December 1, 2025 • 11 mins
Kirbi's music journey began in sixth grade during choir rehearsal. Her teacher overheard her singing, gave her a solo, and, so moved by her voice, urged her surprised parents to consider voice lessons. Although she initially pursued a career in physical therapy, Kirbi realized that music was her true calling. She moved to Nashville, immersing herself in the country scene through performances and writing sessions. Her biggest performance to date was at Fort Lauderdale's Riptide Festival in front of 15,000 fans where she met Jelly Roll. Inspired by her late grandmother, a devoted supporter of her music, Kirbi often includes her grandmother in her songwriting. When not performing, she finds peace and creativity at her parents' floral farm, Flower Chick Farm in Alabama, a charming homestead with flowers, animals and a greenhouse that fuels her inspiration and keeps her grounded.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/arroe-collins-like-it-s-live--4113802/support.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/arroe-collins-like-it-s-live--4113802/support.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I've been a part of sharing the story of NBC's
The Voice since twenty sixteen, but they've been scattered across
all the digital platforms. Now all of those conversations are
in one location. Arrow dot Net, A R r oe
dot Net. Look for that voice. Good morning, Kirby. How
are you doing.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
I'm doing just great. How are you doing? Oh?
Speaker 1 (00:22):
I love that Southern accent. It is authentic. Please don't ever,
ever ever lose that accent.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
I will try my best not to.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Oh my God, tell me about the roots of it all,
because I know that you're in Nashville and everything like that.
But tell me where you came from to where you
have such an authentic voice.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
So I grew up in Florence, Alabama, in the Muscleshows area.
My mom and my dad have a thicker accent than me.
You know, I grew up a little you know, I
grew up a country girl. So I guess that accent
comes from there. Not everybody from Alabama talks like that.
I guess it just is in my family and I
(00:58):
never lost it when I moved up to So.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Don't, yeah, don't ever lose it, because you know, even
Dolly Partner is still doing it. I mean, and that's
the thing about it is that it is an authentic
part of Americana that that really is going away because
this nation is moving right now, and the influx of
people from Ohio or New York coming into the South
is going to change the way that we speak.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Yes, even in Nashville, it's such a melting pot of people.
It's rare to see somebody with a Southern accent in Nashville.
Even country artists, you rarely hear them with the actual
speaking Southern accent. So it's fun.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Wow, Kirby. Back in the nineteen eighties, when I was
doing seven to midnight radio, that's when people would call
a radio station, I could tell a person where they
were from just by listening to their accent if they
were coming from Gastonia, or if they were coming from Albumar,
which is Kelly Pickler country, and things like that. But
I mean, if Kelly were to call me, I say, Kelly,
you're calling me from Albamara, aren't you. Because there's a
sense I mean, it tells people where you're from. Your accent.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Oh wow, Yeah, you're right. That's crazy.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
How did you get away with just say one name
for a name because when I came, when I first
appeared on the radio scene, they did not want me
to use Arrow as a name. Oh man, they did,
And so how are you getting away with Kirby?
Speaker 2 (02:13):
So you know, my my non artist name is Savannah
Kirby Kirby with a Why. We were going by Savanna
Kirby for a little bit actually, whenever I first started
pursuing my career. But there's a couple of Savannahs out
there also pursuing and laying is me. So we were like, okay,
let's do Kirby. But then the Nintendo character Kirby with
(02:35):
a Why. So I was like, Okay, every time you
look at my name, it's just going to pop up
good old Kirby. So like, let's just throw the eye
on there. And so we just started going by that,
and that's what I've been doing and somehow it's worked
and I'm you know, it's stuck.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
Oh it's so marketable. Because I gotta be honest with you,
way before we even shared a conversation, I was thinking
Dolly because Dolly Parton. Everybody knew it was Dolly Parton,
but when you would see her on TV, it was
always Dolly. So when I saw your name, I'm going,
oh my god, here it comes again. She did a song,
didn't she do a song called here It Comes Again? See?
