Fans of the vocal competition show, "The Voice," were excited to see RaeLynn, a country music singer and songwriter featured in the show's second season, at Fort Belvoir's USO Warrior and Family Center Sunday.
RaeLynn performed for more than 150 military and Family members, signed autographs and toured the USO before heading back on the road to perform at Jiffy Lube Live later that evening, as part of the "Locked and Reloaded Tour with Miranda Lambert and Dierks Bentley."
It was her first performance for a military audience.
"I'm so excited to be here," she said. "When I found out about this, without a shadow of a doubt I had to say 'yes' because I just love doing things like this."
RaeLynn said her visit had special significance for her because her brother, William Jacob Holtz, recently became a Green Beret and is about to deploy to Japan. Following her tour of the building, USO officials presented RaeLynn with a USO Challenge Coin in honor of her brother.
"It means the world to me, especially since my brother is now in Special Forces," she said. "I feel really blessed to be able to sing for you all."
During her visit, RaeLynn gave a 20-minute acoustic concert, along with her cousin, Leeland Mooring -- lead singer of the Christian rock band, Leeland. She sang several original songs scheduled to be released on her first album, including "Boyfriend," her hit song on "The Voice."
"It was amazing. It was so good to see all the little kids' faces and to see how excited they were to have someone here to perform," RaeLynn said.
Afterward, she signed autographs and posed for photos with fans during a meet and greet.
Sgt. 1st Class Keisha Cheeks, who works at the Pentagon, brought her Family of five to the performance.
"We watch 'The Voice' all the time and when we found out she was coming, we were really excited," she said.
Events like this one give military Families the unique experience of getting one-on-one time with famous people, said K.J. Stevens, USO troops and Family programs coordinator.
"Morale boosting is a large part of what we try and do here and it's a great way to kind of give back and say 'thank you.' It's really exciting to meet someone like her," Stevens said.
Some guests, like the Brandt Family, knew nothing about the performance beforehand, but just wandered in and enjoyed it.
"We were going to the pool and then we just stopped by here because we hadn't been in here before -- we saw the cars," said Lt. Cmdr. Nelson Brandt, a Coast Guardsman stationed at Air Station Atlantic City, N. J. "We had no idea what was happening -- it was just a stroke of luck."
Brandt said he and his two children were glad they made the stop.
"I'm not much of a country music fan, but I became one today," he said.
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