– Hi there. – Hi. Hey, hey. How are you? I’m sweaty, but great. [LAUGHS] That’s how I live my life. Yeah. Well, what is your name? I’m Nina Daig. Where are you from? Beaverdam, Virginia. Beaverdam, Virginia. – Wow. – That’s cool. Love that. There’s, like, three churches and a gas station. And y’all are going to be the first people that I’m singing in front of. So you don’t sing anywhere at home? No, I just– I write songs. Just– it’s just what I do, and they’re secret. And then all this happened, so.
What will you be singing for us today? I’m going to sing a song I wrote for slash about my brother called “Average Joe.” His name is Joey, so. I’ve never written a song about my– about my siblings. [LAUGHS] My brother Joey is three and a half years older than me. Growing up, people would ask, like, if we were twins because we both just had the same level of chaos going on. Who are you going to make friends with today? Him. Yeah? [SLOW TEMPO MUSIC] Mentally, he’s about three or four. He was born not breathing, and there was a lack of oxygen,
and it caused brain damage. He’s really taught me more than any other experience in my life to trust in myself. Since I was little, I always loved singing, standing on the bed with the CD player going. I just have a lot of insecurities and started telling myself that it’s not good enough and no one wants to hear it. So it’s not that I didn’t want to be a musician, but it’s just never something I thought possible. But growing up, I watched Joey his whole life. He doesn’t care what people think. He’s just happy that he’s him and he accepts himself fully.
I think I’m still learning from him in a lot of ways. I got this? Yeah, I love you. You do? Yeah. Yeah, I love you too. I mean, he’s the reason I’m here. Oh. OK. [NINA DAIG, “AVERAGE JOE”] Hiccups from belly laughing again He’s not my brother He’s my best friend Dollar store guitars playing for grandma VCR outlaws We’d watch them all night long Well, I didn’t know you were different And it didn’t make no difference And the laughs or the cries All the tears from my eyes I’m done asking why Cause I’ve seen the light
God made me for you To help you get through And you for me to set my heart free You’re anything but the average Joe Some people don’t get it Sometimes we get looks But if you taught me one thing They’re just learning how to love [APPLAUSE] Thank you. Thank you. You did well. Thank you. Great job. Thank you. Love so many things about your voice. Thank you. To write from that place, it’s how you formulate the beginnings of being a crazy good songwriter. And you’ve got the voice and you’ve got the tone.
It’s just, you hadn’t really put all the puzzle pieces together yet, in my opinion. [SLOW TEMPO MUSIC] There was one word that kept flashing, experience, experience. Yeah. And what I’m trying to decide now is, is it the time to push you through? Or is it time to let you hold for a minute and see if there might be something you can work on to come back to us? Sometimes, by rushing through, you– you might do more harm than good. Yeah. You know, so that’s my dilemma right now. Yeah, I think it’s very brave of you
to come and share not only your voice with us, but your song, especially if you’re not really used to doing that. Was every note perfect? No, but we felt your heart. I feel like you’re going to have to work on that confidence a lot. You’ve got to quiet all the voices in your head saying that you can’t and be like, I know better, and I can, and I’m going to, and lay it all out there every single time. And I believe you can, so I’m going to say yes. Luke? I mean, I think singing is the right thing for you to be doing.
I mean, there was a couple of missed notes, but I’m going to roll the dice on you. It’s a yes from me. As Carrie said, confidence behind that sound will be amazing. It’s a yes for me. Thank you so much. You’re going to Hollywood! – Oh my god. – Thank you. Congratulations. Come pick that ticket up. You got to come get this. [UPBEAT MUSIC] Wow. Wait, this looks like the rest of the tribe. Come on in. Ah, we get to meet him. Hi. We’ve heard about you. Yeah. How are you? – How are you, Joe? – Good.
Good. [INAUDIBLE], Joe. Luke Bryan. What’s up, buddy? How you doing? Good. Hi, Joe. Do you like this? – Yeah. You want one? Yeah. [LAUGHS] – Hey, Joe? – Yeah. You’re going to Hollywood. Yes. [LAUGHTER]
