After 'America's Got Talent' run, singer Aubrey Burchell settles into life after the limelight

Oct. 23—After spending the summer performing under Hollywood's bright lights, Aubrey Burchell quietly finds herself back in the fluorescent glow of the North Huntingdon Target store.

The 2019 Norwin High School graduate who wowed national NBC audiences on "America's Got Talent" and prompted Simon Cowell to crow, "We are just witnessing somebody's career about to skyrocket," is back to spending 40 hours a week as a personal shopper.

For now.

"My goal is to have this be the last Christmas that I spend at Target," she said.

Burchell, 21, of North Huntingdon reached the semifinals of "America's Got Talent" before bowing out. Her July 29 live audition of The Weeknd's "Call Out My Name" has been viewed nearly 4 million times on YouTube.

But in many ways, Burchell is back to being just Aubrey.

Besides resuming her Target shifts, she recently appeared in the role of Rusty in a production of "Footloose" at the Geyer Performing Arts Center in Scottdale — capacity of about 300 — with the Actors and Artists of Fayette County group.

She also is teaching voice lessons through Practice Makes Perfect Music Studio in Greensburg.

"I know this may sound a little silly, but I was just as excited for 'Footloose' as I was for 'AGT,'" she said.

Burchell committed to playing Rusty before making the "America's Got Talent" live rounds. She learned most of the "Footloose" songs and choreography before going to California, and she practiced on her own as her "AGT" schedule allowed.

Burchell tried out for "Footloose" as a way to confront some of her performance anxiety, which she had confessed to the "AGT" judges before singing "Call Out My Name."

"It feels good to have defied my personal fear," she told the Trib after her run on the show ended in September. "Something I think that often slides under the radar is how much mental work goes into putting on a performance, on top of the work you do for your vocals.

"You can sing and sing all you want, but if you aren't in the right head space — at least in my personal experience — that's what tends to make or break a performance."

Burchell will be behind the mic again Nov. 11 at the Corner Tavern in North Huntingdon. It will be a far cry from the 3,000-seat Pasadena Civic Auditorium, where "AGT" broadcasts to millions of TV viewers. But she hinted the show could hold extra significance.

"I feel like we can pack the place, and I hope people will be excited because it might be one of my last local things," she said.

In addition to working on original songs, she has been working with a booking agent and said there might be something big in the works that she can announce soon.

Take five

Not surprisingly, Burchell had to take five after her run to the "AGT" semifinals.

"For a minute there, I was like, I don't think I can leave the couch," she said. "It wasn't a bad thing. I just definitely needed to rest."

As someone who thrives on familiarity and routine, the live television experience was "definitely a very intense situation for me," she said. "It changed my life, and then I came right back, and I wasn't ready to do anything for a while."

It was a short-lived reprieve.

Burchell returned from California on a Thursday and was back in rehearsals on Sunday.

"Jumping into 'Footloose' wasn't stressful," she said. "That's something I enjoy."

She spent hours last month working on a new version of "Call Out My Name" at Cobble­sound Recording Co. near New Kensington that, in collaboration with online independent music distributor CD Baby, was released Oct. 15 on Spotify and other music streaming platforms.

Burchell picked the song because of her prior association with it, though the new recording differs somewhat from the television version, studio owner Klint Macro said.

"We kept it simple, with just a piano and her vocals," he said. "With the piano, we went with kind of an '80s sound because the whole '80s thing is starting to come back.

"Otherwise, it's all her undoctored. We don't use auto­correction with Aubrey, which a lot of singers can't pull off in a short amount of time, but Aubrey can go in and knock it out in a few takes."

Something special

Burchell grew up singing around the house, but there was a point when her parents realized her voice was something special. In grade school, she sang a song called "Las Posadas" for a winter program and received a standing ovation.

"When you're around somebody who's talented, you might take it for granted. You don't get a good perspective until you see other people's opinion," said her father, Russ Burchell of North Huntingdon, who has played guitar in local bands. "At that moment, it really struck us that maybe we need to foster this and push her forward."