So Dolly's in this stewie, in this studio.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Spiritually, yes, she is with me where I go.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
When did you know that you had that passion for
a microphone, Because you know how people are when it
comes to a microphone, they'll hold it down by their
waist thinking that people can hear it. But man, when
you sing, you are in that microphone.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Thank you. I grew up on stage as a dancer,
actually starting out at the age of three. I did
all types of dance. I was a competition dancer for
a while, and so I guess you can say I
grew up on stage. So I've always had a passion
for performing. I didn't start really singing until I turned eleven,
and I just fell in love with it when I did,
I just absolutely fell in love with it. I love
(03:53):
telling a story with my voice, and I feel like
it is my calling, you know. I feel like God
placed that calling on my life to be able to
connect with people with my voice. And so I've always
been told, you know, especially in circumstances like being on
the voice. Just don't be scared of the mic. Just
let your voice do the talking. So that's just something
I've always lived by.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
Well, when you talk about music being storytelling, so is
dancing as well.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
Yes it is.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
And then when you're teamed up with Nile, who came
from one direction, my god, you are in the right
place at the right time.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
Yeah, I definitely feel the same way. I didn't know,
you know, what direction I was going to go before
I walked out there. I didn't know what was going
to happen or what the circumstances could be. But something
in my gut told me I needed to go with
te Nile, and I am so genuinely thankful that I did.
I couldn't have gone wrong with any of them. I
look up to every single coach, but Nihle is something
(04:50):
special and I'm so thankful for the connection we were
able to make.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
Please do not Move. We are back with Kirby from
NBC's The Voice. Coming up next NBC's The Voice. We
are back with Kirby. How do you make that decision
right there in the blind auditions, because I mean, I
don't know if I could do it I mean, if
they said, Okay, you got to pick one of us,
I want you all. We're all gonna they do it
on Shark Tank all the time. I want you all. Okay,
(05:16):
we're gonna oh you you're gonna have fifteen percent and royalties. Okay,
just I want you all. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
I definitely stood up there for a really long time.
Let's just say that they had to cut out a
good portion of how long I stood there, you know,
debated what I should do. I just I've always been
in prayer, you know, yep, all day every day, I'm
kind of in prayer. And I was really just kind
of trying to be in tune to what I felt
(05:44):
like my gut was telling me in that and so
I just took a moment and closed my eyes and
I just felt this this urge in my gut to
go with Nile. And I was like, okay, and so
just I'm gonna go with Nile. And that's what happened.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
You know, you bring up that you're always in prayer.
I do a big feature on iHeartRadio today that's based
on is is finding religion or spirituality? Like that of
a needle in a haystack and a preacher Man said
to me, No, he says, it's not about God. Are
you finding God? It's about God knowing where you are.
And so when you say that you are always in
prayer like that, I'm going. She knows where she is,
(06:21):
she is walking on his path, she knows exactly where
she's going to grow.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
M you know, and whenever you don't know the answers,
and when you don't think you have the strength and stuff.
It's just so it has been so important in my
life to be able to lean on, not my own understanding,
just being able to lean on my faith because that's
been my source strength and things like this, and it's yeah,
(06:48):
it's God will always meet you where you are if
you're seeking Him, and so it's really important for me.
And I'm always you know, throughout this whole thing. Every
time before I walk out on stage, I was like,
this is yours what you will?
Speaker 1 (07:03):
That's it. My pastor Stephen Ferdick from Elevation Church, He'll
sit there and look at me and say, give it
to God, give it to God. It's not yours.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
Exactly. Let go of them rains.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Now you and I have got something in common, and
I'm anxious to find out how you handle this sixth
grade school choir. You are recognized because that is a
turning point for a lot of people, because so many
of us in the sixth grade we're still singing in
our bedroom. We do not want to be heard in
the bathroom, but we do sing into that brush in
the bathroom. And how did you gain the courage for
(07:36):
other people to listen to you? Because I still can't
do it today. When I go in the recording studio,
I don't want anybody near me.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
That was definitely terrifying. I love being a part of
an ensemble too, like I have. I've done choir for
a while too, and so I was planning on just
being in the ensemble, you know. I was just like, Oh,
it's show choir, it's music. I was out of school
that didn't have much music in elementary school, so I
was like, oh, we're doing Stow choir. And I think
in rehearsal one day we were, you know, singing a
(08:06):
part from what I can remember, and I think my
choir director walked past me and she I ended up
getting offered a solo that year, just like a little
beginning part of a song, and I couldn't hold her
to like. I couldn't say on I couldn't stay on key.
And I think she heard like I had a pleasant voice,
I just couldn't say on key. So she gave me
(08:29):
my first solo. And when I tell you, that was
probably the most nerve wracking thing, like up up there
with the blind auditions, that was a nerve wracking thing
because you know, I'm used to using you know, I'm
used to using my body as an instrumental my vocal chords.
