{"id":365822,"date":"2026-10-06T13:19:40","date_gmt":"2026-10-06T13:19:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/365822\/"},"modified":"2026-10-06T13:19:40","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T13:19:40","slug":"the-girl-behind-the-music-meet-brooklyn-ostlund-the-14-year-old-alexandrian-on-the-voice-alexandria-echo-press","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/365822\/","title":{"rendered":"The girl behind the music: Meet Brooklyn Ostlund, the 14-year-old Alexandrian on ‘The Voice’ – Alexandria Echo Press"},"content":{"rendered":"

ALEXANDRIA<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Who is Brooklyn Ostlund? For starters, she is a 14-year-old from Alexandria who recently got two chairs to turn on <\/p>\n

NBC\u2019s The Voice and is now on Team Kelly Clarkson.<\/a><\/p>\n

Known to her many fans as Brooklyn Marie, she is not just a singer but also a songwriter and musician who says music has been a part of her entire life.<\/p>\n

At the age of 3, she started singing on stages and when she was 5 years old, she started taking piano lessons, according to her mom, Kristin Ostlund.<\/p>\n

\"BrooklynMarie_15.jpg\"<\/p>\n

Brooklyn Marie, left, who was 4 years old at the time, performed with her sister, Mady, 2, on the Jingle Bells Telethon in Alexandria. <\/p>\n

Contributed photo \/ Kristin Ostlund<\/p>\n

Kristin said she has a vivid memory of driving to daycare when Brooklyn was almost a year and half old.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was harmonizing with the radio and I was like, \u2018I don\u2019t think this is normal,\u2019 \u201d said Kristin. \u201cI remember telling Clay (Brooklyn\u2019s dad) that she talked early, started singing early and now she\u2019s already harmonizing and she\u2019s just 17 months old! She\u2019s always had a very unique connection with music.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2016, at age 4, Brooklyn and her sister, Mady, 2, performed on the Jingle Bells Telethon. Since then, Brooklyn has performed as a soloist and also a group with her three younger siblings, Mady, 12, Westin, 10, and Gavin, 8.<\/p>\n

Besides playing piano and acoustic guitar, Brooklyn has added the electric guitar, bass guitar, banjo, mandolin, drums and violin to her repertoire.<\/p>\n

\u201cMusic is literally my whole life,\u201d she said, with her mom agreeing wholeheartedly. Kristin said her daughter\u2019s life basically revolves around prepping for gigs, learning new songs, writing new songs and taking lessons for singing and a variety of instruments. <\/p>\n

\u201cShe walks around the house holding her guitar. We have to tell her to put it down to come and eat or put it down and go to bed,\u201d said Kristin. <\/p>\n

Agreeing with her mom, Brooklyn added that when she takes a shower, she has to bring her phone in the bathroom with her because she does her best brainstorming when mindlessly singing in the shower.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll hear something and then will sing it over and over in my head and when I get out of the shower, I\u2019ll grab my phone, write it in the notes or I will sing into it. At that moment, you think it sounds good. And then you listen back to it and you\u2019re like, \u2018What was that?\u2019 It\u2019s such a roller coaster.\u201d<\/p>\n

Around the age of 10, Brooklyn and her family were at Gathered Oaks in Alexandria. <\/p>\n

The Nobles,<\/a><\/p>\n

husband wife duo of Ray and Kayla Noble of Alexandria, were performing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI asked my mom, \u2018Do you think I could ever do that someday?’ ” she said. <\/p>\n

By next summer, Brooklyn had learned enough songs for a two-hour set. Learning new songs, however, wasn\u2019t the only thing she needed to do. She also had to build up endurance to play for a full two hours without her fingers and vocal chords becoming sore. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe entire summer, every single day that we were outside, I was outside playing my guitar and singing to them (her family),\u201d said Brooklyn. \u201cWe have videos of me singing and playing in my swimsuit. I had built up the songs and I built up the endurance.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the age of 12, Brooklyn played her very first official show, a picnic at The Church of St. Mary\u2019s in Alexandria.<\/p>\n

\"BrooklynMarie_17.JPEG\"<\/p>\n

At the age of 12, Brooklyn Marie played her first official solo gig at a picnic at The Church of St. Mary’s. The event was in September of 2024. <\/p>\n

