Local couple hoping to take ‘Jesus to Hollywood’

ASHEBORO — You can help Brittnee and Doyle Hinkle go to Hollywood and all you have to do is “click.”

On a whim, the singing couple entered an online music competition in July, one of some 23,000 groups in the competition. Brittnee said she was surprised when she received a message on July 18 that they had been selected by a judges panel to continue with The Opening Act, the world’s largest online music competition.

Moving on to the next round of The Opening Act is based on voting online. So far, Brittnee and Doyle have come through six rounds with three more rounds to advance as one of four groups going to Hollywood. The overall winner will be the opening act at the Hollywood Bowl in an event called “We Can Survive,” sponsored by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

Last year’s event, Brittnee said, “featured mainstream industry superstars like Black Eyed Peas, Coldplay, Kid Laroi, Doja Cat and Shawn Mendes.”

What is surprising to the Hinkles is that they are a Christian band, backed up by band members of the Journey Church worship team. 

“For us to have made it this far in the competition is huge,” Brittnee said. “Because in reality, why would they want a Christian band? 

“This is just the most crazy cool opportunity. We’ve been going head to head for weeks now with some pretty well-known bands. Last week, we found out we beat out 60 bands that were in our category.”
Brittnee explained that there are several groups in each round. In earlier rounds, there might be four of five to advance. But now it’s just the top vote-getter in each group.

So, with three rounds remaining, it’s even more important to rack up as many votes as possible.

Anyone can vote, free, once per 24 hours, and via paid voting — $1 per vote with the minimum being $10, the proceeds going to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

“We need people to vote consistently every 24 hours with the free daily vote,” Brittnee said. “You can also vote via donation. Donations are very beneficial on days when ‘together votes’ say they are doubled.” 

To vote for Brittnee & Doyle, go to https://theopenact.com/2022/brittnee-and-doyle-hinkle and follow the instructions. You can vote once a day through Thursday, Sept. 1. The overall winner will be announced on Sept. 15.

Even making the top four is a win, with each group being flown out to Los Angeles, put up in a hotel. The overall winner has its own dressing room and plenty of radio promotion.

It gets better — the top band receives $10,000 to help jumpstart its career.

Said Brittnee to the public: “We are hoping you guys can spread the word for us, calling on our local community and the Christian community to rally together and vote for us. This is the thing that makes us different from the other bands in this competition. We are a Christian band and we’ve got Jesus!”

Even if Brittnee & Doyle don’t go any further, they still have dreams of having a full-time career in music in the Christian genre. They produced their first album, called “Ghosts,” in 2020, charting at No. 22 in the Top Christian Albums on iTunes. They were hoping to use it to play live, but COVID dashed those plans. Their second album will come out this fall. They write all their own music.

Meanwhile, they perform most Sundays at Journey Church. On Sept. 17, Brittnee & Doyle will join Christian artists Austin French, Tasha Layton and KJ52 in a free concert at Victory Mountain Wesleyan Camp. The event will be in support of the NC Foster Adopt Mission.

To sample Brittnee & Doyle’s music, go to this link on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/19RKJKULt6qvXCEdD9lrG5?si=qXlB1fgORiS06E4_osi9kg. They can also be found at other sites that feature music.

Brittnee said she met Doyle when he was playing with Bantum Rooster, a popular local band. She joined them briefly to do some singing and the two hit it off. They’ve been married seven years and have two daughters, Vanna and Vada.

“If we don’t win, it’s OK, just to see how far we’ve come, to see how the community has rallied around us this far,” she said. A friend, Sam Ramsey, told her, “This is the power of a small community.”

“We have connections with people,” Brittnee said. “They’re voting consistently for us.”
With continued voting consistency, who knows where Brittnee & Doyle will end up.