Caleb, Joshua and Bekah Liechty changed course when their dad was diagnosed with cancer.
For the three siblings, the longtime plan had been to become doctors. Caleb and Joshua began pursuing that path at Goshen College, a private Mennonite liberal arts college in Indiana. By the time the brothers graduated, their younger sister, Bekah, had finished high school and was preparing to go to college.
And then their mom, eager for the family to be together amid a life-altering diagnosis, made a suggestion to her three children: Take a gap year and take on a family project.
So they formed a band.
Drawing on the harmonies they learned singing hymns a cappella at their Mennonite church, the siblings from Ohio self-booked and performed 67 shows across the country. And, somewhat to their surprise, the music wasn’t just healing for them.
“We just found that we were really inspired by it, and others were giving us such encouragement and saying you have something really special,” Joshua Liechty told the Deseret News.
So they kept going.
In 2021, the trio of siblings took their tight three-part harmonies to a stage where millions of people could tune in and hear them. Under the band name Girl Named Tom — Joshua called Bekah “Thomas” when she was a baby — the siblings auditioned for “The Voice” and wowed all four coaches before landing on Kelly Clarkson’s team.
Week after week they avoided elimination and found favor with viewers — but perhaps no one was more excited when the siblings won “The Voice” than their father, who died about a month after their victory.
“As we reflect on his life, we are finding even more purpose in what we do as Girl Named Tom,” the siblings shared in a post on social media at the time, as the Deseret News previously reported. “Even in his last days, our dad made sure to tell us to go on and play the shows we had coming up in Ohio. This tells you just how deeply he loved us and believed in us. That’s something we will carry with us. Everywhere we go, Dad will have a front row seat.”
Now, with a “Voice” victory, a tour with Pentatonix and a Christmas album under their belts, Girl Named Tom is on a “Joy of Christmas” tour that visits Salt Lake Community College’s Grand Theatre Monday night.
‘It’s not like we were bred for this life’
It’s Thursday morning, and the siblings are on the road in Springfield, Missouri, where they’ll perform later that night. They’re squished together so they can all fit on the computer screen for the Zoom call.
Behind them there’s a small window with the blinds drawn, decorated with a string of bright Christmas lights.
Just the night before, the siblings were in Tennessee, where they performed with the Nashville Symphony and a children’s choir. It felt like a hometown show, they said, with their mom and many friends in attendance.
“We’re still in kind of a daze from that, like a happy dream state,” Caleb Liechty said.
The Liechtys grew up going to the symphony and were also in a local children’s choir, but they never envisioned turning their love of music into a career — or that a professional symphony and children’s choir would one day perform their original songs.
Although they always had the support of their parents, music was more of a hobby.
“They were very encouraging and supportive of our gifts and recognized our gifts from a young age,” said Bekah Liechty, who was sandwiched between her brothers on the Zoom call. “But we did not grow up singing as a trio. It’s not like we were bred for this life, you know, the way that family bands come to be.”
Growing up in the Mennonite church did provide a solid training ground for the siblings, though. They learned to read music from their mom, following along as she traced the different melodies and harmonies in the hymnbook. And it’s an influence that continues to this day.
“Sometimes when we’re arranging (music), it feels like, ‘Oh, we’re kind of turning this song into a hymn,’” Josh Liechty said with a laugh.
But it was on “The Voice” that their confidence in pulling off a music career really blossomed.
This month marks three years since Girl Named Tom won Season 21. Joshua Liechty still remembers how comfortable he felt sitting alongside his siblings, performing live to millions of viewers during the Season 21 finale.
At the time, he didn’t know Girl Named Tom would be declared the winner, but he did know the trio had grown throughout the competition. And he believed the three of them had what it took to make it in the music industry.
“That just did so much for my confidence and just my trust in what we have,” he said. “That just made me feel like, ‘Wow, we’ve come so far, and we can do anything.’”
Going on ‘The Voice’
Girl Named Tom wasn’t familiar with all of the rules on “The Voice” when they tried out for the show — including the fact that you can’t sing original music.
Before going on “The Voice,” they had actually released an EP of original songs, and they were eager to share it on a large platform.
“Every week we were like, ‘Can we sing an original? How about this one?’ They’re like, ‘No, you still can’t!’” Caleb Liechty said with a laugh. ”We love the show, we love the opportunity, but they keep you a cover band.”
While competing, the siblings performed classics like Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young’s “Helplessly Hoping”; Kansas’ “Dust in the Wind” and Fleetwood Mac’s “The Chain.”
But a real highlight for Girl Named Tom came a year after their victory, when they were invited back for the Season 22 finale to finally perform an original song.
“To return to the stage as an artist and get to perform our song, under our direction, was super cool,” Caleb Liechty said. “And it made us remember that, ‘Oh yes, we’re artists. We’re not a cover band.’ The way ‘The Voice’ is structured can make people a fan of our covers more than our artistry.”
