- [Presenter] This program is made possible through a grant from the Greater Peoria Leadership Council, a coalition of business and civic leaders working together to shape a stronger, more connected region through the Choose Greater Peoria Initiative.

(upbeat music continues) ♪ Well, no matter what the question is ♪ ♪ We will say, yeah, yeah, yeah ♪ ♪ And to everyone who's passing through ♪ ♪ We'll say, yeah, yeah, yeah ♪ ♪ Whoo ♪ ♪ Ooh ♪ ♪ You're amazing, baby, you're amazing ♪ ♪ Ooh ♪ ♪ You just remember ♪ ♪ You just remember ♪ ♪ You're amazing, yeah ♪ (air whooshing) (audience cheering and applauding) - Thank you, thank you.

Hi, mom.

Thank you guys, what a crowd, what a crowd here tonight.

Good evening.

I am Blake Wirth, your host, and this is "Vibe 309."

The vibes are extremely high here tonight in the WTVP studio, and for good reason.

It's also the reason I haven't slept in weeks.

Been way too excited about this episode because tonight's guest is the real deal, an extraordinary talent known as one of the most electric live performers in the game, a world-class vocalist, a true powerhouse on stage.

A couple years ago, she put the world on notice when she blew the roof off the Pasadena Civic Auditorium on "America's Got Talent," earning herself the coveted (hand thuds) Golden Buzzer from Simon Cowell.

But her story didn't start there.

It didn't start when she performed on "David Letterman" either, or "Jimmy Kimmel Live!," or "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," or "Good Morning America."

It didn't even start when Prince, his royal badness, the purple one, discovered her and brought her into his backing band, New Power Generation.

No, her story actually started right here in Peoria, Illinois, born and raised by Bessie and Owen Warfield, who by all accounts absolutely crushed it as parents because they raised one of the most grounded, genuine, and easy-to-root-for people you'll ever meet.

Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for Liv Warfield!

(audience cheering and applauding) Hello, welcome.

- Nice.

- Welcome.

- Thank you so much.

- Thank you.

- You're very sweet.

- Take a seat.

- [Liv] Thank you, thank you, thank you.

- Take a seat, Liv Warfield.

That couch is actually a Roche Bobois.

- Okay.

- It's Italian.

- Okay, okay.

- No, it's from Ikea.

- Okay.

- I use that joke a lot.

- It's nice.

- It gets the job done, but okay, welcome.

- Thank you.

- Thank you so much.

- Thank you for having me, thank you.

- Before I even get into it, we got some breaking news.

I think it was as of today or maybe yesterday.

- Okay.

- An honorary street name- - Oh.

- is being named after you.

- Craziness.

- [Blake] Can you tell me about that?

Give it up!

- Oh, blessing.

Thank you.

(audience applauding) - Street name named after you.

- Yeah, it was a shock.

Actually, my dad had got the call from the mayor, and she was like, "Yeah, we're gonna, we would love to name (laughs) the street, give a street name your daughter."

And I think I was asleep upstairs, and my dad's like, "Yeah."

- What?

- "They're gonna..." (Liv and audience laughing) - "Okay, thanks."

- He's like, "Yeah, you ready for this?"

And I was like, "Okay."

He's like, "They wanna, you know, give you an honorary street name in Peoria."

And I was shocked.

I still am very shocked by it.

It is an honor for me.

- And you were just waking up.

- Yeah.

- He told you this news.

Is this the street you grew up on?

- Yeah, it is.

- No way.

- Yes.

- That's incredible.

- [Liv] Across the street from Peoria Stadium.

- Unbelievable.

- Literally, like- - [Blake] One more time, give it up.

Give it up one more time.

(Liv laughs) That's incredible.

- Thank you, yeah.

I'm thankful.

I'm so thankful.

- Wow, so you grew up- - Yes, yes.

- in Peoria.

- Yes.

- You started taking violin lessons at about eight years old.

That's when you knew you liked music.

- [Liv] Mm-hmm.

- But that's about all.

You kept to yourself.

No one knew you could sing.

Is that right?

- Yeah, correct, nobody knew.

- Nobody knew?

- Mm-mm.

- Until when?

Because I would've guessed when I came over to your parents' house a few weeks back to meet 'em- - Yes, uh-huh.

- I said, "So you must have been singing since you were, what, four or five years old?"

But- - No.

- No?

- No.

I was just really, really shy.

