Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Austin Jenckes from The Voice Season 5 has a new single out called “Home for the Summer.”

In January, Rolling Stone named him one of 10 up-and-coming country artists to watch.

He’s celebrated more than 1 million streams on Spotify for a pair of post-Voice singles — “Ride Away” and “Same Beer Different Day.”

He’s received the key to the city in his hometown of Duvall, Wash.

And he’s embarked on his “Home for the Summer Tour,” which will see Austin play in more than 20 towns and cities in the Western U.S. between now and early Sept.

Oh, and about the name of that tour — it comes from Austin’s latest single, “Home for the Summer,” released last week.

“What a song,” proclaims one fan on Facebook. “Takes me right back to living away from Tennessee and coming home once a year.”

Austin was 25 when he auditioned for Season 5 of The Voice back in 2013. He landed a spot on Team Blake and wound up finishing 10th.

He was already something of a music veteran, having released a pair of albums — “Coming of Age” in 2009, and “Austin Jenckes and the First Call” in 2011 — and an EP called “American Story” (2012) before appearing on the show.

Oh, and about Austin’s busy 2018 … he also found time to win an eating contest at Hot Chicken in Nashville.

You can find out more about the upcoming tour dates on his website.

Here’s “Home for the Summer.”