So that was I remember singing that solo. It was
the mambo It's Taliana, the beginning part of Mambo Taliano.
(08:52):
I'll never forget it. That was my first little solo
and that's kind of what drove my parents to listen
to my car director and bringing me to music lessons,
and that's where I just absolutely fell in love with it.
And I think you know how people like to jump
out of planes, Yes, because of the rush. That's why
I think that's why I love going on stage and
(09:14):
performing so much. Like that, it's like you're addicted to
it in a way.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
Well, let let me take this to a different level,
and I think you might be able to relate with
me on this When when you talk about jumping out
of an airplane or going up on that stage, is
that not a lesson that you learned from your parents'
floral farm, Because the second that that flower pops, that's
on a stage that that flower could never predict, but
yet it's bringing beauty to the world.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
Yes, I've learned a lot from my mom's farm, and
you know, I've been pursuing music for a while and
she didn't start her farm until after I moved off
to college. But really, yes, watching her, watching my mom
and my dad, you know, kind of capitalize on their
dream and just make it happen, has inspired me so
(09:57):
much to just make it happen, like once you step
up there, up there, you know what I mean. So
it's being in nature in general, with the animals, with
the flowers. You can learn so much about God just
from looking outside and it's just it's amazing, like you said,
with the flower, like when it's bloomed, it's out there
and it's on that stage, and that's kind of it's
(10:19):
like you just have to open yourself up to it,
you know.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
Kirby, I can relate with that. This forest, that I'm
currently living in. We planted the seventeen hundred trees in
nineteen ninety seven. All of these deer, all of the hawk,
all of the owls came here after those trees were planted.
I can so relate with you. This is my church,
This forest is my church. This is what I'm supposed
to be growing.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
Mm hmm. That's amazing.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
Wow, man, you got to come back to this show
anytime in the future. I love where you're going. And
if you get the chance, you being that close to
muscle shows what muscle shows. One of my favorite producers
of all time, who I've been in the studio with
countless times, Charles Holloman, has got a studio down there
and he's doing amazing work. Stop in there and say
hi to this dude, because he Oh my god, the
(11:04):
energy of muscle Shoals is just unbelievable.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
They say there's something in the water there, and I'll
tell you what, that's very true. There's the amount of
musical talent, musical history that comes from that area is insane.
And I think that people in that area are getting
close to putting it back on the mat like it
was back in the back in the glory days.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
I love your accent. Don't lose it. God has blessed
you with a beautiful sound that is going to become
part of your accent. Your you're basically your accent in
being here present with your music.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
Thank you, mister. That means a lot.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
Will you be brilliant today?
Speaker 2 (11:39):
Okay, yes, sir, you too. Thank you
I've been a part of sharing the story of NBC's
The Voice since twenty sixteen, but they've been scattered across
all the digital platforms. Now all of those conversations are
in one location. Arrow dot Net, A R r oe
dot Net. Look for that voice. Good morning, Kirby. How
are you doing.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
I'm doing just great. How are you doing? Oh?
Speaker 1 (00:22):
I love that Southern accent. It is authentic. Please don't ever,
ever ever lose that accent.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
I will try my best not to.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Oh my God, tell me about the roots of it all,
because I know that you're in Nashville and everything like that.
But tell me where you came from to where you
have such an authentic voice.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
So I grew up in Florence, Alabama, in the Muscleshows area.
My mom and my dad have a thicker accent than me.
You know, I grew up a little you know, I
grew up a country girl. So I guess that accent
comes from there. Not everybody from Alabama talks like that.
I guess it just is in my family and I
(00:58):
never lost it when I moved up to So.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Don't, yeah, don't ever lose it, because you know, even
Dolly Partner is still doing it. I mean, and that's
the thing about it is that it is an authentic
part of Americana that that really is going away because
this nation is moving right now, and the influx of
people from Ohio or New York coming into the South
is going to change the way that we speak.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Yes, even in Nashville, it's such a melting pot of people.
It's rare to see somebody with a Southern accent in Nashville.
Even country artists, you rarely hear them with the actual
speaking Southern accent. So it's fun.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Wow, Kirby. Back in the nineteen eighties, when I was
doing seven to midnight radio, that's when people would call
a radio station, I could tell a person where they
were from just by listening to their accent if they
were coming from Gastonia, or if they were coming from Albumar,
which is Kelly Pickler country, and things like that. But
I mean, if Kelly were to call me, I say, Kelly,
you're calling me from Albamara, aren't you. Because there's a
sense I mean, it tells people where you're from. Your accent.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Oh wow, Yeah, you're right. That's crazy.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
How did you get away with just say one name
for a name because when I came, when I first
appeared on the radio scene, they did not want me
to use Arrow as a name. Oh man, they did,
And so how are you getting away with Kirby?