For their return to “The Voice,” Girl Named Tom performed “One More Christmas,” the title track of their 2022 album.
It meant a lot, Bekah Liechty said, to perform the song, which is a tribute to their father. The performance came just a few days shy of their first Christmas without him.
I’m wishing for one prayer to come true
For one more Christmas with you
One more Christmas with you
I try to carry on, to be strong
How can I when you carried me all along?
The life of every party
You would always bring the tree
It was you who gave us reason to believe
The Liechtys were open about their father’s diagnosis throughout their time on “The Voice.” Being vulnerable on such a large platform, they said, wasn’t at all a challenge but rather something they felt compelled to do.
“It was an intentional decision by all of us,” Caleb Liechty said. “It was just too large of a presence looming in our lives to ignore it — even in front of the country and the cameras. We knew it had to be a part of our story.
“We’re blessed with the fact that we were raised to be vulnerable and to not shy away from tears,” he continued. “Our dad was a big crier. Mom was a bigger crier. We’re used to getting a full range of emotions from our role models, and so we want to be that for others as well.”
Bringing the ‘Joy of Christmas’ to Utah
Now, on their Christmas tour, Girl Named Tom is continuing to be vulnerable.
The current tour is called “Joy of Christmas,” but the siblings know firsthand that the holiday season doesn’t always go hand in hand with happiness.
“One thing we’re stressing this year is that we want people to be able to bring their whole selves to this Christmas celebration,” Caleb Liechty said. “We know that for a lot of people, it’s not all about celebrating. It’s a lot about grieving, dealing with certain emotions, processing and trying to figure out who we are in this big, lonely universe.
“And so with our journey on ‘The Voice’ and still continuing to this day with our Christmas tour and our future albums that we hope to make — and we’re in the process of making — we want to acknowledge all the parts of humanity,” he continued. “Even though we like to just focus on the joys of Christmas, it’s super important to focus on the hard parts, too.”
Girl Named Tom brings that message to Salt Lake City on Monday. The siblings said they feel support and at ease in Utah — in fact, one of the most Googled questions about them is, “Is Girl Named Tom Mormon?” they said with a laugh.
The band does have at least a couple of connections to Utah. Their bass player hails from Park City. And the siblings are fans of Utah’s most famous family band, The Osmonds.
Donny Osmond, Bekah said, was a “childhood crush” and she was the proud owner of a “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” CD.
“We’re super excited to come to Salt Lake City,” she said. “We always have a great time. Our whole crew has a great time when we’re there.”
The “Joy of Christmas” tour wraps later this month. Then, the siblings turn to the new year.
“We have big plans written on the wall,” Bekah Liechty said. “We’ve got it in pencil right now, but we’re hoping to put it in Sharpie.”
‘An uphill battle’
On “The Voice,” Girl Named Tom had a built-in viewership. The trio had a production team and a wardrobe team. They never had to worry about lighting or the setlist.
Now, they wear all of the hats, though they have grown their crew to an eight-person team. Sometimes, they said, they miss the extra help they received on “The Voice.” But they wouldn’t trade it for the world.
“After (‘The Voice’) you kind of are starting at grassroots again — or maybe a thigh-high wheat field or something, and you’re growing from there,” Bekah Liechty said. “It’s been awesome to have autonomy over our entire setlist. We get to form our show, which really matters to us … and it’s been awesome just to see the response of the audience.”
The Liechtys knew going into “The Voice” that being on the show — or even winning, for that matter — didn’t mean everything would perfectly fall into place as they pursued a career in music. It’s still “an uphill battle,” they said.
They’re still signed with Republic Records, a deal they secured by winning “The Voice.” Caleb Liechty described the relationship as sort of an “arranged marriage.”
“Neither party necessarily has any choice in the matter. It is what it is,” he said. “They’re focus is not on us, so it’s our attempt to get their focus onto us, and it’s slowly been happening.”
“We’re both trying to work together to accomplish what hasn’t really been done before, which is to become a household name after winning ‘The Voice,” Bekah Liechty added.
Girl Named Tom has written and recorded a few songs they’re excited to release in the coming year. They have their sights set on lofty goals — including one day winning a Grammy — but they also want to make sure they’re enjoying the present, and not taking what they have for granted.
Because until just a few years ago, they didn’t even know this was a possibility.
For the three siblings, one of the most fun parts of it all has been bringing their individual sets of strengths and talents to the table to make an even stronger trio.
They’d always heard the advice that you should never go into business with your family. So far, it’s been working for them. But if they need to change course, they’ll be willing.
“We want to be family first. We always want business to come second,” Bekah Liechty said. “We don’t want that to ever put pressure or strain in an unhealthy way. So it’s important to us that we keep checking in. … We’ll always be supportive of each other’s needs.”
For now, though, that initial gap year has turned into five.
“And going strong,” Joshua Liechty said.