The fluorescent hum of a Nashville audition room faded into the roar of a nationwide spotlight on September 30, 2025, as Savanna “Kirbi” Kirby, a 24-year-old Florence High School alumna and former star pupil at the Florence Academy of Fine Arts, delivered a performance that stopped The Voice coaches dead in their tracks. With her fingers lightly tracing the microphone stand like a lover’s cheek, Kirbi launched into For King & Country’s “God Only Knows”—a soulful country-pop anthem that started as a hushed prayer and swelled into a tidal wave of emotion. By the 12-second mark, Reba McEntire’s chair whipped around, her eyes wide with that unmistakable country queen gleam. Snoop Dogg followed at 18 seconds, nodding his head to the beat like it was a West Coast groove disguised in Alabama twang. Michael Bublé spun at 25, his jazz-honed ears catching the velvet undertones, and Niall Horan—last but fiercest—leapt from his seat at the final chorus, pumping his fist as if he’d just clinched a One Direction encore.

It was a four-chair turn, the holy grail of Blind Auditions, and for Kirbi, it was more than validation—it was vindication. Hailing from the musically fertile Shoals region of northwest Alabama, where the Tennessee River whispers secrets of Muscle Shoals soul and W.C. Handy blues, Kirbi has been harmonizing with destiny since she could clutch a tambourine. “Florence isn’t just home; it’s the soil that grew my voice,” she told The Florence Times Daily in an exclusive sit-down, her drawl as warm as a summer evening on the riverbank. Now, as Season 28 of NBC’s The Voice barrels forward—premiering September 22 with a jaw-dropping 9.1 household rating—Kirbi’s journey from local choir girl to national contender has Florence buzzing like a hive of fireflies. With her selection of Team Horan sealing the deal amid coach chaos (more on that petty perfection later), this unassuming barista-turned-belter is carrying her Shoals roots straight to the Battle Rounds. But who is Savanna “Kirbi” Kirby, really? And how did a girl from a town of 40,000 soulful souls steal the spotlight from 48,000 hopefuls? Buckle up, readers—this is the story of a voice forged in community stages, tempered by Nashville grit, and ready to echo across America.

Roots in the River City: A Childhood Symphony in Florence

Florence, Alabama, isn’t just a dot on the map—it’s a melody etched into the American soundscape. Nestled in the Shoals (that four-city constellation of Florence, Muscle Shoals, Sheffield, and Tuscumbia along the Tennessee), it’s the cradle of legends: W.C. Handy, father of the blues, penned “St. Louis Blues” here in 1914; FAME Studios birthed Aretha Franklin’s “Respect” and Percy Sledge’s “When a Man Loves a Woman” in the 1960s; the Swampers’ Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section redefined soul for the Rolling Stones and Paul Simon. For Kirbi, born Savanna Kirby on March 15, 2001, to a high school English teacher mom, Laura, and a retired electrician dad, Tom, this heritage wasn’t abstract—it was bedtime stories sung over cornbread and collards.

“I remember Mama reading To Kill a Mockingbird aloud, but she’d pause to hum ‘Midnight Train to Georgia’ when the words got heavy,” Kirbi recalls, perched on a worn porch swing at her family’s Victorian on North Court Street, just blocks from the University of North Alabama (UNA). At three, she was belting Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” in the church nursery at First United Methodist, her pigtails bouncing like metronomes. By kindergarten at Forest Hills Elementary, she was the pint-sized soloist in holiday pageants, her country-pop warble—equal parts Patsy Cline twang and Taylor Swift sparkle—drawing applause that drowned out the off-key angels behind her. “Kirbi had this light,” says her first-grade teacher, Mrs. Evelyn Hargrove (no relation to this reporter), now 68 and a fixture at Florence’s annual Arts Alive festival. “She’d sing the ABCs like they were a chart-topper. We knew then: This girl’s got stardust.”

That stardust found fertile ground at Florence High School, where Kirbi enrolled in 2015 as a wide-eyed freshman. FHS, with its falcon-blue halls and a performing arts program that’s churned out talents like American Idol‘s Cadence Baker (a 2022 alum who wowed on ABC) and singer-songwriter Taylor Grace, was her proving ground. Kirbi lettered in the Falcon Singers choir under director Mr. Harlan Brooks, a Shoals native whose baritone could shake the rafters. “She wasn’t just good; she was magnetic,” Brooks shares from his office, walls plastered with alumni Grammys and gig flyers. “In sophomore year, during our spring revue, Kirbi covered Kacey Musgraves’ ‘Merry Go ‘Round’—raw, vulnerable, like she’d lived every lyric at 16. The auditorium went silent, then erupted. Standing ovation from parents who’d seen it all.”