Contributed photo \/ Kristin Ostlund<\/p>\n

Kristin said Brooklyn had previously performed, but the picnic was her first solo gig. When Brooklyn was younger, her mom said she sang at two different weddings with another singer from Alexandria, <\/p>\n

Josie Nelson.<\/a><\/p>\n

Brooklyn said she followed Nelson\u2019s career, looked up to her and that Nelson was a huge inspiration to her.<\/p>\n

At one point, Brooklyn even told her mom, \u201cI want to be like Josie.\u201d<\/p>\n

This past summer was Brooklyn\u2019s third full summer of gigging, her mom said. She plays at wineries, breweries, weddings, corporate and private events, backyards, birthday parties and anywhere else people want her to play.<\/p>\n

Her next upcoming local gig is on Friday, Oct. 16, from noon to 4 p.m during the Kidtoberfest at Carlos Creek Winery in Alexandria.<\/p>\n

Brooklyn\u2019s music repertoire includes a variety of genres including pop, country, rock, folk, indie pop and more. At her gigs, she plays what the people want to listen to, her mom said, adding that her set lists are quite diverse.<\/p>\n

The music she listens to is also eclectic.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, my playlists are so varied. I\u2019ll have Taylor Swift, then Fleetwood Mac, then Metallica,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s all just so different. It really depends on how I\u2019m feeling. But when I\u2019m writing, I try to stay in the pop genre.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"BrooklynMarie_2.jpeg\"<\/p>\n

Brooklyn Marie of Alexandria at her first guitar lesson at the age of 7. <\/p>\n

Contributed photo \/ Kristin Ostlund<\/p>\n

Writing music is something she has always loved, Brooklyn said. At about the age of 10, she wrote her very first song, but said she doesn\u2019t even remember what it was about.<\/p>\n

She said she would always make up these little stories when she was little and one day asked herself, \u201cWhat if I write a song?\u201d So then she did. That is when she fell in love with the art of writing songs. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got a lot of ideas, a lot of voice memos and a lot of notes in the Notes app,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

Kirsten said her daughter has two original songs that have been released and that she is working on four more. The hope is to put out a full album sometime next year.<\/p>\n

\"BrooklynMarie_7.jpeg\"<\/p>\n

At age 13, Brooklyn Marie played her first gig at Carlos Creek Winery. <\/p>\n

Contributed photo \/ Kristin Ostlund<\/p>\n

In addition to releasing her own music, Brooklyn recently also recorded her first music video. The video is for her single, \u201cTired.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI hadn\u2019t even thought about doing one because I thought music videos were something that only famous people do,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

A friend of the family, Alicia Bertram, owner of <\/p>\n

Licia Marie Photo + Film and Sota Films,<\/a><\/p>\n

reached out to the Ostlund family before recently moving to Florida. She told them that if Brooklyn ever wanted to do a music video she could do it. Brooklyn thought it was a cool idea and so they reached out to her.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe met with her, I told her what I was thinking and we just did it,\u201d said Brooklyn. \u201cIt was actually crazy because it turned out so well.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Voice: A mom\u2019s perspective<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, Sept. 23, Brooklyn\u2019s blind audition aired on NBC\u2019s The Voice, which is a singing competition. The audition is \u201cblind\u201d because the four judges have their chairs turned away from the stage and if they like what they’re hearing, they’ll turn their chairs.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s coaches are Kelly Clarkson, Adam Levine, Riley Green and Queen Latifah. While Brooklyn was on stage singing, \u201cTraitor,\u201d by Olivia Rodrigo, both Latifah and Clarkson turned their chairs. She ended up choosing Clarkson as her coach.<\/p>\n

During the performance, Brooklyn\u2019s family \u2013 her mom, dad and siblings \u2013 were off to the side of the stage.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were behind a little partition that had a screen on it,\u201d said Kristen. \u201cThe screen is like a TV screen and we could see Brooklyn, but we couldn\u2019t see all the coaches. They say the next artist is entering and these doors opened and then she walked out and I lost it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kristen said the second Brooklyn was on stage, the band started and then Brooklyn started strumming. The family was taking it all in when the host of the show, Carson Daly, came and stood right next to them. He asked the family, \u201cHey fam, how\u2019s it going?\u201d Kristin forgot that he was going to be there because everything was happening so fast. She said she looked up at him, because he\u2019s super tall, and said hi.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then all of sudden he said, \u2018Oh my gosh, she\u2019s already got a chair turned. That was the fastest of the day.\u2019 I totally missed it. It was so surreal. It\u2019s only a 90-second performance so by the time we realized what was going on and what\u2019s happening, it\u2019s like it was done.\u201d<\/p>\n