Thinking about Missouri Street- - [Blake] Yep.

- I always was creating a world for myself, for whatever that may be.

My mom makes cookies.

We've been doing this forever.

We've been sending this to all the families all around Peoria, and what I used to do is I would take her cookies.

I would go out to the front of the driveway, and I would sell those cookies.

I would go, and I actually did, like, neighborhood newsletters.

I would go to people's houses and be like, "What did your daughter learn how to do today?"

- Wow.

- And I would, you know, I was always trying to create some type of world, whatever that was for me.

You know, I was just trying to create something.

But musically for me, I felt like it was something that was always there.

It was just buried.

Didn't know how to really get it out.

Didn't really know how to show them or anybody else in my family.

I just couldn't, (laughs) couldn't come out.

- No friends, you weren't at a slumber party, and you would- - No.

- just belt it out, like a Mariah Carey lyric?

- No, no, no.

- Nothing?

- No.

- [Blake] Nothing, singing in the shower, they didn't hear you down the hall, nothing?

- No, and if they did, I made sure to be like, "Okay, I gotta go hide.

Like, they can't hear this," you know?

For sure.

- So you're a musical prodigy now, and I'll say that.

You don't have say it about yourself.

I'll say it.

- [Liv] Bless.

- But then you were a track star.

- Mm.

- You were at Von Steuben.

You were a track star, and then at Notre Dame, you were a track star.

- Yeah, gymnastics came first.

I started at the age of three by Jon Williams, by the Peoria Heights, and I did that.

That was what sparked it for me as a gymnast, listening for, let me say this to match the music element.

- Okay.

- In training in gymnastics, classic radio, I can't even remember the radio station we used to listen to in Peoria all the time that was always on, but it was always classic radio playing in the back.

- Okay.

- Pointer Sisters for me, Etta James for me, from "Raining Man" was always the thing.

And I was just absorbing it in training all the time, all the time, and my dad was always usually playing music around the garage or something.

And then I ran track but still was just, how can I say?

It was just something that I knew I had inside, but track and being an athlete was something I could actually, that was a different form of expression.

- So did you look at it as like, "Okay, track, that's my outlet.

Gymnastics is my outlet."

- Yeah, mm-hmm.

- "I don't need to explore this other one because it's scary, and I'm not ready yet."

- Absolutely.

- Like, did you use that as an excuse almost to... - Kind of, almost, I think I told my mom at Von Steuben, I was like, "I'm gonna do show choir."

She was like, "Show choir?"

(Liv and audience laughing) Like, not in a bad way, like, but she was like, "You don't sing around us.

Like, why?

You go from being an athlete to, like, now you wanna," you know?

And actually, Peoria Christian School, actually, where I first started, and then when I was in plays and stuff, and I think that they don't know this 'cause I'm thinking about it now, that might've been the catalyst of things, you know, just wanting to really perform but then, you know, not really understanding it 'cause I didn't show it to them, you know?

Yeah, mm-hmm.

- Well, you're in town as the artist in residence for the Peoria Symphony Orchestra, and we'll get to that in just a moment.

But so you go to Notre Dame.

You do track and field.

You get a track scholarship, I believe, to Portland State.

- Uh-huh.

- And then what?

You go out for a karaoke night, and you decide to just let it rip one night?

- I did, I did.

- You're like, "all right, I'm finally doing it."

- I did, I did.

(laughs) - How'd it feel?

- It was amazing.

A friend of mine was like, "You know, they got these places called karaoke."

I was like, "Wait, what?

You can go to a bar, and go sing, and, like, pick all these songs?"

He was like, "Liv, you just gotta go," and I went.

I remember it was called the Ambassador in Portland.

And they lay that beautiful, coveted book of all the songs you could choose to sing.

And they were like, so I chose Whitney, "I'll Always Love You."

And I got up there, and I remember like, "This is it.

This is the place I'm gonna get discovered.

(laughs) I found my calling.

This is it," but it was.

It was the thing, it was the catalyst that opened it up for me for everything.

I was like, "Okay, this is..." But I turned my back.

I couldn't face the audience.

- You turned your back?

- Well, no, I couldn't sing in front of an audience.

- Okay.

- No, heck, no.

- Wow.

- This was a process, like- - Guys, you know, if you haven't seen her- - Serious process.

- perform on stage, her stage presence is otherworldly, larger than life, and you started, and you couldn't even face the- - No.