Extracurriculars amplified her fire. Kirbi dove into the Florence Players community theater, nailing roles from Sandy in Grease (2017) to Elphaba understudy in a regional Wicked tour stop. But her true north was the Florence Academy of Fine Arts (FAFA), a K-12 magnet haven for creatives partnered with FAME Studios—the very walls that echoed Etta James. Enrolling in FAFA’s Recording Arts program at 14, Kirbi spent afternoons in Studio A, layering harmonies over tracks engineered by pros who’d rubbed elbows with Bob Dylan. “FAFA wasn’t school; it was sorcery,” she laughs, scrolling old demos on her phone. One clip, a 2018 cover of Chris Stapleton’s “Tennessee Whiskey,” captures her at 17: voice like smoked honey, guitar strums tentative but true. Her mentor, FAFA audio whiz Ms. Lena Voss, beams: “Kirbi engineered her own EP that year—five tracks, zero budget. She mixed ‘Firefly Dreams’ in three takes. Talent like that? It’s Shoals gold.”

University beckoned next, but Kirbi stayed local, enrolling at UNA in 2019 for a B.A. in Entertainment Industry with a music performance minor. UNA’s School of the Arts, Alabama’s oldest public four-year program, was a dreamweaver: ensembles like the Wind Symphony under Dr. Sean Murray, where Kirbi woodwind-doubled on flute while belting leads; the Studio Jazz Band, jamming standards in The Mane Room venue; and the UNA Singers, touring the Southeast with choral pops. “College was my lab,” she says, alumni mug in hand. A standout: her 2021 solo in the Shoals Symphony’s “Tribute to the Swampers” concert at the University of North Alabama’s Norton Auditorium, where 1,200 packed in for a night of Muscle Shoals magic. Kirbi’s rendition of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Simple Man”—acoustic, a cappella—drew a mid-show ovation, with local radio DJ “Shoals Slim” tweeting: “This Kirby kid just out-souled the session greats. Watch her burn bright. #ShoalsRising.”

Yet, Florence’s embrace was a double-edged sword. Gigs at Ray’s at the Bank—Florence’s riverfront honky-tonk, where she opened for up-and-comers like Ella Langley—paid gas money but capped her at “local legend” status. Community arts like Make Music Florence (the free June 21 citywide jam fest) and the W.C. Handy Music Festival’s Listening Room at Shoals Theatre kept her sharp, but dreams whispered louder. “I’d bus tables at Swampers Bar & Grille by day, scribble lyrics by night,” Kirbi admits. Influences? A pantheon: Dolly’s storytelling, Adele’s ache, Carrie Underwood’s fire, laced with Shoals soul from the Staple Singers. By graduation in 2023, with a self-released EP Riverbound (1,500 streams on Spotify, peaking at #3 on regional playlists), she was restless. “Florence raised me, but Nashville’s calling my name,” she told her parents over a farewell catfish fry. In June 2023, with a duffel of dreams and $2,000 in savings, Kirbi hit Music City’s honky-tonks.

Nashville Hustle: From Dive Bars to The Voice Doorstep

Nashville in 2023 was a siren’s song for country-pop hopefuls: post-pandemic boom, TikTok virals, and labels scouting Zoom auditions. Kirbi crashed on a cousin’s couch in East Nashville, waitressing at The Row at Marathon Motorworks while stacking open mics at The Bluebird Cafe. “First night? I bombed ‘Girl in a Country Song’—mic feedback, spilled beer,” she recounts with a grin. But resilience, that Shoals steel, prevailed. By fall, she was a fixture at Tuesdays at the Hard Rock, where her original “Whiskey River Ramble”—a twangy tale of small-town heartbreak—caught the ear of indie producer Jake Owen’s manager. A demo deal followed: three tracks cut at RCA Studio A, including a duet with rising star Hailey Whitters.

