Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Barrett Baber performs during the knockout round on The Voice. (NBC Photo)

That’s not a problem for Team Blake’s Barrett Baber, who keeps hearing praise from the coaches about what a natural performer he is.

But Barrett remembers being in the same position as his younger colleagues on the show.

And the country singer from Fayetteville, Ark., says the stage presence that keeps drawing compliments from Blake Shelton and company took years to master.

“I found myself in a situation where I needed to perform as a college student and then moving into young adulthood for the money, frankly,” says Barrett, who was 35 when he auditioned for Season 9. “I started playing frat houses and smoky dive bars and crappy gigs all over the place just for a couple hundred bucks and, often times, way less than that in order just to survive.

“And so I think the process of becoming a good performer and somebody that really commands the stage and delivers an undeniable performance is cast in years and years of playing gigs where the crowd has been a tough crowd. And there is no tougher crowd than a bunch of boisterous, drunken fraternity guys. You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do to connect with those people and make them enjoy your show.”

Barrett’s latest show on The Voice came in the knockout round when he performed “Cold Weather” and wound up being declared the winner over Blind Joe. Both had turned four chairs with their blind auditions for The Voice.

That means Barrett will be one of five Team Blake members singing for viewers’ votes when the live playoffs begin next month.

Once again during the knockout round, Barrett received high marks from the coaches for the ease with which he worked the stage.

He admitted during a conference call with the media this week that that wasn’t always the case.

“My first several years of playing out and performing — I’m sure if I looked back I would probably cringe because I was just so green and not very experienced. But over the course of that amount of time and playing literally hundreds of gigs, it’s something that is sort of innate and instilled in my DNA to be somebody that just knows how to get up there and rock out.

“And that’s just what I do,” he added. “I don’t have much control over that. It’s not really even something that I think about anymore. They hand me a microphone. I walk out of the tunnel now on The Voice and stand on that stage and just do what I do.”

For more on Barrett and his pre-Voice music, head here.

Also check out …
Where the Night 1 knockout round songs landed on iTunes.
Korin Bukowski scores biggest iTunes’ hit on Night 2 of the knockout round
Rihanna gets rave reviews from singers on The Voice
Amy Vachal explains why she decided to be swept away by Adam Levine
Braiden Sunshine talks about his knockout round makeover
Madi Davis, Ivonne Acero credit coaching and confidence with their success