Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Caeland Garner listens to the coaches following his blind audition on The Voice. (NBC Photo)

But did Red influence his decision to try The Voice?

And what about the decision to select Blake Shelton as his coach?

The answer to both questions is a definite yes, Caeland said during a conference call with the media this week.

One of Caeland’s first gigs in music was as a dobro player and backing vocalist for Red.

And after Caeland moved to Nashville in 2008, he said Red helped out by introducing him to “the biggest writers that I could possibly get in the room with.”

So when the opportunity to audition for The Voice came up, it was only natural that he run it by Red, who finished fourth for Team Blake in Season 13.

“I remember the day I called him. I was like, ‘Man, I have a chance to go out to L.A. to audition for the TV show The Voice. And he said, ‘Stop right there. Caeland Garner, if you don’t do this, we ain’t friends no more.

“So I was, like, ‘All right, there you go.’ And I was ready to do it. He really kind of put my heart at ease to know that this was the right step for my life.”

With Red watching from backstage, Caeland covered “Dancing in the Moonlight” by King Harvest for his blind audition, prompting chair turns from Blake Shelton and Jennifer Hudson with an impressive performance.

Then came time to pick a coach. And Caeland said he couldn’t just discount Jennifer. Because while his dad immersed young Caeland in bluegrass, country and southern rock, he said his mom introduced him to Sam Cooke and Otis Redding, providing him “with a huge soul, R&B influence.”

But, of course, he had to balance that consideration with Blake’s reputation as the go-to guy for anyone whose music has the slightest resemblance to country music.

“Being here in Nashville, I’ve never met Blake,” said Caeland, 31 and from Coleridge, N.C. “But he’s always been kind of an inspiration to me musically because he’s got the career that I have been striving for and sacrificed everything in my life to get.

“And so it was kind of ‘I’m not going to take a chance at this.’ I mean, at the end of the day, I couldn’t look at Red in the next room and go, ‘Well … I chose Jennifer. He’s going to be, like, ‘You big dummy.’ So I just went with my heart and chose Blake.”

Caeland said another former Voice finalist, Barrett Baber from Season 9, also encouraged him to audition for the show.

We’ll next see Caeland during the Season 15 battle round. For more about him and music he’s already released, head here.

The blind auditions conclude Monday on The Voice.