Hustle turned to heat in early 2025 when The Voice casting scouts, trawling Nashville’s demo pools, flagged her Riverbound single “Echoes on the Water.” “They said my tone had ‘that rare blend—country heart, pop polish,'” Kirbi shares, still pinching herself. Pre-audition jitters? Epic. “I FaceTimed Mama at 2 a.m., bawling. What if I choke like that Bluebird flop?” But Florence fueled her: a care package from FAFA classmates—monogrammed mic cozy, Shoals soil vial—arrived like a talisman. “Touch the dirt, remember your roots,” Voss advised.

The Blind Audition taping in June 2025 was electric. Kirbi, in a simple denim jacket embroidered with falcon feathers (FHS nod), channeled every stage from UNA’s Norton to Nashville’s Tootsie’s. As “God Only Knows” poured out—her voice a river of grit and grace, falsetto soaring like an eagle over the Shoals—the turns cascaded. Reba: “Darlin’, that’s the gospel truth in a pop wrapper—join me, we’ll conquer!” Snoop: “Smooth as my chronic, but with soul fire. Dogg Pound, baby!” Bublé: “Velvet thunder—let’s craft hits that’ll outlast us!” Horan, rising last: “Kirbi, you’re electric. Two wins say I know a champ. Team Niall?”

The pitch war was poetry: Reba’s country kinship (“We’re Southern sisters—think Parton meets McEntire!”), Snoop’s innovation (“We’ll remix your twang into gold records!”), Bublé’s polish (“Vocal boot camp with a crooner’s touch!”), Horan’s hunger (“Raw edge, real heart—let’s three-peat!”). Kirbi, heart hammering, chose Horan: “Your passion mirrors mine—let’s chase this dream wild.” The hug-fest that followed? Pure TV magic, with Horan whispering, “Florence’s finest—welcome home.”

Florence’s Finest Hour: Community Cheers and Coach Chaos

Back home, Florence erupted like a fireworks finale at the Handy Fest. City Hall’s Facebook post—”Proud of our Kirbi! Falcon to Four-Chair Flyer!”—garnered 12K likes; UNA’s Mane Room hosted a watch party with 400 alumni spilling onto the quad, chanting “Kir-bi! Kir-bi!” as her turn aired. “She’s us—Shoals-bred, unstoppable,” gushed Taylor Grace, FHS ’19 alum and now a Warner signee, in a Southern Living shoutout. Brooks, her old choir boss, teared up: “From faltering freshman scales to national stage? That’s Florence magic.”

The episode’s coach drama amplified the glow. Niall’s “three-peat” troll on Bublé—flashing Blake Shelton’s victory jig post-Kirbi’s pick—had locals howling. “Niall’s got that cheeky Brit fire—perfect for our Kirbi!” tweeted Florence Mayor Andrew Betterton. Bublé’s mock-meltdown? Meme fodder: Photoshopped with a Shoals catfish, captioned “Bublé’s Blues: Blocked in the Bayou.”

Kirbi’s story resonates beyond reels. In a genre craving authenticity amid pop-country gloss, her bio sings: Florence’s community grit (volunteering at Arts Alive juried fest, where she sketched stage designs pre-singing), UNA’s ensemble ethos (belting in the 2022 Wind Symphony’s “Quintessence” tour), Nashville’s no-net grind. Influences? “Dolly taught resilience, Adele rawness, but Shoals? That’s soul deep—like the river carving canyons.”

Dreamweaver in the Making: What’s Next for Kirbi?

Post-turn, Kirbi’s orbiting orbit: Horan’s Battles prep starts October 15, pitting her against a Team Niall wildcard (rumors swirl of a duo with Aiden Ross). “Niall’s texting song recs at midnight—’Try this Stapleton twist!'” she laughs. Off-stage? She’s plotting a Shoals homecoming gig at Shoals Theatre, proceeds to FAFA scholarships. “Florence gave me wings—time to lift others.”

At 24, with a voice that’s equal parts hearth and hurricane, Kirbi Kirby isn’t just a contestant—she’s a beacon. In The Voice‘s glittering gauntlet, where 1 in 48,000 make the Blinds, her four-chair fairy tale reminds us: Talent blooms where roots run deep. As Horan told Billboard: “Kirbi’s got that X-factor—Shoals sparkle in a Nashville storm.” Florence agrees. From riverbanks to red chairs, Savanna “Kirbi” Kirby is singing her truth—and America can’t look away.

Will she steal the season? Battle her way to the finale? Readers, that’s the thrill. But one thing’s certain: This Florence falcon’s flight is just beginning. Tune in, Shoals-style: With heart, hustle, and a whole lot of harmony.