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Its Where I Am focuses on the various mental health struggles that people all around the world face every day. Each episode covers a different facet of mental health with a new special guest. It's Where I Am airs on 91.5 Jazz & More every second Saturday of the month.
Wesley Knight 0:00
This is a KU NV studios original program. You're listening to special programming brought to you by its where I am.com the content of this program does not reflect the views or opinions of 91.5 jazz and more University of Nevada, Las Vegas, or the Board of Regents of the Nevada System of Higher Education.
Music 0:22
Dave
Zandra Polard 0:44
Good morning Las Vegas. It's Sandra Pollard. The show is, it's where I am, right here on 91.5
Zandra Polard 0:52
jazz and more. Today we have a special, special guest. I mean, we always have a special guest, but this one is super special because we're related, and he is now a superstar.
Zandra Polard 1:06
I want to welcome my cousin Ralph Edwards to the show. Ralph, are you there? What is going on? Because
Zandra Polard 1:16
I'm well, so you know, I have you on the show, because, one, we focus on mental health and wellness, and because you are the runner up of the voice this season. Yes. Crowd, screams, roar, roar.
Zandra Polard 1:37
Dude, such an exciting season. I've never, ever, ever, I gonna lie, watch the voice, but I did this season, okay. And I mean, all of the lives from the family was just like, you know, it was a party every week, looking for you to sing. And then there were times, you know, I'm looking for the program, and you're not on it, yeah. But anyway, the journey was really exciting, just as an observer. So what I want to know, how was it for you to be
Ralph Edwards 2:15
on this national platform, doing your thing? It was, it was a once in a lifetime thing I was, I mean, I plan on definitely having, you know, more experiences like that.
Ralph Edwards 2:27
But, you know, in a competition setting. I mean, from the beginning of the Blind Audition to, you know, getting runner up. You know, I sing about what, seven or eight songs. One was a duet with Snoop Dogg himself. I mean, a Christmas song, oh yes, it was amazing. It was it was crazy. And then, you know, from, from when I started trying out, from like, when I started trying out to now, you know, being being 30 years old, my first time trying out for the voice, I was 17. And then, you know, not making it until I was 30
Ralph Edwards 3:02
was kind of just a crazy thing for me. And, you know, I even made the little joke, Man, Man, y'all waited till I was 30 years old to get me on there, but at the same time, you know, I'm so blessed and so happy and so dedicated, because you've been singing since you could talk. Hell yeah, yeah. You've always known that this is what you were meant to do. I think you tried to sell cars at one time, though,
Ralph Edwards 3:28
oh, I was, I was selling cars,
Zandra Polard 3:31
yeah.
Zandra Polard 3:32
But, you know, you stayed with your thing. You kept a band. When did you start
Ralph Edwards 3:39
singing professionally? Like, when did you start? You know, created a band, gave it a name, and started doing gigs. So initially, you know, I was, I was in choir in college, and then after college, I needed an outlet to sing, right? And so, you know, I was in choir for so long, I traveled to France. We toured seven villages in France with the Fresno City, city singers.
Ralph Edwards 4:05
We did all that stuff. And then after, after choir was done, there was a void of not singing. And I was doing karaoke for a while, and that was, that was always fun. You know, the little A little trick. Everybody be like, Who's this guy? And then I go up there and sing a song, and they'd like, oh, okay, well, now we know who he is, yeah. But, you know, I got recruited from a different band, actually, before I joined, or before I created my band, and that band is called the 1140 band, and they, I mean, we killed it for about three years. We were having so much fun. And then, you know, some of the other band members had some health problems and some some health issues. So we actually weren't able to continue to book. And so I let my my band leader, know. I said, Hey, you know what I'm gonna I'm gonna venture off and do my own thing. And so me and my piano player, his name is Marco established vibe check, which is the name of our band, and we've been together for.
Zandra Polard 5:00
Almost four years. Okay, so you were mentioning that that void you had, right? So you had this you go from this desire to this void and then trying to fulfill it, and karaoke wasn't enough. Definitely not. And so then we created by check which is your current band? Yes. Okay, so this band existed when you were trying out for the voice. So what was that like to tell your band? Hey, I'm going kind of going solo, right? Because it's all about you, yeah.
Ralph Edwards 5:38
Well, it was a shell shock for everyone kind of, I mean, honestly, even me, my band, when I, when I created the band, we went hard for like, the first three years straight. Anyways, at least the first two years, we were doing at least four shows a week, and there were like 234, hour shows every single week, four times a week, and just going absolutely nuts. You know, that's probably why you didn't see me at some of the family reunions and things like family get togethers, because I was, I was performing,
Ralph Edwards 6:10
and it was a grind, but it was something that I just loved. I love getting in front of people. I love, you know, reaching out and touching people with my voice and and, you know, giving them the good vibe and giving them that good feeling. And so, yeah, I dedicated 100% to growing my band. And, you know, we grew into a very popular band in Fresno, into the Central Valley, into California.
