Watch the Country Singer With the Chris Stapleton Growl Who Gets a Four-Chair Turn on 'The Voice'
The new season of The Voice continued its Blind Auditions on Monday night with coaches Reba McEntire, Gwen Stefani, Snoop Dogg and Michael Bublé battling to fill up their teams with the best singers possible.
Enter 26-year-old Tanner Frick, a country singer originally from Brandon, Miss., who currently lives in Manchester, Tenn., who sang his way to a four-chair turn
Tanner chose Morgan Wallen’s “Thought You Should Know” for his Blind Audition because Morgan began his career on The Voice in 2014 but was eliminated in the Playoffs as a member of Adam Levine’s team.
“I picked this song because it’s very inspiring that he started here and now look at him,” Tanner says. “He’s one of the biggest country artists in the world. If he can do it, anybody can do it.”
When Tanner hit the final notes of “Thought You Should Know,” Snoop made it clear that he wanted extra consideration because he had turned first. “While you all had your backs still turned, I was into this,” he told his fellow coaches.
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Gwen decided to pitch first: “I was about to say, from the beginning, you had such a calm, pretty way of explaining the story of the song. Where everybody got won over is when you sang with your full voice, your uniqueness came through. Even though I knew Reba was sitting right here, and I knew there was no chance in the world…”
Michael interrupted her, “Are you saying that he wouldn’t pick you because of Reba? You, the quintessential, greatest singer of pop in the world?”
Then Michael turned his attention to Tanner, saying, “But I’m friends with Blake Shelton and when it comes to country music, we know that means that I know what I’m talking about. I love country music. I love old country music. If you look at my phone right now, I will even give you my phone number. We can talk about it. You represent so many parts of the greatest gift that America may have ever given to the arts, so I want to be part of that.”
Then Snoop tried to warm Tanner up by saying, “Before you join my team, tell me a little something about yourself.”
Tanner explained, “I usually play in small town restaurants and bars and horse barns.”
Snoop said, “That’s great. I like that. Welcome to the hood. You’re playing like hood shows.”
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Then Michael jumped in, asking, “Who are you listening to?”
Tanner replied, “I like Hank Jr., Waylon Jennings, Reba, of course, the queen.”
That gave Reba the opening she had been waiting for to woo Tanner to her team.
“I thought you sang really, really well,” Queen Reba said. “I love that song. When you did that Chris Stapleton growl, that just added so much dimension to your voice.”
That was all Reba said, but Gwen wanted to continue to argue. She pleaded with Tanner, saying, “I’m desperate for you. I can call my husband…”
Michael interrupted again, saying, “I forgot Blake was your husband. That completely trumps my whole friend thing. I love Blake, too. I wonder who wrote his first No. 1 hit ‘Home’?” [For those who don't know: Michael is one of three writers credited on that song.]
Of course, it was no contest. Tanner chose to join Team Reba.
“I finally got somebody,” said Reba, who hadn't won an artist before Tanner that night. “To win a four-chair, that’s great. Tanner had a great style, the gravel in his voice, it’s sexy, it’s country. The other coaches can try but I’m country and Tanner’s country, so that just makes sense.”
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Tanner is a fulltime maintenance foreman, a dangerous job with exposure to a lot of high voltage electricity.
“It’s a crazy environment. I’ve been electrocuted quite a bit,” he revealed, which is one reason why he’s hoping to be able to make the transition to singing.
“My parents split up when I was too young to remember,” he filled us in on his backstory. “My mom was dealing with personal issues, so my daddy raised me. He always instilled in me a good work ethic. He has supported me through all my trials and tribulations through life but my music career, he really wasn’t supportive of it. He wanted me to go make money and go to work. Recently, though, his mindset has changed since. I’ve been able to get out and do more because with a day shift job, I have time to play at night. My dad is my best friend. He's just one of a kind.”
And Tanner’s dad was backstage at The Voice to support his son, and teared up when he was talking about how proud he is of his son.
The Voice airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on NBC and streams next day on Peacock.
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