Center Grove Teen Competes on ABC Boy Band Show
Writer / Michelle Kaufman
Photographer / Brian Brosmer
A 17-year-old Center Grove resident, Andrew Butcher, hasn’t even graduated high school yet, but he is already making a name and career for himself on the local and national level.
Butcher is currently a contestant on ABC’s show Boy Band, where singers compete to become part of a new five-member boy band and get a recording contract with Hollywood Records.
Butcher has been singing since he was 9, after his dad dared him to sing in an elementary school talent show.
“I wasn’t going to back down from a good opportunity, so I went and I sang just for fun, and I guess somebody really liked my voice, so they picked me up in a band,” Butcher says.
After being in a couple bands, Butcher eventually ended up in a duo, South Six 5, who performed in Nashville, TN, college Dance Marathon events and America’s Got Talent.
“I really like whenever you’re on the stage performing for a big group of people, just seeing their faces,” he says. “Many times, people don’t really expect a good voice to come out of a 17-year old kid, you know? Seeing their reactions, how you can interact with them is always really, really fun.”
Butcher eventually became a solo act and started getting more involved in sports. While deciding what he wanted to do about his music career, he received an email from ABC about the show.
After a Skype interview, Butcher was flown to LA and auditioned with the song Story of My Life by One Direction — a song he has been singing since he was 15.
“I always loved that song, and I really think it fits me vocally,” Butcher says.
In addition to singing, Butcher also plays guitar and piano. Butcher has been influenced by the old rock genre as well as chord progressions played by John Mayer and Ed Sheeran.
“I love Boston, Journey, Van Halen, Def Leppard, all those people,” he say. “They’re so, so good. Just the music and how it all blends together, I always was like I need to create that, I need to do that.”
While Butcher loves all the camera and audio equipment on the show, seeing himself on TV is something that is still weird to him.
“That’s me on TV when I’m sitting on the couch, and it’s crazy to see myself on something that I watch so much,” Butcher says. “I just think I look so weird on TV. I look so different.”
Butcher hopes to make the Top 5 on Boy Band and continue his music career. If he doesn’t, he will continue to pursue music and grow his fan base. His Snapchat, andybutcher_22, has more than 500 followers, and his Instagram, itsandrewbutcher, has almost 12,000 followers.
Throughout his time on the show, Butcher has talked to and gotten to know Nick Carter, a former member of the Backstreet Boys. Boy Band is hosted by singer Rita Ora and airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. The finale airs August 24.
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