Sarah Simmons, a finalist on season four of “The Voice,” will perform at Funk ‘n Waffles Friday. She took time out of her busy schedule talk about her latest album, her inspirations and, of course, waffles.

The Daily Orange: How did your childhood in Alabama influence your music? 

Sarah Simmons: I’m originally from Birmingham, Alabama. My father is a guitarist and was a musician while I was growing up. My grandmother got me into old music like Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, and my dad got me into, like, Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix. I actually did college in Memphis, Tennessee, and the blues music, and Elvis Presley had always influenced me my whole life. But, living there, and there’s where we reside now, it completely influenced me just to go more bluesy.

The D.O.: Do you have any other inspirations? 

S.S.: Some of my biggest influences are Billie Holiday, Etta James, Aretha Franklin, those sounds of soul and Elvis Presley. My other biggest influence in my life is Lisa Gerard. She sings for a lot of film and TV, like the movie “Gladiator.” When “Gladiator” came out, I was 12 years old, and I heard her sing on the movie, and I looked at my mother and I said, “Mom, for the rest of my life, I always, not only wanted to be onstage and do all that, but I really wanna sing for film and TV.” That’s kind of actually where I’ve been going, well, on the side of tour.

The D.O.: You were a finalist on “The Voice.“ What was the journey like? 

SS: So, at the time I was going to the Visible Music College in Tennessee, and one of my best friends told me about the show and said, “Hey Sarah, there’s this show I really think you need to try out for, and it’s called ‘The Voice.’ It’s like ‘American Idol,’ but they really respect people.” I laughed at him and I said, “No, I’m not doing that.” A couple months later he died in a tragic accident … it was a sign, because Sean told me about the show first, and then not even one month after he died, (my college president) wrote me about it and I just had to do it. And, I did it, and I was on the show for eight and a half months.

The D.O.: Your latest album “Freedom“ came out last month. What was the inspiration behind it? 

SS: What I was going through when I wrote it was a lot of pain and the loss of my friend, and the loss of my godmother to cancer. I wrote the album of allowing yourself to truly be free of all the places people and things that are toxic for you and your life. I wrote a lot of my music on my drive when I moved from California back to the south. I drove cross country by myself, and I was on my way to go say goodbye to my godmother who was dying of cancer.

The D.O.: What are your expectations about your Syracuse performance?

SS: I think anybody that sees us, loves us. Because, so far, all the shows we’ve done have just been, their expectation was lower, and when they saw us, they were overwhelmed. Meeting my fans, I cry every time, because it means the world, and it’s just so humbling … now that we’re doing our own tour, it’s a little more intimate, but its absolutely incredible and I would never change this moment for anything.

The D.O.: Since you’re coming to Funk ‘n Waffles, what’s your favorite waffle?

SS: I looked at the website of Funk ‘n Waffles, and I saw that they do a Thanksgiving dinner waffle. We’re on a really healthy plan because we’re on the road all the time, and I told them, I said, “Give me one cheat night,” and that’s my cheat night at Funk ‘n Waffles.

Published on October 5, 2016 at 9:54 pm