Katrina Cain may call Texas home, but she’s carrying Guilford in her soul as she captures the hearts of fans nationwide on NBC’s The Voice: Season 15.

“Guilford is my hometown. That’s where I grew up and graduated from high school, and my parents still live there. So I really feel like I’m a New England girl, for sure,” says Katrina.

Katrina spoke to the Courier on Oct. 18 by phone from her home in Denton, Texas during a break in the TV show’s pre-recorded and live action this season. The shows air Monday and Tuesday nights on NBC at 8 p.m.

The Courier reached out to Katrina just two days after two very extraordinary events in her life played out on national TV. On Oct. 15, she wowed all four coaches on The Voice with her blind audition, and joined coach and country star Blake Shelton on Team Blake. On Oct. 16, Katrina won her first battle on The Voice. As the Courier went to press for this issue, she was headed into the second series of battles airing Oct. 22 and Oct. 23.

“I’ve made it through the blind audition, which was incredible and exhilarating, and I won my first battle, so I’m excited about that, and I’m excited for the next round,” says Katrina.

For the uninitiated, the blind audition on The Voice is just that—the musician coaches hear the artist on stage, but the coaches’ chairs are turned away so they can’t see them. If a contestant’s voice strikes a chord with a coach, he or she hits a button and their chair swivels to face the stage.

In some cases, more than one coach will buzz in; and that’s what happened with Katrina, who got to choose between Jennifer Hudson or Shelton as her coach. Coaches Kelly Clarkson and Adam Levine also attempted to buzz in and turn their chairs for the chance to coach Katrina.

“You should have been a four-chair turn,” Levine told Katrina, telling her, “I knew you were so epic” when she flawlessly ran up the scale to a sing a shiver-inducing note during her audition song, Fleetwood Mac’s “Rhiannon.”

Shelton won Katrina over to his team with his pitch as a Texas neighbor who loved her “mysterious version” of the song made famous by singer/songwriter Stevie Nicks.

Katrina says she changed up the song for her blind audition.

“I made the arrangement more acoustic, and I played piano, because I wanted to make it something a little more different and a little more haunting than a rock song,” she says.

The versatile musician has built a career as a professional musician in Denton, Texas, where she and her husband, Andrew McMillian, are also two of five members of Indie electronic groove pop band TomKat.

Katrina says she got her singing start right here in Guilford.

“I’ve been singing my entire life. I did all the talent shows at Cox Elementary School, and I always knew I wanted to be a singer,” she says.

Even before she got to Guilford High School (GHS), Katrina was catching the ear of local music teachers.

“I want to give a huge shout out to the Music Department at Guilford High School, especially Mark Gahm and Tom Boates,” says Katrina. “They’re some of my biggest supporters, and always have been, and are probably some of the biggest reasons I continued to do music and pursued it in college. I was very close with them. Even...before I got to high school, they were such big supporters.

“And I remember the time Mr.—I’m still calling him ‘Mr.!’—Mr. Boates made me a CD of artists he thought I should listen to. And he taught me how to play certain songs on the piano,” she recalls. “And even though there were no vocalists in Jazz Band, he let me sing with the Jazz Band. Both of those guys are just great. They’re so supportive of music and musicians, and I just owe a lot to them.”

After graduating with the GHS Class of 2007, Katrina headed off to Boston University (BU), then redirected her musical path to the University of North Texas (UNT).

“I went to BU for a year to study opera, and it wasn’t really the right fit. So I transferred all the way down to Texas,” she says. “I transferred 2,000 miles away from my home and my family and I didn’t know anyone. But I came to know Texas, and I went to UNT to study jazz, and so I’ve stayed here all this time.”

She agrees studying opera may sound daunting, “but it was even harder in jazz school,” notes Katrina, who also minored in music theory. “It makes you a better musician, for sure...Now I do mostly pop, but having that background, I’m able to do studio work and I can sign for almost any genre of music, and read music, and do it on the first or second take.”

Her training and years of performing week-in and week-out came through for Katrina when she stepped on stage in front of a live audience for the first time on The Voice, she adds.

“I think my background has definitely helped. People ask me a lot if I was nervous to audition, and I wasn’t at all. I literally didn’t get nervous. In fact, I was a little bit more like, ‘Come on, let me get on that stage; is it my turn yet?’” says Katrina.

Katrina says The Voice’s live audience connected her to an electricity and energy exponentially greater than any other she’s ever experienced as a performer.

“The electricity there on the stage, when you’re in the studio for The Voice, is definitely unlike anything I’ve ever felt, and it’s so wonderful,” she says. “If I’m gigging at home maybe [to some audiences] its just background music, or maybe people just aren’t listening...If you don’t have that give and take from the audience, it’s really, really hard to perform.”

Katrina says she’s still adjusting to being thrust into a national spotlight, but truly appreciates the support she is being shown, including kudos coming in from friends and neighbors from Guilford. Katrina’s hoping to get back to Guilford at some point to see her friends and visit with her parents, Terri and Andy Cain.

“I haven’t been back yet since I’ve been a part of this, so I’m just trying to keep in touch with the Guilford family as much as I can. Hopefully I’m going to be able to go back and say ‘hello’ to some people,” she says.

In the meantime, Katrina’s also hearing from friends and new fans from Texas and around country, with many tapping in on social media.

“It has been pretty crazy. It’s been pretty overwhelming,” she says. “I didn’t really think I would have the response I did. As soon as my audition started airing, as soon as my face appeared on that TV screen, my phone was just lighting up. I have to keep it charged all the time now!”

Fans can support Katrina by helping her blind audition video go viral on YouTube (search “katrina cain rhiannon”), by following her on Instagram at @katrinacainmusic, and, of course, by watching The Voice: Season 15 on Monday and Tuesday nights.

Even with the incredible attention she’s gathering through her participation on The Voice, Katrina is keeping her feet on the ground—and getting back to work, when in Texas.

“I was just talking about this actually with another contestant. Parts of the show are live and parts are pre-recorded, so right now, I’m at home in Texas, and I have gone back to many of my regular gigs because I still need to make rent! So it’s funny, you have this dichotomy of, ‘I just did the most amazing thing and I’ve felt like a total superstar, and now I’m back home and I’m still singing at someone’s wedding.’ You still gotta pay your rent!”

Katrina’s done a bit more than that. Her music and recordings helped catch the attention of the casting crew of The Voice, which reached out to the 29-year-old with the suggestion of auditioning.

“So it wasn’t necessarily on my radar, because I’m focused on my own shows and gigs. But actually, the casting team reached out to me and asked if I would be interested,” she says.. “And I was like, ‘You know, this it’s the biggest thing that’s ever happened to me. I may as well give it a shot.’ And it ended up being a great decision.”

Katrina’s grateful to work in a part of the country where there’s a music market to support her as a fulltime musician.

“I don’t think Texas is the forever plan, but the reason I’ve stayed for so long is there really is a great market for live music,” she says. “Whether I’m playing original music that I’ve written or I’m just singing for weddings and restaurants, it pays very well. So I and my husband have been able to make a great living being full-time musicians, waking up whenever we want to, setting our own schedule. So that’s the reason for staying here so long.”

Katrina says her goal will always be to give every performance her all and to really enjoy every minute of her time on The Voice.

“It has been a whirlwind. It’s been amazing,” she says.