Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Her audition: Krista Hughes, 22, of Coal City, W.Va., auditioned with John Prine’s “Angel from Montgomery.” Adam Levine turned around almost immediately. Blake Shelton, Gwen Stefani and Pharrell Williams followed before Krista even reached the chorus. Adam called her performance flawless, but Krista opted to join Team Blake.

Her background: Krista says she comes from a town so small it doesn’t even have a traffic light. “I think we have two stop signs,” she says. She never imagined visiting Los Angeles, Krista adds, let alone for something like The Voice. Krista was raised by her grandparents because her real parents were so young; her mom was 14 when Krista was born. Krista credits her grandfather for sparking her interest in music, recalling when he bought her a small little guitar from a pawn shop when she was just 4. She got serious about music at age 15, performs small shows and teaches guitar lessons. Her granddad predicted the four-chair turn saying: “If they don’t (turn), they can’t hear.”

What the show didn’t show: According to her bio on The Voice website, Krista spent three years trying to make it in music after graduating from Independence High School in 2011. She even performed in Nashville on a number of occasions, but found it difficult to “break out.” Now study biology in college, she’s clearly hoping The Voice provides a boost to her music career.

She’s competed in the Colgate Country Showdown in the past and won the state competition in 2013. She describes her sound as more traditional country and her bio on ReverbNation — where you can find a handful of her originals — says she’s been compared to the likes of Loretta Lynn, Tammy Wynette and Tanya Tucker.

And she’s written lots of her own music, telling her hometown newspaper that while everyone else was preparing for college, she was focusing on music during her senior year of high school, “trying to write as many songs as possible.”

In a conference call with the media, she described having all four coaches turn for her as “absolutely surreal.” As for how she picked Blake as her coach — “You know, it’s just a really hard decision. And at that moment, you just really have to trust your gut,” she said. “And my heart and my gut was telling me, ‘Hey, you’re country and you should probably go with Blake. You know, he knows country music, so who better for you as a country artist?'”

On iTunes: Just her performances from The Voice.

Update:
Battle round: Lost to Chris Crump, singing “When I Get Where I’m Going.” The song hit #140 on the iTunes’s singles chart, the sixth best of the battle round.

Keeping up with Krista:
Facebook
YouTube
Twitter: @_KristaHughes

Hazard (original)

When You’re Drinkin’ Whiskey (original)

Girl Crush (cover)

Blind audition — “Angel from Montgomery”