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FLORENCE — A Florence native who goes to school at the College of Charleston joined Adam Levine’s team after earning a four-chair turn on the Season 27 premiere of “The Voice.”

Grace-Miller Moody, a 20-year-old from Florence, sang Maroon 5’s “Sunday Morning” during the blind auditions. Her performance compelled all four judges to turn their chairs less than 30 seconds into the song.

Moody said on the show she chose to sing the song because Maroon 5 is special to her family.

Her brother, Shott Moody, was diagnosed with leukemia at age 7 and went through chemotherapy for four years. Moody said that took a toll on her family.

Once Shott’s health improved, the family went to a Maroon 5 concert in Las Vegas.

"It brought us back together after Shott was hospitalized, so it would be a beautiful full-circle moment to see Adam Levine turn his chair," Moody said on the show.

Levine was the last judge to turn his chair. Michael Bublé turned around first, followed by John Legend and Kelsea Ballerini.

Levine, who returned to the show after a five-year hiatus, doesn’t usually pick singers who perform Maroon 5 songs, Ballerini said on the show.

“Adam notoriously does not turn for his own songs, so you have broken the code,” Ballerini said after Moody’s audition.

Because all four judges turned their chairs for Moody, each celebrity singer tried to convince her to join their team. The Maroon 5 fan went with Team Adam.

“There was just something about you, what you were doing, that was so infectious and so lovable and soulful, you can absolutely go all the way and win this thing,” Levine said.

Moody said she wouldn’t be on "The Voice" if it weren’t for the support of her family, who joined her at the audition.

“It was a long battle but I'm here now and I’m thankful to be seeing her sing today,” Shott Moody said on the show.

Another South Carolinian was on Season 26 of "The Voice." A 61-year-old flight attendant from Little River, Gail Bliss joined Snoop Dogg's team and was eliminated in the battle rounds.

Bliss and her fellow Team Snoop singers are reuniting for a night of country music in North Myrtle Beach on Feb. 8.

Season 27 of “The Voice” will air on Mondays and Tuesdays at 8 p.m. on NBC. Episodes are also available to stream on Peacock the next day.

The next champion of NBC’s “The Voice” could come from South Carolina.

Two South Carolina natives made it through the show's blind auditions and will advance to the battle rounds, which kick off this month.

Grace-Miller Moody, a Florence native who attends the College of Charleston, joined Adam Levine’s team after earning a four-chair turn with her rendition of “Sunday Morning” by Maroon 5 on the season premiere.

Page Mackenzie is a Charleston native who lives in Nashville. A country singer, she joined Kelsea Ballerini’s team after performing “Hell on Heels” by Pistol Annies on episode three of season 27.

The two singers are heading into battle rounds, where they could face elimination.

The Palmetto State natives told The Post and Courier they’ve worked hard to make it to this point and are grateful for the opportunity to be on the show.

Here’s what Moody and Mackenzie had to say about pursuing music, growing up in South Carolina and representing their hometowns on a national scale.

Grace-Miller Moody

Moody blew all four judges away on night one of this season’s blind auditions.

Levine was the last judge to turn his chair. Michael Bublé turned around first, followed by John Legend and Ballerini.

In the episode, she explained that her brother, Shott Moody, was diagnosed with leukemia at 7 years old and went through chemotherapy for four years. It took a toll on her family.

Once Shott’s health improved, the family went to a Maroon 5 concert in Las Vegas, Moody said on the show. The experience helped bring her family back together.

After singing a Maroon 5 song for her audition, she was excited to see Adam Levine turn his chair — a rare occurrence, since Levine tends to not choose singers who perform his own songs, Ballerini said on the show.

“Working with Adam Levine has been amazing,” Moody said in an interview with The Post and Courier. “I feel like I've become so much more confident in the artist that I’m becoming and hopefully get to be.”

Moody was born and raised in Florence, attending All Saints Episcopal Day School and Trinity Collegiate School. She’s now a junior at College of Charleston majoring in psychology.

She’s been singing for as long as she can remember and said she grew up with her family telling her she had a good voice.

“It really didn't go anywhere because I was just like, ‘Oh, that's just my parents telling me that,’” Moody said.

She’s always been a singer but got into songwriting after developing a love for writing in high school.

When she went to college, she found more opportunities to grow as a singer and songwriter. She started gigging at local bars in Charleston, inspired by a family friend from Florence who needed someone to help out with gigs.

Her dad was the one who encouraged her to send in a tape for “The Voice,” but Moody doubted anything would come of it.

“It felt like almost a puzzle piece for me, because I was so lost in college and didn't really know exactly what I wanted to do,” Moody said. “Then this all just started happening, and it felt like a whirlwind of things, and it's been amazing.”

She recently played a show at Uptown Social in Charleston and joined the lineup for Carolina Country Music Fest in Myrtle Beach.

As a performer, Moody is inspired by artists and bands like Fleetwood Mac, Adele and Amy Winehouse.

