Idol Chatter & Voice Views

His audition: Patrick McAloon, 40, of Barrington, R.I., auditioned with “Runaway Train” by Soul Asylum. His stage presence and performance made it clear he was a veteran performer. And midway through the song, he got chair turns from Adam Levine, Blake Shelton and John Legend, all of whom praised his performance. Patrick joined Team Adam.

About Patrick:

* His audition marked a Voice first because his oldest daughter, 16-year-old Ruby — she’s performed as Ruby Mac — also auditioned for the show. Unfortunately, none of the coaches turned for her performance of “Back to You.”

* Patrick said producers reached out to see if he and Ruby would be willing to audition after spotting social media posts of them singing solo and together. Patrick often performs as Ruby’s sideman at her shows.

* Patrick told Voice Views Ruby was hardly discouraged by her Voice experience. “She’s come out of this more inspired than ever,” he said. “She’s writing a ton of music & working hard to continue to develop her voice. So, nope, not discouraged one bit. It’s really cool to see how much clarity she has as to understanding that this is one (amazing) moment & opportunity. One step on the path of this lifelong adventure.”

* As for Patrick, he’s been singing most of his life. He started playing local coffee shops by age 15 and was performing four nights a week by the time he was a senior in high school.

* For the past 10 years, Patrick has been a sideman performing, recording and touring with the Pat Magee Band. He says he occasionally gets to “double dip” on tour with the band, opening a show as a solo artist, then joining the band for the headlining performance.

* And, yep, he’s released his own original music, an album called “Angels and Ferris Wheels” back in 2002 and a five-song self-titled EP from 2015. Apple Music calls it country, but it’s much more singer-songwriter in style. “Oh Me” and “Cold or Bold” from that EP are particularly impressive.

* Patrick has also performed and contributed his song-writing skills on the last two albums by the Pat McGee Band and says he’s always writing and anticipates more releases of his own music.

* For all the performing he’s done, Patrick said The Voice blind audition marked the first time he sang “Runaway Train” on stage, “though I did wear that Soul Asylum record out in high school.”

* As for the feedback to his blind audition, Patrick said: “I’m still smiling about that moment to this day. Any artist is always striving to better their craft, and to have four successful, talented artists of the caliber of Adam, John, Kelly, & Blake recognize 25 years (what?!?!) of hard work and, to coin John’s statement to Ruby, “seasoning” is an accomplishment of its own, never mind that 3 of the 4 of them wanted to WORK with me!”

* Patrick said he opted to John Team Adam because “vocally, we ‘live’ in a similar range and that that would be beneficial to choosing and performing tunes that were in my wheelhouse. Not to mention that Maroon 5 used to tour with Pat McGee Band (before my time in the band), so I’m looking forward to connecting the third side of that life-triangle right there.”

On social media:
Instagram
Website
Twitter
Facebook
YouTube