After Brooklyn had made her choice and the audition was over, Kristin said Clarkson came over and gave everyone a hug. She told them, \u201cWelcome to the family!\u201d and that she was excited to have Brooklyn on her team, said Kristin.<\/p>\n

\"BrooklynMarie_13.png\"<\/p>\n

The Ostlund siblings performed at the 2020 Jingle Bells Telethon.<\/p>\n

Contributed photo \/ Kristin Ostlund<\/p>\n

She added that getting a hug from Clarkson was the highlight of the summer for all of Brooklyn\u2019s siblings.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe is as darling as they portray her to be on TV,\u201d said Kristin describing Clarkson. \u201cThat is the most accurate portrayal of her personality \u2013 so chatty and so friendly. She\u2019s hilarious and she really knows what she\u2019s doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

To stay in the loop, join Brooklyn\u2019s \u201cInner Circle\u201d at <\/p>\n

brooklynmariemusic.com\/join<\/a><\/p>\n

. More about Brooklyn can be found on her website, <\/p>\n

brooklynmariemusic.com<\/a><\/p>\n

; on her TikTok page, <\/p>\n

tiktok.com\/discover\/brooklyn-marie-music<\/a><\/p>\n

; on Instagram, <\/p>\n

instagram.com\/thebrooklynmariemusic<\/a><\/p>\n

; and on Facebook, <\/p>\n

facebook.com\/thebrooklynmariemusic<\/a><\/p>\n

.<\/p>\n

Watch for more about Brooklyn in upcoming issues of the Echo Press. We will continue to track her progress. You can watch The Voice on NBC either online at <\/p>\n

nbc.com\/the-voice<\/a><\/p>\n

or on your television.<\/p>\n

\"BrooklynMarie_3.jpeg\"<\/p>\n

Brooklyn Marie, at the age of 13, played the mandolin with the Calvary Lutheran Church Worship Team. <\/p>\n

Contributed photo \/ Kristin Ostlund<\/p>\n

\"BrooklynMarie_5.jpeg\"<\/p>\n

In March of 2026, Brooklyn Marie, with her band members, Steve Lynn on drums and Grant Invie on pedal steel, played at Copper Trail Brewery in Alexandria. <\/p>\n

Contributed photo \/ Kristin Ostlund<\/p>\n

\"BrooklynMarie_6.jpeg\"<\/p>\n

In February 2026, Brooklyn Marie played at Ida Graves Distillery. <\/p>\n

Contributed photo \/ Bryce Galle<\/p>\n

\"BrooklynMarie_8.jpeg\"<\/p>\n

In August 2025, Brooklyn Marie played in the worship band at Calvary Lutheran’s Church at the Lake. <\/p>\n

Contributed photo \/ Kristin Ostlund<\/p>\n

\"BrooklynMarie_9.jpeg\"<\/p>\n

Brooklyn Marie, with her friend and drummer, Steve Lynn, played music at a Gathered Oaks pizza night event in 2025. <\/p>\n

Contributed photo \/ Kristin Ostlund<\/p>\n

\"BrooklynMarie_11.jpeg\"<\/p>\n

Brooklyn Marie, left, performs with one of her idols, Sara Severson from Blonde and the Bohunk, at Copper Trail Brewery in April 2025. <\/p>\n

Contributed photo \/ Kristin Ostlund<\/p>\n

\"BrooklynMarie_14.png\"<\/p>\n

In October 2023, Brooklyn Marie, left, and her sister, Mady, sing at Calvary Lutheran Church. <\/p>\n

Contributed photo \/ Kristin Ostlund<\/p>\n

\"BrooklynMarie_1.jpeg\"<\/p>\n

Brooklyn Marie had her first professional musician photoshoot at the age of 12. <\/p>\n

Contributed photo \/ Licia Marie Photography<\/p>\n

\"Jingle<\/p>\n

The Ostlund siblings, Westin, 5, Brooklyn, 9, Mady, 7, and Gavin, 3, performed “Oh, what a special night,” at the 2021 Jingle Bells Telethon. T<\/p>\n

Echo Press file photo<\/p>\n