Speaker 2 (02:13):
So you know, my my non artist name is Savannah
Kirby Kirby with a Why. We were going by Savanna
Kirby for a little bit actually, whenever I first started
pursuing my career. But there's a couple of Savannahs out
there also pursuing and laying is me. So we were like, okay,
let's do Kirby. But then the Nintendo character Kirby with
(02:35):
a Why. So I was like, Okay, every time you
look at my name, it's just going to pop up
good old Kirby. So like, let's just throw the eye
on there. And so we just started going by that,
and that's what I've been doing and somehow it's worked
and I'm you know, it's stuck.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
Oh it's so marketable. Because I gotta be honest with you,
way before we even shared a conversation, I was thinking
Dolly because Dolly Parton. Everybody knew it was Dolly Parton,
but when you would see her on TV, it was
always Dolly. So when I saw your name, I'm going,
oh my god, here it comes again. She did a song,
didn't she do a song called here It Comes Again? See?
So Dolly's in this stewie, in this studio.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Spiritually, yes, she is with me where I go.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
When did you know that you had that passion for
a microphone, Because you know how people are when it
comes to a microphone, they'll hold it down by their
waist thinking that people can hear it. But man, when
you sing, you are in that microphone.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Thank you. I grew up on stage as a dancer,
actually starting out at the age of three. I did
all types of dance. I was a competition dancer for
a while, and so I guess you can say I
grew up on stage. So I've always had a passion
for performing. I didn't start really singing until I turned eleven,
and I just fell in love with it when I did,
I just absolutely fell in love with it. I love
(03:53):
telling a story with my voice, and I feel like
it is my calling, you know. I feel like God
placed that calling on my life to be able to
connect with people with my voice. And so I've always
been told, you know, especially in circumstances like being on
the voice. Just don't be scared of the mic. Just
let your voice do the talking. So that's just something
I've always lived by.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
Well, when you talk about music being storytelling, so is
dancing as well.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
Yes it is.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
And then when you're teamed up with Nile, who came
from one direction, my god, you are in the right
place at the right time.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
Yeah, I definitely feel the same way. I didn't know,
you know, what direction I was going to go before
I walked out there. I didn't know what was going
to happen or what the circumstances could be. But something
in my gut told me I needed to go with
te Nile, and I am so genuinely thankful that I did.
I couldn't have gone wrong with any of them. I
look up to every single coach, but Nihle is something
(04:50):
special and I'm so thankful for the connection we were
able to make.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
Please do not Move. We are back with Kirby from
NBC's The Voice. Coming up next NBC's The Voice. We
are back with Kirby. How do you make that decision
right there in the blind auditions, because I mean, I
don't know if I could do it I mean, if
they said, Okay, you got to pick one of us,
I want you all. We're all gonna they do it
on Shark Tank all the time. I want you all. Okay,
(05:16):
we're gonna oh you you're gonna have fifteen percent and royalties. Okay,
just I want you all. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
I definitely stood up there for a really long time.
Let's just say that they had to cut out a
good portion of how long I stood there, you know,
debated what I should do. I just I've always been
in prayer, you know, yep, all day every day, I'm
kind of in prayer. And I was really just kind
of trying to be in tune to what I felt
(05:44):
like my gut was telling me in that and so
I just took a moment and closed my eyes and
I just felt this this urge in my gut to
go with Nile. And I was like, okay, and so
just I'm gonna go with Nile. And that's what happened.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
You know, you bring up that you're always in prayer.
I do a big feature on iHeartRadio today that's based
on is is finding religion or spirituality? Like that of
a needle in a haystack and a preacher Man said
to me, No, he says, it's not about God. Are
you finding God? It's about God knowing where you are.
And so when you say that you are always in
prayer like that, I'm going. She knows where she is,
(06:21):
she is walking on his path, she knows exactly where
she's going to grow.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
M you know, and whenever you don't know the answers,
and when you don't think you have the strength and stuff.
It's just so it has been so important in my
life to be able to lean on, not my own understanding,
just being able to lean on my faith because that's
been my source strength and things like this, and it's yeah,
(06:48):
it's God will always meet you where you are if
you're seeking Him, and so it's really important for me.