- It's amazing to go from where you were to where you are now.

- Yeah, yeah, it's quite a journey.

Only, again, because I knew it was something that I really wanted to do, and I kept it.

I guess I should say I was manifesting it but not really saying it to anybody, but I was manifesting it in my soul and in my spirit just because I know it's more than just a talent.

It's a vessel.

It's a spirit.

It's a divine thing for me, and I knew that.

I was just like, "I don't know how I'm gonna get there."

- [Blake] But you could feel it.

- I felt it.

I did.

- Okay, so I asked Todd if we could do a three-hour special.

He said, "No, we can't," so I gotta keep going here.

We got, you go, all that.

You hit the late night show circuit.

I think it was 2014 was a very big year for you.

- Yeah.

- If I'm not mistaken.

And then you go "America's Got Talent."

You've performed with Stevie Wonder.

Obviously, Prince, you were very close with Prince.

It leads you to this moment now.

You're back home.

- Yeah.

- You're established.

You've done remarkable things.

What does it mean to come back to Peoria and perform with the PSO?

- Ah, I was thinking about that.

When Maestro George Stelluto reached out to me, he was like, you know, "I'm calling with the Peoria Symphony, and we wanna do a show."

I was honestly floored because it was a dream of mine to do something with a big orchestra.

And it's almost like a serious dream fulfilled.

And actually, to do it at home meant even more just because I've been going through a lot, and I feel like finally in my life, because I've been so shy, I thought about this last night, so quiet and so shy, I'm finally choosing me, meaning I'm choosing not to hide it, you know- - I love that.

- and to, doing it at home- - Yeah.

- you know, doing it at home for me to, like, share that gift because the thing is, yes, it is amazing because it is, like, a Liv Warfield experience.

But it's a community thing.

It's the band.

It's a frequency with the symphony.

It's everybody.

- The vibrations.

- It's everybody.

It is a vibration.

- Yeah.

- You know?

And that's something that I wanted to share with my hometown so people can really feel the energy, feel in their body, you know?

I feel my music in my body, you know?

And I want people to feel it in them, you know?

- I want people to see what she's talking about, so I think this is now a good time to do a "Vibe Check."

The "Vibe 309" crew, we did a vibe check at Bradley University with Liv as they rehearsed in preparation for her show, "Liv'n It Up" at the Peoria Civic Center.

Go ahead and run it.

(air whooshing) (birds chirping) - [Musician] Yeah, we're going.

(Liv clears throat and laughs) - Scared?

- Oh, no.

(musicians chattering indistinctly) - [Liv] Guitar's gonna get loud.

(energetic rock music) ♪ If you stare at it long enough ♪ ♪ You gonna see it move ♪ ♪ Can't swing the wrecking ball ♪ ♪ Still some some damage you can do ♪ ♪ Well, I said, please, please ♪ ♪ Pardon me, I, oh, tell 'em about themselves ♪ ♪ Stare at it long enough ♪ ♪ You become somebody else ♪ ♪ My, my, yeah ♪ ♪ Oh, yeah ♪ ♪ Oh, yeah ♪ ♪ Oh ♪ ♪ Hey, hey ♪ ♪ Hey ♪ ♪ Hey, hey ♪ (energetic music continues) ♪ Hey, hey ♪ ♪ Hey ♪ ♪ Stare at it long enough ♪ - Yes.

- [Blake] All right, give it up for you guys.

I'm blown away.

That's incredible.

- (laughs) Blake.

- Come on.

- Blessed.

(upbeat music) (musicians chattering indistinctly) - [Liv] Okay.

- [Musician] I'll take this one hand.

(drums resonating) - [Musician] One, two, three, four.

(upbeat music) (hands smacking) (upbeat music continues) ♪ What's the plan ♪ ♪ What we going to do ♪ ♪ Save the world, honey ♪ ♪ Let's get them parachutes ♪ ♪ Go, go, oh ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Got 30 dollars to our names ♪ ♪ We'll survive, Mama taught me well ♪ ♪ I won't complain, no ♪ ♪ No, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Stand the rain ♪ ♪ Catch me if you can ♪ ♪ I'm out of here, we in love ♪ ♪ Please don't stop us, now we out of here ♪ - [Liv] That's it.

- Line.

- Let me... ♪ Just you and I ♪ - Okay.

- Yeah.

(shoes squeaking) (pencil rasping) (instruments resonating) (instruments continue resonating) - How are you?

