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'The Voice''s Mark Hood Talks Final Performance and Growing Up in Chicago

By Josh McGhee | November 25, 2015 6:11am
 Mark Hood has performed several plays at the Black Ensemble Theater, 4450 N. Clark St.
Mark Hood has performed several plays at the Black Ensemble Theater, 4450 N. Clark St.
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Courtesy of Facebook

CHICAGO — Mark Hood's final performance on NBC's "The Voice" — a rendition of Stevie Wonder's "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours" that would bring any congregation to its feet — was the pinnacle of the 24-year-old pastor's son's musical career.

Before the Nov. 17 performance pitting Hood against Korin Bukowski in a Twitter-based vote, the two competitors were announced and brought on stage before the show cut to commercial.

"As soon as they go to commercial, it's like a whirlwind," said Hood, explaining that after he was told he was going first and his vocal coach began going through the lyrics, he took what scant time he had to soak it all in. "I literally stopped and I just looked up. I said 'God, if this is the last time, let's go out with a bang. I gave it everything I had and I'm happy."

Watch Hood's Final Performance Here:

Everything the raspy-voiced Chicagoan had turned out to be a crowd-pleaser reminiscent of James Brown's performance of "The Old Landmark" in "The Blues Brothers," full of dancing, stage pounding and soulful ad libs. But the performance wasn't enough to gain the Twitter votes needed to save him.

No matter the results, he walked off the show with his head held high.

"It was the best experience of my life. It's not that often that an individual gets to perform on one of the biggest stages and platforms in the world. ... Fifteen million people are watching," he said, not to mention the celebrity coaches, which include Adam Levine, Gwen Stefani, Blake Shelton and "one of my heroes, Pharrell."

"It was kind of like the best thing I could've asked for right now. I'm so grateful. The whole experience was amazing," he said.

The final performance highlights some of the skills Hood likely picked up from watching his father and grandfather, pastors of New St. Paul Church of God in Christ, 2113 W. Marquette Road. Being able to perform in the competition at all shows ho much his life has changed since his parents' had banned him from listening to what they called "the Devil's music."

"With [my parents] being so spiritual, they didn't allow us to listen to R&B music, pop music, anything that was secular. They used to call it the blues — The Devil's music," he said.

Still, Hood developed favorite artists, in particular John Legend and Usher.

"Usher is kind of like a male standard. He has the vocals. He has the entertainment — the dancing, the albums, the longevity in the industry. He's just a raw talent. Usher is the mold, to me, of what a male artist can be," he said.

Once when Hood was about 13, his mother caught him secretly listening to Usher and she burst into his room broke the CD into pieces, he said.

"It's really like a 180 now — not that she's no longer spiritual because she's just as spiritual now. But I think she finally opened up to the fact that it's OK for me to sing secular music and listen to secular music.

"I'm not going to hell and I'm not selling my soul to the devil," Hood said.

But that's not to say she wasn't one of the most vital influences in his musical journey. As a seasoned pianist and organist at their church, she taught Hood and his brother how to play the piano. The church was also his first opportunity to sing.

"I would sing a little bit, too, but I wasn't good," Hood remembered.

"I would be singing, but I didn't sound good. I got this raspy voice now, and when I was a kid it was even raspier. I wasn't good until I was about 15 or 16, like God dropped it out of the sky on me. Everyone was like, 'What happened?'" he said.

His mother also insisted he attended the Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences, at 3857 W. 111th St. on the Southwest Side. Though the school lacked the options for arts, music and entertainment that Hood yearned for, he embraced it nonetheless. According to "The Voice"'s website, Hood even became the vice president of Future Farmers of America.

"It really turned out to be one of the best decisions of my life. It was an amazing place," he said. "I made the best of it and got involved in agricultural organizations then I also took over the school choir [and] was in drama club. I was trying to make something happen and hopefully I did."

That can-do attitude stuck and in 2012 he began auditioning for the Black Ensemble Theater, 4450 N. Clark St. But that wasn't an easy road either, Hood said he auditioned about four times before he was cast in his first show "Ain't No Crying the Blues in The Memory of Howlin Wolf."

"I worked hard to get in there. I was auditioning for a while before I got cast in a show and once I did they never let me go. It just became such a relationship," said Hood, adding the staff became mentors.

"At one point, I was in three shows at one time. [Founder] Jackie Taylor was literally paying my bills. I'm indebted to her and the Black Ensemble Theater. They took me under their wings and really developed me into a good actor."

According to the theater, Hood captivated audiences in performances such as: "Sounds So Sweet, At Last: A Tribute To Etta James," "One-Hit Wonders," "Once Upon A People," "The Story of Curtis Mayfield," "Little Alvin’s Big Science Project" along with "Ain’t No Crying The Blues in The Memory of Howlin Wolf."

Now that Hood is eliminated from the show, he hopes to return to the theater, once the contract from the show expires. Meanwhile, he's also working on a series of cover performance for his YouTube channel and a new album due in the spring, he said.

"I have a lot of things going on," Hood said. "There's a lot on the table right now and since I'm fresh off the show I'm just trying to navigate and get a feel for what's going. There's a lot ahead for me."

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