Idol Chatter & Voice Views

His audition: Troy Ramey, 32, of Sea Cliff, N.Y., auditioned with Cat Stevens’ “Wild World.” He got an almost immediate chair turn from Blake Shelton. By the time Troy was midway through the performance, Adam Levine, Alicia Keys and Gwen Stefani were facing him as well. Gwen loved the way Troy made the song sound like one he wrote. And Troy joined Team Gwen.

His background: Troy’s dad was in a cover band, meaning Troy grew up around music. But when he was a senior in high school, his dad was diagnosed with throat cancer. He battled the disease for two years before dying in October 2004. Troy wound up with his guitars and joined a band called In Like Lions. The band stayed together for five years, but Troy then decided to go solo. The song he auditioned with was one of his dad’s favorites.

What the show didn’t show:

* His website bio says Troy attended college on an academic scholarship and wasn’t planning to pursue music post-graduation, even though he grew up in a musical family.

* Music, however, helped him grieve after his father died and he moved to Boston College, where he joined local musicians for jam sessions.

* In Like Lions released a pair of EPs — “At Night” in 2010 and “Through Red and Blue” in 2012. Both are still available on iTunes.

* A successful Pledge Music campaign led to the release of his debut solo EP, the five-track “When the Lights Came,” in November 2015. He releases the music under his first name only.

* “Song Man” from that EP was selected for Spotify’s “Evening Chill” playlist and has racked up more than 950,000 plays. “Rosary” from the same EP has nearly 900,000 plays.

* He’s since released four more singles — “Coward,” “City Lights,” “Daisy” and “Cover Me.” “Cover Me” is the most recent, coming out last August.

* “Coward” was a song Troy wrote for “Restless Waters,” a book by New York Times best-selling author Jessica Park.

* In a conference call with the media, Troy said In Like Lions had an area rock, Kings of Leon type sound. “Since I’ve been on my own I would say my sound’s a little bit more mellow than that. So I kind of put myself in like the indie-rock soul kind of area. I love rock music and I also love sweet soft melodies, and I try to find a home somewhere in between there.”

* As for his decision to join Team Gwen, Troy said it stemmed back to when he was just 13 and his sister bought No Doubt’s “Tragic Kingdom” album. “That was the first alternative rock music I’d ever heard that was modern,” he told Voice Views during the conference call. “I just fell in love with that. I’d steal that CD from her (his sister) all the time. So when I found out that Gwen was going to be a coach on the show, I said to myself that if she turned around, that I would pick her because she was kind of my introduction into modern rock music.”

Keeping up with Troy:
Twitter: @iamtroymusic
Website
Facebook
Instagram
YouTube

“Song Man” (music video)

“Rosary” (music video)