FORMER Parkes teacher Cath Adams, who many residents will remember from the two local M and D Society productions of Grease and Downtown, popped up on the TV screens on Monday night in the blind auditions for the seasoning opening of The Voice and won through to the next round.

Walking out on stage in front of the live audience, Cath took a couple of deep breaths before belting out the first notes of the Beyonce hit `Work It Out’ hoping that one of the four judges would accept her performance by turning around in their chair.

Judge Delta Goodrem was the first to do this followed at the end by fellow judges Jessie J and twins Benji and Joel Madden from the band Good Charlotte.

Cath chose Jessie J to be her mentor into the next round.

Hailing from Eugowra in NSW’s Central West, 31 year-old Cath Adams, has always enjoyed the closeness of family and friends.

“I grew up in Eglinton, which is a small suburb of Bathurst with my mum and dad; Sharon and Neil, and my brothers and sister; Renee, Greg and Brendon,” Cath said.

Cath’s love of music was developed when she attended Eglinton Public School and she began singing in Year 6.

“I saw a production of Bathurst High’s ‘Les Miserables’, and I became obsessed with the songs ‘I Dreamed a Dream’ and ‘On My Own’. I would sing these songs around the house, and ended up making up my own words to fit in with the melody, because I couldn’t remember the words.”

VIDEO: How Cath wowed them on the set of The Voice:

During her years at Bathurst High School, her first public performance was in Year 9 singing ‘Foolish Games’ by Jewel and ‘Norwegian Wood’ by The Beatles.

“From there, I began to sing anywhere I could, and fell in love with being on the stage.

“In my later years of high school, I joined some mates who had started a band, ‘Scotch and Water’, and began gigging in pubs, clubs, weddings and functions, as well as singing with the Bathurst High brass band ‘Swing Factor’, under the direction of Andrew Smith, who always encouraged me to pursue my dream.”

It was during this time that Cath’s music teachers, Andrew Smith and Denise Garland, nominated her to participate in the ‘Talent Development Project’.

She was accepted and began travelling to Sydney once a month to attend workshops on stage and singing technique.

Working in the local music institution, ‘Stop n’ Rock’, a music shop owned by Lindsay and Sue Gale, Cath began her teaching degree and continued to sing with bands around the Central Tablelands and Central West, including ‘Splank’, ‘Royal Family of Groove’ and ‘B-Dub Groove Revue’.

“As I got older I began to appreciate the rawness of just singing with just a guitar or piano doing acoustic songs.”

In 2009, Cath moved to Parkes, where she worked for ‘Life Education’, teaching kids about living a healthy life around South West NSW.

“I continued to travel for gigs, although it was harder to establish my singing career in a new town but I enjoyed taking part in local musicals, playing the lead role of Sandy in ‘Grease’ and Red Girl in a 60’s based musical ‘Downtown’.

“Following that, I worked in West Wyalong for a year, driving dump trucks in a mine.

“This made it difficult to do gigs, as I was on a rotating roster, and couldn’t book any consistent gigs.”

In 2011, Cath left the mine to return to teaching, as well as moving to Eugowra, where she, her partner David and dog Georgie live.

“I teach at Eugowra Public School on a year 3/4/5/6 class, which definitely keeps me on my toes.

“I am still gigging and feeding my love of music.

“Anytime I’m not singing regularly, I miss it.

“Singing really is a passion of mine, and there is no better feeling than being on stage performing and putting my heart and soul into a song.”

Cath’s passion for music and education continue now as she has auditioned for The Voice and hopes to learn from this experience as she takes the next step in her career.