Austin Allsup performs “Tennessee Whiskey” on The Voice. (NBC Photo)
The veteran singer-songwriter, 32 when he auditioned for Season 11, said he was looking forward to getting back to the life of an original artist.
And why not?
Three hours after a conference call with the media to talk about his experience on The Voice, Austin was boarding a plane bound for London, England, where he was performing with Season 7 Voice standout Luke Wade and other artists he’s known for years as part of a series of shows abroad called Texas Music Takeover.
“This show was kind of just a good break from my reality and to let people know who I am,” Austin told Voice Views. “I didn’t do this for me. I did it for my wife and kids. And to be honest, I’m really glad it’s over and that I’m back to normal.
“I’m not a big fan of not being in control of what’s going on in my life. I’m not a real big fan of singing cover songs because I’m an original artist. And I’m not a big fan of being told how to sing them either.”
Still, he said The Voice gave him time to focus on himself and his music. Overall, he called it an “awesome experience” and said he appreciated the fact that those who work with the show “are always just trying to build you up.”
Most of his song choices were his own, Austin said, including his brilliant Top 11 night performance of Bob Seger’s “Turn the Page.”
The lone exception: The Top 10 night performance of John Waite’s “Missing You” that led to his elimination. Austin said he had never performed that song before and it was out of his comfort zone. Complicating matters, he was quite ill Monday and Tuesday with an upper respiratory infection.
Austin Allsup receives feedback from the coaches en route to a Top 10 finish on The Voice Season 11. (NBC Photo)
“But, you know, when your coach (Blake Shelton) and production is telling you one thing, it kind of alters your own way of thinking a little bit, like maybe where I was once real hesitant, maybe they kind of convinced me to do it,” he said.
“The song is freakin’ bad ass, too. It’s kind of hard not to want to do a great song even though it’s not you.”
Though still battling illness, Austin bounced back strong with a solid performance of Chris Stapleton’s “Tennessee Whiskey” when battling for the Twitter save Tuesday night. He narrowly lost that save to Aaron Gibson.
“For me to have barely gotten beat on my absolute worst day, I can’t feel too damn bad about that,” he said.
What’s next?
Well, Austin has already released four albums — “Intensity,” “Crying Out Loud” (2009), “Sink or Swim” (2011) and “This Weary Land (April 2016).” You can check out a couple of songs from the latter here. He refers to his music as “country-rock, with some nitty gritty soul thrown in there.”
A fifth album of all original music will be out in the next few months, he said during the conference call.
“After this, I’ve already got a lot of calls and meetings and all kinds of stuff set up,” Austin said. “So I plan on taking over the world if I can.”
Starting with England.
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