Jocelyn Faro

Each year seems to provide a new pedestal for Jocelyn Faro’s musical aspirations. In 2012, she tried out for NBC’s “The Voice;” in 2013, she opened for indie pop act Hellogoodbye; this April, she performed on the same stage as Andy Grammar and in August, she will release her first original record.

“I have an album out now, but it has cover songs I recorded to help me get gigs,” the 19-year-old Arnold songstress revealed. “This release is more personal, and it has stories about me.”

A pop, blues and folk singer, Faro traced her musical roots back to a bet she made during her sophomore year at Broadneck High. An extremely competitive, two-time All-County field hockey player, she received a challenge that didn’t involve scoring goals or playing defense.

“I started playing guitar in the spring semester, and my parents said there was no way I could learn to write a song by the talent show, which is usually in March or April,” Faro recalled. “And I said, ‘No, I think I can do it.’ So I learned the instrument, wrote a song and played in the talent show. I just kept performing after that.”

That experience ignited a passion for the arts that has taken Faro to venues across Maryland. During the summer that bridged her senior year at Broadneck and her freshman campaign at Washington College, she attended a tryout for “The Voice” in New Jersey. She sang “Last Request” by Paulo Nutini and received an unexpected surprise.

“I went on a whim and I was the only contestant under 18, so it was intimidating,” she noted. “There were some great voices - people singing Adele and Alicia Keys - so I was nervous. I shook the entire time, so when [the judges] only called one name and it was mine, I was like, ‘Am I the only one that heard that, or did they just say my name?’”

The talented teen advanced past the first round, but her dream was put on hold after the second-round auditions in New York. That didn’t quell her lust for success. In April 2013, she performed at her university’s spring concert and opened for Hellogoodbye. After some heavy persuasion on her part, Faro landed a spot in the concert again last April, opening for one of her favorite acts, Andy Grammar.

“I didn’t get to talk to Andy Grammar much, but I talked to the band,” she pointed out. “They taught me all this set-up stuff, how their equipment works, and it was cool to talk to an actual band and have them help me out.”

As she prepares to unveil a new album on August 2, Faro mentioned she tried to blend styles to find her own unique sound. “Some of the songs are more pop-oriented, and one example of that is ‘Between the Lines,’” she said. “That was about my friend and a guy she loved for years whom she never said anything to … ‘Adam and Eve’ is a bluesy song about missing love.”

Faro made a difficult choice and relinquished her spot on Washington College’s hockey squad so she would have time to pursue music. With one semester left, she is considering a nursing career, but music is her first choice.

“With music, you either go 100 percent in or it gets pushed to the side,” she proclaimed. “I don’t want it to be something [cast off], so I may take the year off to give it the chance it deserves. I don’t want it to be one of those ‘what if’ things when I get older.”

Faro has several upcoming appearances, including at Federal House Bar and Grill in Annapolis on July 8, and at the Mariner Music Fest fundraiser at the Metropolitan Kitchen & Lounge in Annapolis on July 19. For additional information, visit www.jocelynfaromusic.com or like Faro’s Facebook page. - Zach Sparks

Some people are born knowing what they want to do with their lives.
They can’t talk yet, but they just won’t leave that baby kitchenette alone. 17 years later, they’re in culinary school. Others, like Jocelyn Faro ’16, take a little bit longer. But when the passion hits, it sticks.

During her sophomore year at Broadneck High School in Annapolis, Faro and one of her friends signed up for a talent show a few months down the road. Neither of them knew how to play the guitar, and they’d never really sung. But they didn’t see that as an obstacle.

“My parents told us, ‘There’s no way you guys are going to learn how to play the guitar in four months,’” Faro says. “So then we thought, ‘We’re going to do it, just to prove them wrong.’”

And prove them wrong they did. Playing a song that Faro had written, she and her friend were a hit. When they signed up for the next year’s talent show, the organizers wanted to give them more time and multiple slots.

From there, Faro just kept performing. Originally, she was more interested in the guitar and considered her singing abilities a lucky break; now, she has trouble separating them.

“When I go on stage and I don’t have my guitar, I freak out a little bit. I don’t know what to do,” says Faro. “But when I try and play the guitar and not sing, I can’t do that either.”

Faro’s first attempt at singing without her guitar was a big one. Last summer, she traveled with her mother to the Izod Center in East Rutherford, N.J., climbed the stairs up to the private box seating and waited with ten other people to audition for NBC’s “The Voice.”

“I sang a Paulo Nutini song called ‘Last Request,’” Faro says. “That was the first time I had ever just sung without the guitar, and they called my name. I just thought ‘Oh my god, did that just happen?’”

A week after being selected, Faro made her way to New York for the next round of auditions. There, she sang in front of a six-person panel, into a camera. Her mother sat and watched since she was under 18. No pressure, right?

“It was really scary. At that point, I wasn’t playing any open mics; I hadn’t really performed anywhere outside of school,” Faro reflects. “Plus, I’d never stood and played the guitar. I’d only sat and played.”

In the end, the panel told her that they really liked her voice, but that she needed to work on her stage presence. Faro holds them no ill will (she says they’re the classiest people she’s ever met), and is considering taking another shot at “The Voice” this summer.

In the meantime, she’s taken their advice and played nearly non-stop. On top of performing at open mic nights and smaller venues around town, she’s managed to record a CD (due out in May), have a successful start as a defenseman on the varsity field hockey team, won WAC Idol, declared her biology major and psychology minor, opened for hellogoodbye and entered into the nursing program.

“With regards to music and nursing, it’s sort of just wherever one takes me. I like both of them so much,” Faro says. “If something really big happened with my music, I would never turn it down. But right now, it’s just fun to be in front of people.”

And we’re happy to listen. - Washington College