And I'm always you know, throughout this whole thing. Every
time before I walk out on stage, I was like,
this is yours what you will?
Speaker 1 (07:03):
That's it. My pastor Stephen Ferdick from Elevation Church, He'll
sit there and look at me and say, give it
to God, give it to God. It's not yours.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
Exactly. Let go of them rains.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Now you and I have got something in common, and
I'm anxious to find out how you handle this sixth
grade school choir. You are recognized because that is a
turning point for a lot of people, because so many
of us in the sixth grade we're still singing in
our bedroom. We do not want to be heard in
the bathroom, but we do sing into that brush in
the bathroom. And how did you gain the courage for
(07:36):
other people to listen to you? Because I still can't
do it today. When I go in the recording studio,
I don't want anybody near me.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
That was definitely terrifying. I love being a part of
an ensemble too, like I have. I've done choir for
a while too, and so I was planning on just
being in the ensemble, you know. I was just like, Oh,
it's show choir, it's music. I was out of school
that didn't have much music in elementary school, so I
was like, oh, we're doing Stow choir. And I think
in rehearsal one day we were, you know, singing a
(08:06):
part from what I can remember, and I think my
choir director walked past me and she I ended up
getting offered a solo that year, just like a little
beginning part of a song, and I couldn't hold her
to like. I couldn't say on I couldn't stay on key.
And I think she heard like I had a pleasant voice,
I just couldn't say on key. So she gave me
(08:29):
my first solo. And when I tell you, that was
probably the most nerve wracking thing, like up up there
with the blind auditions, that was a nerve wracking thing
because you know, I'm used to using you know, I'm
used to using my body as an instrumental my vocal chords.
So that was I remember singing that solo. It was
the mambo It's Taliana, the beginning part of Mambo Taliano.
(08:52):
I'll never forget it. That was my first little solo
and that's kind of what drove my parents to listen
to my car director and bringing me to music lessons,
and that's where I just absolutely fell in love with it.
And I think you know how people like to jump
out of planes, Yes, because of the rush. That's why
I think that's why I love going on stage and
(09:14):
performing so much. Like that, it's like you're addicted to
it in a way.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
Well, let let me take this to a different level,
and I think you might be able to relate with
me on this When when you talk about jumping out
of an airplane or going up on that stage, is
that not a lesson that you learned from your parents'
floral farm, Because the second that that flower pops, that's
on a stage that that flower could never predict, but
yet it's bringing beauty to the world.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
Yes, I've learned a lot from my mom's farm, and
you know, I've been pursuing music for a while and
she didn't start her farm until after I moved off
to college. But really, yes, watching her, watching my mom
and my dad, you know, kind of capitalize on their
dream and just make it happen, has inspired me so
(09:57):
much to just make it happen, like once you step
up there, up there, you know what I mean. So
it's being in nature in general, with the animals, with
the flowers. You can learn so much about God just
from looking outside and it's just it's amazing, like you said,
with the flower, like when it's bloomed, it's out there
and it's on that stage, and that's kind of it's
(10:19):
like you just have to open yourself up to it,
you know.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
Kirby, I can relate with that. This forest, that I'm
currently living in. We planted the seventeen hundred trees in
nineteen ninety seven. All of these deer, all of the hawk,
all of the owls came here after those trees were planted.
I can so relate with you. This is my church,
This forest is my church. This is what I'm supposed
to be growing.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
Mm hmm. That's amazing.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
Wow, man, you got to come back to this show
anytime in the future. I love where you're going. And
if you get the chance, you being that close to
muscle shows what muscle shows. One of my favorite producers
of all time, who I've been in the studio with
countless times, Charles Holloman, has got a studio down there
and he's doing amazing work. Stop in there and say
hi to this dude, because he Oh my god, the
(11:04):
energy of muscle Shoals is just unbelievable.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
They say there's something in the water there, and I'll
tell you what, that's very true. There's the amount of
musical talent, musical history that comes from that area is insane.
And I think that people in that area are getting
close to putting it back on the mat like it
was back in the back in the glory days.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
I love your accent. Don't lose it. God has blessed
you with a beautiful sound that is going to become
part of your accent. Your you're basically your accent in
being here present with your music.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
Thank you, mister. That means a lot.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
Will you be brilliant today?
Speaker 2 (11:39):
Okay, yes, sir, you too. Thank you
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.