Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Sam Sparks of American Idol Season 23

Idol kicked off March 9 with Carrie Underwood joining Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie at the judges’ table.

Auditions will continue to air each Sunday on ABC until Hollywood Week begins.

Here’s more about Sam:

* He’s a 25-year-old from the small town of Dardenelle, Ark., population 4,700.

* And he impressed the judges with an original called “Colorado Gray,” accompanying himself on guitar in his wheelchair.

* That’s because Sam was paralyzed from the waist down in an auto accident about two years ago.

* Sam told the judges he was driving on a wet road when his car went airborne, striking a parked vehicle head on. “I immediately knew my back was broken,” he said.

* Sam had caught the music bug at 21, so he was given a guitar in the hospital and says he would play it at night in the parking garage so he wouldn’t bother anyone. That’s when he began writing his own music.

* Sam told the Fort Smith Southwest Times Record, a local newspaper, that he calls his sound “y’all ternative,” because it’s a blend of country and rock, leaning more toward a rock sound.

* His musical influences include Tyler Childers, Alan Jackson, Johnny Cash, Nirvana and Post Malone.

* While Sam doesn’t appear to have release music, “Colorado Gray” isn’t his only originals. He’s posted others to his social media, including a couple from before his accident. Check out an acoustic version of his audition song below.

* Music “absolutely got me through what I was going through,” Sam told the Idol judges. ” I guess the two things I’ve always loved are going fast and being loud. I still get to do those things today. I just do it a little different.”

* Oh, and American Idol has leaked his audition. Sam gets a unanimous yes to advance to Hollywood Week.

Sam on social media:
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