Hey, good to see you.

- How are you doing?

(instruments continue resonating) (audience applauding) (audience continues applauding) - [MC] Thank you, I want to bring our guest out to the stage.

Join me in welcoming home Peoria's own Liv Warfield.

(audience cheering and applauding) (audience continues cheering and applauding) (audience continues cheering and applauding) (laid-back music) ♪ And try to figure out what we've got ♪ ♪ This night, I swear I felt the love ♪ ♪ See all we've ♪ (upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) (vocalists singing indistinctly) ♪ Just the love for you and me ♪ ♪ You know we're living it up ♪ (audience cheering and applauding) (air whooshing) - Thank you, thank you, amazing.

Liv Warfield.

Hey, so much work goes into putting on a show.

We've all seen live performances.

We've been to concerts, but the rehearsal, everything leading up to it, talk about that.

What is that?

- Yeah, it's a process that I absolutely love.

I loved being in the creative process of it all.

The band is absolutely extraordinary.

A lot of vocalists also Via Vicary, amazing emerging artist, she's gonna be performing as well.

And they're, you know, just it's pretty incredible.

- I love that.

- Yes.

- We're joined here by your younger sister, Bessie Warfield.

(Blake laughs) No, I kid.

- Yes.

- Bessie Warfield, everybody.

(audience applauding) - Yes, yes, yes.

- No, this is her mother, of course.

And I asked you to come on because I just wanted to hear from you what it was like.

What was Liv like as a kid growing up?

- Oh, gosh.

(audience laughing) (clears throat) Where can we get started?

- Where can we start here?

- Okay.

Really, let me start at violin.

At three years old, it was called it Suzuki program.

So we put her in that, you know.

- Three years old.

- Three years old.

And the program, the process was every night, they would have to listen to this song, you know, when they learned the different notes on their violin, so you play this tape for them every night.

So, again, Olivia was a very, very creative kid, really very, very creative, you know.

I made her start keeping a journal to learn how to write instead of her arguing with me, so I made her learn how to put it in her journal.

You know, whatever you gotta say- - Smart.

- put it in your journal.

Okay?

- Good parenting technique there.

- Yes, put it in your journal.

- Love that.

- And Livie was also one of the first Water Babies.

When she was six months old, at the YWCA, they had a Water Baby program.

So when she was six months old, me and her went in that, and her dad didn't like it, but I took her on in there.

- Okay.

- (laughs) And so she's a good swimmer.

- And Owen said, "No, thank you."

- Right.

- So I really just kept her really busy, you know?

- Yeah.

- And then when she got three years old, I put her in gymnastics with Jon Williams, you know, who still has his gymnastics program on today over in East Peoria.

- And would she do gymnastics and play the violin at the same time?

- We, yes, no, no, she didn't do that, individually, you know.

- Okay, okay.

- So yeah, but she was in both programs at the same time, you know.

- So you never saw her sing.

We've talked about that.

- You got that right.

- Your first time, I believe, was hearing her in Portland if I'm not mistaken.

- You got that right, too.

- [Blake] Okay, so you went out there, and she sang.

- No.

- No.

- Our son went out there first.

- Okay.

- They were scared.

- They were scared?

- And they sent him to look.

- Portland's weird they say.

They say Portland's weird.

(Liv and Bessie laughing) - So he went out there to visit her, went to college, and he came back, and he said, "Mom and Dad, you guys better get out there.

Livie got a band.

She's out there singing."

And I'm like, "What?"

- What?

- You know, you thinking that she's going to her classes.

But that's when we found out she was doing this karaoke stuff, you know?

- It's crazy.

- So we flew out there, and then next thing we know, we go to this club.

- Jimmy Mak's.

- Jimmy Mak's.

And she was singing, and we look at each other, and we're like, "Where did this come from?"

And then we got these ladies coming to us crying.

- Yeah.

- And we're like, "What are they?"

"Oh, your daughter's voice is so," and we're like, "She's affecting you guys like that?"

She didn't do that at home, you know?"

So... (all laughing) Yes.

- She made me cry when I saw the performance on "America's Got Talent."

Truly, like, I cried.

I cried.

I'm not afraid to admit it.

I was so blown away.

And then it was your reaction after he came up.

Like, he said, "I give you the Golden Buzzer."

Your reaction was like, you took it all in.