Ralph Edwards 6:37
We travel, you know, all up and down California to do shows, whether it's a casino, whether it's a wedding, we'll do anything. And then, and then I get the call from the voice, and I realized I have to stop performing so much right away. And so, you know, they call me, and we did, like, an abrupt stop. Yes, that's messing with everybody's motion. That's it. That's messing with everybody's money. Okay, yeah, and yeah, they were not happy. They were definitely not happy. But at the same time, you know, you know, my growth is their growth too, in my head, you know what I mean? And that's what I told them to I said, when I come back, you know, we're not going to do these smaller shows anymore. We're actually going to be leveling up into these bigger, you know, trying to get to these stadium shows, get into, you know, just bigger events.
Ralph Edwards 7:28
And so it was with that kind of, that promise, or that, you know, hey, this is, this is what happened after this. Let me go and work. Let me go figure this out. And then
Zandra Polard 7:39
when I come back, we're gonna go full steam ahead, but it's gonna be more quality over quantity. Yes, I love that. So like, when you were on the voice, you guys did really cool stuff, like you guys sang for a commercial. You were in some sports. I don't know I was watching. Was I watching football? And then there you were, yeah, like,
Ralph Edwards 8:06
so, so what's amazing about my coach? What's amazing about Snoop Dogg is that, you know, he he continued to just put everyone on, even people that were not on the show anymore. He brought them out still to get that experience of being an artist at a football game. You know, we were able to go, you know, I've never, I've never entered a stadium from underground to go to, you know what I mean, like, yes, we drove right under the stadium instead of anywhere else. Like, it was really cool experience. Just super VIP.
Ralph Edwards 8:40
We had a sound check up on, up on top of, like, where the stage is, and because I was still on the show, I actually was not able to actually sing, sing,
Ralph Edwards 8:52
because they because, yeah, you know, good contracts and all that fun stuff. But, you know, because, because I was still on the show. I didn't sing, but I was up there and I was supporting my other old teammates. So basically, the people who were already eliminated off the show were able to sing, and then the people who were still on were not able to do that. So some of us that were still on the show were not able to sing. So there's a couple of us that weren't singing songs, but
Ralph Edwards 9:19
but it was so cool to just have that VIP experience go, you know, walk on the field and be down there and take pictures, and then be up there on the stage with them, rocking and rolling. Even though I wasn't singing, I was dancing and having fun and supporting my people, because that's my second family now, you know, and I got so much love for those people. And, yeah, we were having so much fun. Well, we definitely saw you.
Zandra Polard 9:43
Oh yeah, yeah, I was up there for sure. Yeah. So, speaking of contracts, like, how does that work with you singing at your venues now? Like, that's obviously okay because you're working. Oh yeah, you can't, like, sing in.
Ralph Edwards 10:00
A commercial or, like, you're limited, basically, is what I'm trying to say, still. So, yeah, there's a, there's a contract that you get, you know, especially with, with NBC and things like that, to where, you know, it's more of like a, you got to ask permission, and, you know, see whether it's, it's gonna, you know, you basically ask permission.
Ralph Edwards 10:21
And so,
Ralph Edwards 10:24
like, TV and all that stuff. Yeah, I would definitely have to ask. But more or less, you know, I've been all my shows and stuff is all generated by me. I'm not, you know, using anybody else, or even using the show for those those things. Yeah, they're gonna some venues. If I do, I really, really don't do too many venues anymore, but I'll be
Ralph Edwards 10:46
doing a show with my band for this thing in Fresno called tequila fest. And tequila fest is like a big, huge, probably about 10, 15,000 people will be attending. And you know, the headline is going to be Nelly. So Nelly is going to be Nelly custa and
Ralph Edwards 11:06
Elvis Crespo, the guy who sings suave mente.
Zandra Polard 11:09
Oh yeah, my band will be there. And so that's kind of the stuff. And that's the stuff that VI check is heading into, like we're doing more of the bigger shows and, and, you know, just fun stuff. And that says a lot about your character, that you didn't just drop by check like, Okay, peace. I made it. I'm moving on. You know, I love that you are bringing them along with you, right? And that's, that's my goal. I want to take each and every one of them. And, you know, I doubt I'll be able to take every single one of them, but I,
Ralph Edwards 11:41
as of right now, I'm going to bring them when I can and and that's the goal, you know, if I get called for a show, just for me, yeah, I'm gonna, I'm probably gonna respond to it and go. But even you know my drummer, he sees pretty much my at this point. He's like my little brother at this point. We be. I use them for everything. He plays my guitar. He plays guitar for me, he plays drums for me.