For her, it means a lot to represent Florence — a city that’s smaller than Charleston but one she loves nonetheless. When Moody comes home to Florence, she loves to visit her favorite spots, like F.E. Pops, Sundae House and King Jefe.

“I feel like it's so cool and exciting, because I love those stories of people coming up and being from smaller towns,” Moody said. “I think it's just really cool and neat that I get to show my talent in a bigger area.”

She’s felt grateful watching the outpouring of support from people in Florence and Charleston.

“Having that community from Florence is so nice,” Moody said. “Being surrounded by people in Florence, you always have those connections, and people are just super supportive.”

Winning “The Voice” would open up the door for endless opportunities, Moody said, but she’s happy to even be on the show at all. She plans to finish her degree but would love the chance to pursue singing as a career.

“I'm just so grateful that I get to go through the process, and if it means winning, and if it doesn't, I think they both bring opportunities within themselves, and that just makes it so exciting,” Moody said. “It makes me just super excited for what the future holds.”

Page Mackenzie

Mackenzie’s performance of “Hell on Heels” had all four judges tuned in. When she belted out one of the last notes in the song, Kelsea Ballerini and Michael Bublé quickly turned their chairs around and tried to convince her to join their respective team.

Ballerini ultimately won Mackenzie over, telling her she knows what it’s like to be a woman in country music.

“I know the challenges that comes with, and I want to be a safe place for you, and I want to be a friend and I feel like that's what we need in this industry,” Ballerini said on the show.

The 32-year-old has been sending in audition tapes for “The Voice” for years, she said. She almost didn’t send one this year, but figured she might as well. She ended up making it all the way to the show.

“It was very much a moment of just, if you really want it, just keep pushing cause it’ll happen,” Mackenzie said in an interview with The Post and Courier.

Her first appearance on the show coincides with Ballerini’s debut as a coach.

“There is a reason that the universe waited to put me on this season because there is no better coach I could have had than Kelsea,” Mackenzie said.

Mackenzie was born and raised in Charleston and attended the College of Charleston, where she studied music business. She packed up and moved to Nashville to pursue country music after college.

In Nashville, she plays at Ole Red, Blake Shelton’s bar on Broadway, and is a party bike driver on the side.

She’s a member of the trio July Moon, which released a self-titled debut EP in 2023.

Mackenzie has been obsessed with singing since she was a kid. Her mom would take her to sing karaoke and from there, she got involved with musical theatre at Wando High School.

“My mom always used to say I had a very loud voice,” Mackenzie said.

She’s always been especially obsessed with country music for its raw and authentic storytelling. She loves artists like Miranda Lambert, Trousdale and, of course, Pistol Annies.

“I knew that I wanted to tell my story and share my experiences in hopes that somebody related to it,” Mackenzie said. “I just wanted to be that for somebody, whether it was one person or thousands of people. But I knew I wanted to be that for somebody else.”

Mackenzie loves Charleston. She said it’s been amazing to see people who have known her since day one be proud of how far she’s come.

“It's the most beautiful place in the whole world,” Mackenzie said. “Who wouldn't want to represent Charleston?"

As she’s grown as a musician, she’s loved getting to have full-circle moments in her favorite South Carolina places, like The Windjammer on Isle of Palms.

“I would go there as a baby in a diaper, and then I ended up being able to play there when I got older,” Mackenzie said.

Winning “The Voice” would be an opportunity to inspire others not to give up on their dreams, even when it gets exhausting, Mackenzie said.

“I think winning 'The Voice' would be just a reminder, I hope, for anyone (who) watches that it doesn't matter how old you are, what you look like, how long you've been doing it, what you weigh, anything like that,” Mackenzie said. “I would hope for other people to realize that you can do this at any point and time in your life and chase the dream however long and however much you want.”

Season 27 of “The Voice” airs on Mondays at 8 p.m. on NBC. Episodes are also available to stream on Peacock the next day.

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FLORENCE — After months of deliberation, Florence is banning residents from owning and keeping "wild animals and venomous snakes" within city limits.

Florence City Council unanimously passed an ordinance March 10 that bans a wide range of wild animals, including venomous snakes, bears, bats and porcupines.

The ordinance comes nearly six months after Florence’s Jeffrey Leibowitz, a snake enthusiast, was bitten by an inland taipan — the world’s most venomous snake.

Law enforcement discovered 13 more venomous reptiles in Leibowitz’s apartment when he was rushed to the hospital.

South Carolina has seen a string of other animal incidents in recent months. Forty-three monkeys escaped from a Yemassee breeding facility in November, and two emus in Horry County went missing for months.

The city proposed the ordinance in November, but it initially drew some criticism from animal owners. It was deferred until March.

Now, residents can’t own wild animals within city limits, but the city made a few adjustments to the original ordinance.

“I think that it is proper that we do what we need to do to make our community safe,” Mayor Lethonia “Peaches” Barnes said at the meeting.

