Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Her audition: Sarah Potenza, 34, of Nashville, Tenn., was the first contestant we met in Season 8 and auditioned with the classic rock hit, “Stay With Me.” She displayed a bit or rasp in her big voice and earned early chair turns from Adam Levine and Pharrell Williams. By the time she finished singing, Christina Aguilera and Blake Shelton were facing in her direction as well, giving her a four-chair turn. After lots of praise from all four coaches, Sarah opted to join Team Blake.

Her background: She told The Voice she arrived ready to sing some rock and roll. She comes from an Italian-American family and says her parents would throw big dinners. Afterward, she and her siblings would perform. “Music was a big part of it,” she said. In 2006, she started a country blues band; her husband, Ian Crossman, played guitar. They have since moved to and perform in Nashville. To make ends meet, she also works as a waitress in the same restaurant where he’s a cook. She liked the idea of a blind audition because she considers herself “such an ordinary person” just looking for “a turning point” in her music career.

What the show didn’t show: In her Voice video, Sarah says she fell in love with music the first time she heard Joe Cocker sing. “I didn’t understand what the lyrics meant, I just knew I liked the way it sounded and I wanted to make that sound.” She certainly got her chance with that country blues band, Sarah and the Tall Boys. They released a trio of albums between 2008 and 2011, with the latest being “Live in Chicago.” Since moving to Nashville, she and her husband have been working on a fourth album, the first that will be released under the name Sarah Potenza. Two songs are already available from Sarah’s website. According to her bio on that site, she has performed and toured with the likes of Todd Snider, Elizabeth Cook, Jim Lauderdale, Kevin Gordon and Derek Hoke and landed a featured performance at the world-renowned Bluebird Cafe.

On picking Blake: “I choose Blake because I love country music, even though I perform rock and roll, I feel like people who perform country music have a really strong connection to lyrics. Country songs have great stories in them, and I thought Blake can give me some really great song choices that are lyric oriented.”

On iTunes: Her audition song plus three albums as Sarah and the Tall Boys — “Live in Chicago” (2011), “A Lifetime of Sin” (2010) and “Shiny and New” (2008).

Update: In the battle round, she was matched with Hannah Kirby. They turned in one of the best performances of the battles, singing “Gimme Shelter.” Blake declared Sarah the winner, but both Adam and Pharrell tried to steal Hannah. She decided to join Team Pharrell. In the knockout round, she was pitted against Brian Johnson. Sarah sang “Wasted Love,” the first single by Season 7 Voice runner-up Matt McAndrew. Blake declared Sarah the winner, but Brian advanced as well when he was stolen by Adam Levine.

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Twitter: @sarahpotenza

Granddad (one of two new songs available on website)

Atlantic City (Bruce Springsteen cover)

My Last Two Dollars (original)