Ralph Edwards 12:04
He's my sound engineer. He's my producer. Now I just, I'm actually opening up a studio here in Fresno very soon, and he's going to be my, my head engineer there. Okay, sound engineer, so, yeah, in June, we're going to open up vibe check studios, actually, that's going to be the name
Ralph Edwards 12:24
and so, so that's just another little business venture I'm using are doing to to continue to just grow. And one thing I'm very big on is the community.
Ralph Edwards 12:35
We're our prices and everything like that, are going to be very, you know, very affordable for for making art. Making art is the most important thing of having a studio. So that's kind of my, my whole spiel there. But oh no, it's all good. I love that. So,
Zandra Polard 12:52
so you're building up Fresno, I would say for sure. So we have a lot of family in Fresno. Obviously, you were there.
Ralph Edwards 13:01
You were all over the news out there, because it is like a big, small town, right? Yes. What is Fresno known for? I have no clue. So, I mean, Fresno, Fresno the good like, you know, you have, you have LA and then you have the Bay Area, you know, you have Sacramento, you have all those bigger cities kind of surrounding the central valley, but the one thing I see in Fresno is that the culture there is just so diverse. There's so many different types of people here. And I actually love it. I mean, there's so many you can walk down the street and see so many different, one races of people.
Ralph Edwards 13:43
You can see just, just bunch of different things and just, you know, it's kind of a, it's kind of a mix between LA, the bay and, you know, Sacramento. You just see all those types of people in just one, one little city and and we're not little. I mean, we're growing every day. I can tell you that for sure, but, um, you know, it's a, it's amazing how much talent is here. And that's, that's one thing that I am definitely trying to advocate for right now. And I can get into some other stuff that I'm working on for the community too. Oh, please do a little later in this conversation, if you'd like, oh, yeah, for sure. Okay,
Zandra Polard 14:21
yeah. I mean, that's, that's what the show is about, you know, helping community, community work, awareness. So, yeah, whatever you're into, that's helping out people we want to know.
Ralph Edwards 14:33
Oh yeah, that's, that's the one thing I was very adamant about after the show too. You know, I'm nowhere near rich. Don't even think that. But the one thing is, I have more eyes on me now, and so I'm going to use my eyes, I'm going to use my likeness. I'm going to use that stuff to be able to give back to the community. You know, I helped this little girl get a handy, capable vehicle that they were trying to raise money for.
Ralph Edwards 14:58
I tried to do so.
Ralph Edwards 15:00
Something like that. I recently just just talked to the Boys and Girls Club, sang for them, to about 150 different teens. I stayed there, took a picture with every single one of them, talked to them, about them personally and and whatever I could do to kind of just be there for them. That's something that's very important to me. I just did the national anthem and sing a couple songs at the autism walk here in Fresno.
Ralph Edwards 15:26
So we were doing, we're, I mean, I'm trying to do as much as I can, to one, get back to the community, to two, just, just to, you know, good. I just want to spread love all around as much as I can. Now, going back to contracts, I hope we've learned a lot from the 90s and the 2000s
Zandra Polard 15:45
about artists and contracts. So
Zandra Polard 15:50
you see where I'm going.
Ralph Edwards 15:53
Do
Zandra Polard 15:54
you have someone that like nowadays? How does it work? Do you have someone to help you with that? Or do you get caught up still and you're just so happy things are going your way? You know, you just kind of sign on the dotted line. So definitely, I don't just sign on a dotted line, for sure, because everybody wants to, everybody wants their piece, right? The one thing I would do is educate yourself.
Ralph Edwards 16:22
I educate myself as much as I can. And if I don't know something, there is somebody next to me that knows I have I have a lot of friends. I have friends who are lawyers. I have friends who are agents. I have people that you know, know exactly what they're talking about, and especially in the music business, but also in other things too, in business in general. So everything that I do is definitely strategic and not just like, you know, I guess, dare I say willy nilly, I don't do anything. I don't sign anything that I don't know. I don't, I don't because, you know one thing about putting yourself on a national scale like I did, everybody comes back and they're gonna have their hands out, oh yeah. And everybody's gonna, you know, everybody wants me to, everybody wants me to introduce them to Snoop Dogg. And, you know, I, I have his phone number, but I don't got it like that. I'm not gonna call him and be like, Hey, this guy needs to talk to you. No, I can't, I can't do all that, because then, you know, you lose privileges like that. Oh yeah, having, having, yeah, having that connection is a privilege. And the one thing about me is that I'm going to make sure, I completely make sure that everybody's comfortable all parties, not just, you know, not just new, but everybody. I don't want to, I don't want to mess with anybody's, you know, egos or anything like that. I want to make sure that everybody knows that we are good and we're all going to work together as a family, if that's what it is. If you know Snoop can choose what to do whatever he wants. I can choose to do whatever I want. Everybody can choose to do whatever they want. But you know how we how we work together, is, is the most important part for me.
