Idol Chatter & Voice Views

The last audition we saw on American Idol’s episode from Salt Lake City was from Casey Thrasher.

And while Idol hasn’t been providing us with much background on its Season 13 contestants, we learned more about Casey than most.

Casey Thrasher earned a ticket to Hollywood at the American Idol auditions in Salt Lake City. (FOX Photo)

We also met the 22-year-old’s two young children, who were living with him in a trailer in Tuscaloosa, Ala., owned by his aunt.

Providing a good life for those children “is what it’s all about at the end of the day for me, regardless of how I do it,” Casey told Idol, adding that he’s done “every crappy job you could possibly do just to make ends meet.”

Since he arrived on the Idol stage with a little encouragement from a chance encounter with Keith Urban at the CMA Fest, Casey decided to audition with a song called “Believe” by Brooks & Dunn.

Harry Connick complimented him on his drive, and Keith Urban liked the hunger and desire in his performance.

Needless to say, Casey breezed to Hollywood with three yes votes from the judges.

Back home Casey fronts the Casey Thrasher Band and describes himself to a radio station in the area as “a guitar player, a bit of a piano player and a country vocalist.”

He says the band performs “here, there and everywhere, Nashville, Tuscaloosa and kind of everywhere in between.”

Back in August, Casey and his group won a battle of the bands competition in Tuscaloosa, winning $800 and a Saturday night gig at a place called Rhythm and Brews.

According to Planet Weekly’s coverage of the event, each band got to play a 30-minute set, and Casey and his band won the crowd over with “soulful covers of country songs” that resulted in a “honky-tonk frenzy.”

Particularly well received was a cover of “Amazed,” which Casey sang accompanied only by his keyboardist.

Though he’s a country singer, in his Road to Hollywood video, Casey says he likes all genres, including the music of Michael Jackson and Ray Charles.

And he said the comment he most appreciated from his audition came from Harry Connick Jr., who suggested Casey would take a very business-like approach to the show, surprising the judges with his improvement each week.

If you’d like to follow Casey, here are links to his Facebook page and Twitter account (@CaseyThrasherAI).

I’ve also embedded below the only video I could find of him performing with his band.

For profiles of more than 90 other Season 13 contestants, head here.

“Long Black Train”