Named Tom performance at Rose City Airfest

When: 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. Friday; air show, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Where: Metro Aviation, 2535 Dixie Drive, Tyler

Tickets: $35 advance, $40 day of show; $5 for children 6 to 12, free for children 5 and younger

Information: https://www.girlnamedtom.com/ , https://www.campvtyler.org/rose-city-airfest/