Zandra Polard 17:56
And then speaking of Snoop, when I was watching the show and all four chairs turn around, and then you have to make this decision of who you're going to work with. Now, considering the song and the music that you were singing, I was actually surprised that you chose snoop. What made you choose him as your coach? You know, girl growing up. I mean, we always listen to Uncle Snoop, right? You know, I listen to a lot of people on Death Row Records. I listen to, you
Ralph Edwards 18:28
know, I grew up listening to him. And so, you know, whether, whether whatever a song I sing or not, you know, I loved, I loved his music. And you know, I definitely had to choose on he brought the best.
Ralph Edwards 18:44
He brought out the best thing. I mean, he brought out a lot of his writers, his his producers,
Ralph Edwards 18:50
some people from Season 26 of the voice that he had out there. Shout out to my guy, Jeremy, that's my that's my boy right there. I appreciate him. But yeah, he
Ralph Edwards 19:02
got all those people out, and now I've developed friendships with them and relationships. Charlie be real, who signed the Death Row Records. You know, we're working on something. There's just so many, so many opportunities that that he's already just given me. And you know, I don't want to say not every coach is like that, but, you know, I definitely chose the right coach without saying anything else, yes, right? And then having your family there looking at you. I mean, on this show, they put the family gun on the side, stage right, and they put the camera on them, showing their reaction. And so seeing your dad when you got called, or when those chairs turned around, he was jumping and, you know, smiling and excited, and that was just so like, I could just feel that. Like, wow, to see your baby, you know, being appreciated for his voice like that. Because.
Ralph Edwards 20:00
Crazy part about that is, is that him and my mom both know how, how long I've been trying to do this. My first time ever trying out for the voice was when I was 17. My mom took me to that to LA to go stand in that line with 4000 other people, and, you know, go in front of a producer and sing for them for 10 seconds and for them to send my butt right back home after singing for them for 10 seconds. And, you know, driving home 17 year old, crying my eyes out, thinking I was gonna make it and win the whole show that day, right, right? But, you know, I tried out when I was 17. I tried 11 times before I made it this 12th time. Wait now, you tried out 11 times just for the voice, because I know you tried out for some other ones too, for the voice. Wow, I tried out 11 times, actually, two days before the finale.
Ralph Edwards 20:55
I think it was January, not January. December 12 was the anniversary of me trying out for the voice for the first time
Ralph Edwards 21:03
in 2013 I want to say it was, I'm like, Wow, 12 years later. 12 times, 12 years later. Wow.
Ralph Edwards 21:13
But, yeah, no, I tried out for the voice, technically, 12 times I made it on the 12th time I tried out for, you know, American Idol, ADT all multiple times, at least in double digits, most of them, you know, even, even that, that one show, I think it was called The Four. I tried out for the X Factor. I sent in videos. You know, I was almost on a different show called, don't forget the lyrics. I was on so many different, almost on so many different shows, and, you know, I've been told my whole life, I've been told my whole life No, and to finally get this Yes, to finally to go on stage and sing it and and have that full circle moment of my mom and my dad being there, knowing that they drove me to Those, to those,
Ralph Edwards 22:01
actually one of the times when I, when I almost made it on the voice was in an open call audition in Vegas, and me, and
Ralph Edwards 22:10
me and my dad were at, I think we stayed at Aunt Freddy's house
Ralph Edwards 22:15
over there, at the at the house in Vegas. And, yeah, so, man, I mean, just brings back so many memories. Is that when I tried to braid your hair,
Zandra Polard 22:26
I'm sure it was one of those times, yeah, I'm sorry in advance for the next time. Oh, I'm sorry too, because those braids was tired. I'm sorry, yeah, but you were so happy to get braids. You had so much air. Oh, my God, yes, I still do. Yes, they'll do
Ralph Edwards 22:46
anyway. So yeah, having them see, yeah, having them see that. It was just, it was amazing. It was, it was such a full circle moment. And, you know, I at that point, when I made it, I was like, Man, I gotta, I gotta try to win this thing. And then you just brought that, that music up from it seemed like your toes all the way up, you know what I mean? Like, whoa. I mean when I say I got chills, like I was playing it for, you know, my students, my other family members. And it was just like, check this out. Yeah, I guess that's why all those chairs turned around. Yeah, you made us kill it. Yeah? No, I was, I had to, I had to. I was like, I'm finally here. Yes, I'm finally here again, 11 times to this 12 time. I'm finally here. I am not about to fumble this football right now. I'm gonna, I'm gonna go and touch down. Let's go. It's time to work. And you did. And you know what? What is it about the winner? You don't really hear from the winners so much. You've been on a lot of shows, yeah, there are some Yes, like Fantasia, right? Kelly Clarkson, those were winners who still, you know, went on to do well, but there are so many that have not, and it's the runner up or someone else who didn't make it all the way through that has a better career path. May not notice that. I've noticed things like that, for sure. I mean, I'm gonna tell you. I'm gonna tell you for me, at least no matter what, whether I well, whether they, whether they called my name to win that, or what they, what they already did and gave me second place, like I was not going to be that statistic.