Two Florence County residents spoke at the City Council’s December meeting, saying that while they don’t live in the city, the ordinance could still make it difficult to transport animals through the city.

One added provision in the ordinance allows for wild animals to be within city limits for veterinary visits or rehabilitation facilities.

“That's not an issue, nor will they receive a ticket or anything of that nature,” Assistant City Manager Clint Moore said.

The city worked with biology professors at Francis Marion University to iron out the species listed in the ordinance, Moore said at the meeting.

The original ordinance outlawed ownership of all primates, but the city updated the ordinance to allow for primates that weigh up to 15 pounds.

The approval of the ordinance comes on the heels of a similar bill that was introduced in the South Carolina legislature in March.

The state law would outlaw ownership of venomous reptiles without a permit. The bill is in the House Committee on Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Environmental Affairs and has not been passed.

Based on what happens with the bill in the house, the city may have to amend the ordinance to comply with state law, Moore said.

Council member Bryan Braddock said the city could wait to see what happens with the bill before proceeding with the ordinance, but all council members ended up voting in favor of the ordinance, which went into effect immediately.

"We do understand that whatever happens at the state will always supersede what we do, and we understand that, but we are here because there were venomous snakes in a close area which made our community unsafe," Barnes said.

The city did not grandfather in city residents who already owned wild animals, as opponents previously requested.

South Carolina has loose exotic pet laws, and communities across the state are figuring out how to handle the animals.

Most recently, Conway is considering changing their laws to allow ownership of small monkeys. As of right now, Conway does not allow pet monkeys of any size within city limits.

Here is the list of banned animals included in the ordinance:

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FLORENCE — Local leaders are looking at the Pee Dee’s electric vehicle battery plant expansion hold as an opportunity to catch up.

Japan-based Envision Automotive Energy Supply Co. paused an expansion of its plant less than a year after announcing a second campus that would have been a $1.5 billion investment and would have added an additional 1,080 jobs in Florence County.

The S.C. Fiscal Accountability Authority on Feb. 4 pulled $111 million in bonds it had set aside for Facility 2, or phase three, of the plant.

The company is moving forward with phases one and two of the project, which include a $1.6 billion battery factory that will employ 1,620 people at full capacity. The facility is located at the Florence business park.

With more than 1,000 jobs all but slashed with the halt of phase three, local leaders say the pause will give the city and county time to catch up on the growth Florence is already experiencing.

“We are experiencing, already, growth problems. This gives us an opportunity to catch up,” Florence Mayor Lethonia “Peaches” Barnes said.

While AESC will provide 1,080 fewer jobs than it announced nearly a year ago, Florence County Economic Development Partnership CEO Gregg Robinson said the manufacturer had not yet committed to phase three. None of the money from the state was spent on the second facility.

“We got commitments from the state, and then the company decided not to utilize those commitments,” Robinson said.

Florence Mayor Lethonia “Peaches” Barnes said the pause is just that — a pause. She said there are already plenty of jobs to fill with just phases one and two of the project.

The pause gives the city time to build more homes and address needs with roads and other infrastructure, Barnes said.

The city and county have approved subdivision after subdivision to accommodate the area’s projected growth. The county approved a sketch plan for nearly 1,000 homes in East Florence in December and in January, approved another sketch plan for nearly 200 homes in Quinby, just a four-minute drive from the new battery plant.

The pause doesn’t impact any of the city’s investments, City Manager Scotty Davis said, because all of the funding it put forth was associated with phase one.

County Council Chairman William Schofield said the pause on more than 1,000 Florence County jobs doesn’t change the way he’s looking at the growth of the county. He sees both AESC’s investment in phases one and two and investments from companies like Cheney Brothers as indicators of growth.

He and County Administrator Kevin Yokim said the pause also doesn’t change any of the county’s plans. Rather, it gives the county more time to prepare for the facility and the potential return of AESC’s phase three.

The hold gives the county the ability to plan for new roads and water and sewer upgrades that will come with the arrival of AESC, Robinson said.

“It allows us to be a little more proactive with the infrastructure. When you grow very fast, it's hard to keep up sometimes,” Schofield said.

AESC had not begun hiring for Facility 2, AESC Chief Communications Officer Raj Shah said.

“Should the project be restarted, AESC would have to refine a new construction, hiring, training and production schedule in consultation with local officials and our customers,” he said in an email to The Post and Courier.

Facility 1 is still on schedule to begin production next year, Shah said.

South Carolina has spent billions on bringing the electric vehicle industry to the state. While Gov. Henry McMaster has made the electric vehicle battery industry a part of his economic development plan, President Donald Trump has started to do away with incentives for clean energy in South Carolina.

Robinson said the market will dictate sales and production and they could eventually return to phase three.

“(AESC) would rather wait and be 100 percent committed than go into a third phase when they haven't even finished phase one and two,” Robinson said. “And I commend them for that.”