By 11, Burchell was singing at local charity events. About three years later, she began singing at the former Keynote Cafe in Jeannette.

When she was 15, she started working with Keith Harker, a Pittsburgh-based vocal coach with a holistic approach to voice work that aims to foster vocal health and longevity, along with confidence and self-esteem.

"She doesn't have a wide library of original music yet, but what is present with her original music is that you can tell she has dynamic head spaces in mind," Harker said.

"She has a good ability to do all of it. She basically can think on an idea for five minutes and then she can do it."

At 16, Burchell auditioned for "American Idol" at a casting call at Bakery Square in Pittsburgh. She went through several audition rounds but didn't make the live shows. However, "AGT" producers took notice of Burchell and invited her to try out.

Between her "AGT" live audition, where she confessed to being nervous before singing "Call Out My Name," and her confident semifinal performance, she said, "What I really realized is that it's not only about singing; it's about drawing it from the right source within yourself."

As she practiced with the show's vocal coaches, she said, the phrase running through her head was, "Remember your 'why.'"

"That's what I thought to myself on that stage before my semifinal performance," she said. "I thought to myself, 'I put in the work; now it's time to sing from my soul.' I sing best if I can sing with emotion. I knew that I was gonna get on that stage and relate to people if I drew from a place of authenticity.

"I think that's the biggest difference — I've become a wiser performer."

Part of being authentic as a performer — and as a person — led her to tell the "AGT" judges that she had been diagnosed early this year with Level 1 autism, which is described as a mild or high-­functioning form of autism.

"I didn't consider it for myself for a long time until I stumbled upon a video of someone who had it," Burchell said. "She (said) that she didn't think (autism) was a possibility for her either because she is hyperverbal, which is what I would be considered."

Looking back, Burchell said, she always had traits that suggested autism, like affinity for or aversion to certain textures and difficulty in socializing or relating to her peers. The latter was more of an issue when she was younger, she said.

"I feel a lot more comfortable being on stage and performing than I would be sitting down and having a conversation with somebody," she said. "I'd say autistic people tend to have obvious and stark differences in strengths and weaknesses. Singing and performing is what I would call my special interest and my strength."

'Zero to 100'

In Harker's opinion, Burchell is an intuitive singer.

"She's had an ability for a long time to adjust to things quickly with an analytical mindset," he said. "She can go from zero to 100 in every variable singing regard. If she wants to change volume, she can do so across the span of a single note. If she wants to switch emotions, she can do so in a justifiable way so every­body can understand what she's doing."

Jill Sorrells, who owned the Keynote Cafe, was in the live audience for the "AGT" semifinal. She was overwhelmed to see how Burchell held her own.

"Her song was killer," Sorrells said. "They call it 'America's Got Talent,' but it's really a world-class competition. The talent this season was so incredible, and the fact that Aubrey was there in the midst of it is astounding."

Having support from Sorrells and people all over Western Pennsylvania has been a motivator for Burchell.

"I say it over and over again: Pittsburgh and the surrounding areas are like no other towns," she said. "They see someone repping Western Pa., and they're always ready to fight for them."

Not only does Burchell have "an amazing voice, she's incredibly grounded," Macro said.

"I've worked with other people who've gotten onto different shows and it either went to their head or destroyed them, and she came out of it stronger than she went in," he said. "She's steadfast and knows what she wants to do, and I think she'll ultimately get there."

Even if getting there doesn't mean another national stage, Burchell said she'll be happy just to keep singing.

"As much as I'm working toward having music be the thing that allows me income and abundance, as long as I'm doing music, I feel that I will be happy," she said. "But I feel like I will make it work no matter what, even if I do continue to have to work somewhere or go to college for something.

"I don't feel like that is failing, as long as I keep music a part of my life."

Shirley McMarlin is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Shirley by email at smcmarlin@triblive.com or via Twitter .