Ralph Edwards 24:36
I was going to be that person. I was going to be like the Kelly Clarkson. I refuse
Ralph Edwards 24:41
to, to let people forget about me. I'm gonna tell you that right now. And you know, you know me growing up, you know I was always that little kid running around, but I'm always, I'm always gonna be a little annoying with people too, but I'm also gonna put out some good music, and I'm gonna, I'm gonna bring a crowd wherever I go and have fun. I know that.
Ralph Edwards 25:00
Right, and I'm gonna be right there. Tell you the one. Get a ticket for my old ass. I'm gonna be right there with you. I got you. So one thing about me too, go ahead, tell me, Oh no, the one thing about me too is that, like when I'm performing also,
Ralph Edwards 25:17
you know, we started off like I said. My check started off with zero followers on Instagram and zero followers anywhere, right? And we started off singing to about seven people. You know, we had this venue that we performed at every single week, I think it was every Wednesday, called Beyond the wine, and we performed there, and there'd be, there'd be 347,
Ralph Edwards 25:39
sometimes 20. And, you know, till Fast forward to now, and like this coming Saturday, I'm going to be in front of 15,000 people, yes, and so, you know, but I tell you one thing about me is that you're going to get the same show, the same exact Ralph, whether it's seven people or 15,000 people, I'm always going to put on a show. I'm always going to go crazy for the people who are there and who are having fun and rocking with me. And so that's the one thing I can always guarantee the fans and guarantee the people, is that you're going to see me at 110%
Zandra Polard 26:15
120% every single time, just like you did on the show. You're gonna see me at my best always. And as I like to say, I know that's right. So now your name, I know you as Ralph Edwards. Do you have a stage name? Because I forgot to say that is it just Ralph Edwards? Oh, no, stage. Stage name is Ralph Edwards, too. I like I thought that was pretty good one. Okay, yeah. I was like, Oh, I forgot to ask. All right. So yeah, everyone. This is Ralph Edwards, cousin of yours truly, pull out and so Ralph, that's right, do you have
Zandra Polard 26:55
social media or anything else that you want our listeners to know? Oh, yeah,
Ralph Edwards 27:02
yeah, I have for my personal, my personal, Instagram, my personal, but my music. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Yeah, you know,
Ralph Edwards 27:12
so it's Ralph. It's Ralph Edwards music on Instagram and Facebook for my my music, Instagram for my music, tick tock is Ralph's gonna wreck it with 2t at the end of it. So Ralph's gonna wreck it.
Ralph Edwards 27:26
And then my band is vibe check, dot, the band on Instagram, Facebook and Tiktok. And then, even if you guys want to follow the studio we have, it's VC, dot studios, 559,
Ralph Edwards 27:39
and that's on Instagram. I have another show on the May 30 with Jaques Ray J MC magic. We're doing some big things right now, and I'm just going to continue to grow and and keep on putting on for my city and for the family.
Zandra Polard 27:58
Well, there you have it. That was a lot of information, but you can always find this podcast on Apple, Spotify, Google, or wherever you get your podcasts. Okay, it's where I am with Zandra. Z A, N, D, R, A, we're right here at 91.5
Zandra Polard 28:19
jazz and more, and I'm gonna end the show with one of Ralph's best hits on the voice, which is Ralph. Tell us the name of that song. You say the one that touched my tongue. Oh, light by journey. All right, there it is. Journey. That's a good band. Yeah, I am blessed to bless to know Neil Shawn. Now he's a friend of mine to Neil and his wife, Michelle. They're super nice people. Hey, well, shout out to Neil and shout out to journey. Here's your song. Here we go.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai