Atoka native turns chairs on 'The Voice'

ATOKA, Okla. (KTEN) — You may know her name. If you don't, you likely will after her Monday night network debut on NBC's "The Voice." 

"We knew from a very early age that there was something different about her," said Jeff Self, the father of Atoka native Jordan Rainer.

She took to music quickly and followed a different path to success.

"She never took music lessons; never took singing lessons," said mom Robin Self. "I tried to get her to learn the piano, and we got through maybe one or two lessons, but she was through with that; she wanted to do it her way. She's self-taught... plays many instruments. It's just in her; music is just in her."

Rainer's professional career started at a donut shop in Atoka, but as she poured coffee, her sights were set much higher.

"She had a little coffee jar, and they wrote 'Nashville or bust' on there, and every extra nickel they had, she put in that jar until they could move," Jeff Self recalled. "She did her first guitar the same way. We got her one for Christmas when she was little, and when she decided she wanted a nicer guitar that was quite expensive, every birthday penny... she got every single dime went in her jar."

As Jordan Rainer took the NBC stage in Los Angeles, her parents were there, as always, when all four judges' chairs turned for their little girl.

A "The Voice" watch party was planned at Reba's Place in downtown Atoka on Monday evening. The program is broadcast Monday and Tuesday nights at 7 o'clock on NBC and KTEN.