You were in the moment, and I could just tell, like, a lifetime of hard work paying off.

That had to have been amazing.

- Yeah.

- There was another thing.

There was a coach when we took you to South Carolina for track and field for a training camp, and you did something, and the coach made you sing.

- Oh, yeah, this was right before I went to, right, after I graduated, I think, high school, or right before I graduated.

And I probably think I couldn't it any longer, but these girls were like, "We've heard you singing while we were practicing."

- Practicing.

- And they were like, "Just get up and..." And I think I did that one time.

- And the coach said, "Livie, why don't you get up and sing?"

And I guess whatever song you sung, he calls us at the house.

He said, "You realize your daughter can sing."

- Like sing.

- Sing.

(audience laughing) And we were like, and my husband said, "Where is Livie coming up with all this stuff and this singing?"

(laughs) - Unbelievable.

- Yes, yes, yes.

- Unbelievable.

Well, we only have a couple minutes left.

I like to do something, Bessie, called the rapid-fire section every show.

- Oh, boy.

- We'll start with Liv and give you a second to think on it.

- Oh, no.

- Favorite place to eat in the 309.

- Oh, wow, Monical's.

- Ooh.

- Mm.

- Yes, love Monical's.

Is that your answer, too?

- Mm-hmm.

- Okay.

- Mm-hmm.

- You guys have good taste.

Favorite coffee spot in the 309 if you ever get coffee here.

- I went to Zion.

- Okay.

- Zion.

- That's a great one.

- Yes, great.

- That's a great one.

- I haven't been.

- That was new.

- One of these here.

- It's lovely.

- All right, this one's for you, Bessie.

If your younger self could see you now, what would surprise her most?

- Hmm.

Really, being a mom to my two kids.

- Yeah.

- And giving up everything for them till they get on their own.

- Sure.

- And don't call me for nothing.

(all laughing) - Well, as I said in the opener, by all accounts, you smashed it out of the park.

You're a great parent.

This last one is for you, Liv.

- Okay.

- And I have to bring him back up, Prince- - Yeah.

- the legend himself.

- Yes.

- You got to spend so much time with him.

- Yes.

- What was one thing, the most important and the most sacred thing he taught you?

- Mm, many things, but the one I think is, if they don't understand you, it's okay.

They'll get it later, or they don't have to get it later.

You just stay creative.

You stay authentic.

You stay true to you.

- I love that.

- Mm-hmm.

- I love that, and on that note, I would like to give you this "Vibe 309" hat.

Bessie, I don't have one for you, unfortunately, but we'll get it back.

We'll give it to you after- - Blessing.

- the show.

- Oh.

- You bet.

- No you're not.

- Oh.

(all laughing) - Wait.

- Hey, okay.

Ladies, and give it up for Liv and Bessie Warfield!

(audience cheering and applauding) (air whooshing) (exhales) You know what I can't stop thinking about?

How nobody knew Liv Warfield could sing when she was growing up.

One of the most powerful voices you'll ever hear, and nobody knew.

If I had those pipes, I would sing all of the time.

I wouldn't talk normally.

I'd just sing my sentences, but not Liv.

She kept it to herself.

She protected her hidden talent until one day, senior year, last all-school mass at PND, she decides to finally share her gift, and look what happened.

Look at the legacy she's building.

Now, I'm not saying everybody's got the kind of talent to drop Simon Cowell's jaw live on national TV, but it does make you wonder how many people are out there walking around right now with legitimate talent, and nobody knows, not because it's not there, because they're holding it back, because it's scary to put yourself out there.

It really is.

You gotta be vulnerable, and yeah, there's a chance you'll fall flat on your face, but what if you don't?

What if that thing you've been sitting on actually hits?

What if you're as good as you thought you were?

Here's the thing, though.

(clears throat) Not everyone with real talent is loud about it.

Not everyone's a showboat.

A lot of people are quiet, introverted, like Liv, which is why this part matters.

If you see something in someone, you gotta speak up.

It's remarkable how far a few words of encouragement can actually go, especially for kids or people experiencing self-doubt.

You might be the voice they need to hear, the one that gives them just enough belief to take that first step.

(upbeat music) Sometimes you need someone else to believe in you so you can believe in yourself.

That is my take.

Thanks for tuning in, ladies and gentlemen.

It has most definitely been a vibe.

(audience cheering and applauding) (paper rustling) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (keys clattering) (upbeat music continues)