Like most 14-year-old kids, Old Lyme’s Braiden Sunshine was focused on getting his first car. He was grateful and even a bit surprised, then, when his mother, Elizabeth Sunshine, suggested they take a day off from school to go to a car show in New Jersey.

But it was a bait and switch operation. There wasn’t any car show.

Instead, Mom had taken Braiden to a cattle call audition for Season Eight of “The Voice,” the hugely popular NBC network singing competition.

Since he was 9 years old, Braiden has been singing professionally with popular area bands Stone Creek, Silver Hammer and Madison Red, as well as in various school music groups and presentations. He’s appeared on The Day’s “Live Lunch Break” concert series and performed in a variety of local restaurants and fairs and at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center. But he’d always spurned any suggestions to audition solo for shows like “The Voice.”

“Truthfully, I just thought I probably wouldn’t make the cut,” says Braiden, now 15. No, he wasn’t selected at that Jersey audition — but “The Voice” folks were so supportive and encouraging he decided to try again a year later. Now, speaking on the phone from the family’s Old Lyme home, Braiden is just back from quality time in Los Angeles, filming — yes — his episodes for Season Nine of “The Voice.”

This time, Braiden made it through the open calls and on to the nationally televised “Blind Audition” segment where the show’s four celebrity judges — Pharrell Williams, Gwen Stefani, Blake Shelton and Adam Levine — each select eight competitors for their team. Facing away from the wannabe artists, the judges listen to the audition and, if interested, hit a button indicating they want that particular contestant for their squad. Then, over the course of the season, the judges nurture and coach their artists through elimination rounds with the help of weekly outside celebrity entertainers.

As the world saw during the Sept. 21 episode, when Braiden performed a version of Blues Traveler’s “The Mountains Win Again,” his work resonated with both Williams and Stefani — meaning he in turn had to choose which of the two famous musicians he wanted to work with.

Frankly, Braiden was so overwhelmed by the simple fact that he was on the show at all, he’d hadn’t given much thought to what would happen if a judge actually selected him.

“I was freaking out like you wouldn’t believe,” he says. “I thought, ‘This is a show that’s had 15 million viewers before — and that number to me is something I just can’t comprehend. There are only a few hundred in the studio audience, but I was just thinking of these cameras shooting the show out to millions of people. It’s crazy to think that many people are going to see you.”

That both Stefani and Williams chose him almost didn’t register. As part of the program’s routine, folks who aren’t chosen get to say a few words of farewell, and that’s what Braiden was concentrating on.

“I was trying to figure out what to say, that it had been a great experience. In my mind, I thought, ‘Well, I’ll go home and ride some dirt bikes and write some songs and I’ll go back and play the Bulkeley House and Hot Rods and Captain’s Pizza — those places have been so supportive — and I’ll get better and try again next year.’ And then ... that they both chose me was just unbelievable and flattering.”

After hearing each coach’s pitch, Braiden chose Stefani, which he says was something not even he expected to do. His initial inclination was to select Williams.

“If I’m perfectly honest, I didn’t know much about Gwen,” he says. “But I’d seen a few of her videos and I loved the way she moved. Pharrell is excellent, but he doesn’t move around as much. My stage performance is just really not good and Gwen is a tremendous performer, and I thought I could learn so much from her about being an entertainer as well as a singer.”

It also hit home with Braiden that, in her pitch, Stefani talked about family. Braiden’s older sister, Sierra Sunshine, and close friends (and siblings) Aidan, Duncan and Ian Maxwell, are his band mates in Silver Hammer and Madison Red. As such, he’s always been appreciative of the family component.

“Gwen mentions family all the time,” Braiden says. “Plus, she’s so genuinely and extremely nice and completely down to earth. It’s been easy to feel very comfortable.”

“The truth is, Braiden’s always been ‘the little one,’” says Elizabeth Sunshine, who has been active in and supportive of her children’s musical activities and ambitions. “Perhaps somewhat over-shadowed by the elder, more experienced band mates, Braiden never thought he had particular talent. But I told him over and over again that he has a special quality to his voice. It has something that elicits the involuntary goose bumps when you hear it.”

Both Braiden and Elizabeth are quick to describe the overall positive construct and attitude of the whole “Voice” team as making the idea of entering a competition — in the oft-brutal music industry — something they were comfortable with.

Braiden says, “When I didn’t make it in Season Eight, (‘The Voice’ people) said, ‘We’ll keep in touch.’ Even at my age, in this business, I’ve learned that, when people say that, they usually don’t. But they actually did. They were encouraging. It meant a lot, particularly when it came time to trying again.”

Elizabeth says she’d done research on “The Voice” before surprising Braiden with the original “fake car trip” audition.

“‘The Voice’ isn’t like other reality show competitions in that they don’t create drama and negativity and then film it. What I’d heard — and what I’ve come to know through his experience with the show — is that there is an atmosphere of kindness, encouragement and supportiveness from the show’s producers, staff and contestants. There’s a ‘we’re all in this together’ vibe, and if the show was any different, we would never have gotten in the car that day.”

For the Sept. 21 airing, Braiden watched with about 75 friends and family members at the Lymes’ Youth Services Bureau.

The next steps in the competition are the “Battles” episodes, where the coaches, with the help of guest celebrities — Team Gwen has the services of Selena Gomez — pit two of their own members against one another in a dueling duet. Each coach must choose the stronger performer, with options to steal losing artists from another coach.

The “Battles” tapings are done but, contractually, Braiden can’t divulge what happened. His duet will air either at 8 p.m. Monday or 9 p.m. Tuesday. Even he doesn’t know which day.

Maintaining secrecy, he says, hasn’t been easy.

“There have been so many food bribes,” he says. “‘I’ll get you a pizza. A large pizza. TWO pizzas!’ And I just have to say, ‘NOOOO!’”

One thing Braiden has indulged in? He bought a car. “You know, I figured I’d just get an old Camry or something, the sort of car kids my age get. I’ve been saving money for a long time. Then ‘The Voice’ happened and I thought, ‘Wow.’ So I went out and got my forever car, a cherry red 1959 Plymouth Belvedere. It just seemed like it was meant to be.”