Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Eric Gordon was identified as a lab technician during American Idol’s auditions in Detroit.

But he’s also one of the more experienced male singers to try out for Season 13.

Eric Gordon earned a ticket to Hollywood at the American Idol Season 13 audition in Detroit. (FOX Photo)

The EP “Time” (2008) and the album “Coming Clean” (2011) are available on iTunes. His latest, a four-track EP called “Shine” was released last May and is available from Eric’s website.

On Idol, Eric auditioned with John Mayer’s “Perfectly Lonely” and breezed into the Hollywood round with a trio of yeses.

In his Road to Hollywood video, Eric says he now lives in Minnesota and auditioned for Idol in Season 2, adding “I’ve come a long way since then.”

His selection of a John Mayer song for his audition wasn’t random. Eric lists him as a major musical influence.

“As a singer and songwriter, I look up to John Mayer,” he says. “He’s not only a great vocalist; his songwriter is awesome. I think it’s really important as a musician to be a good songwriter as well.”

And Eric thinks the fact that he’s a well-rounded musician — not just a singer with a good voice — will serve him well on Idol.

This isn’t Eric’s first stab at a televised singing competition. In addition to trying out for Idol at age 15, he was chosen to be one of 35 contestants on GMCtv’s television show “Gospel Dream” at one point, according to his Facebook page.

Today, he classifies his music as pop/rock.

Below are three songs from Eric, including the title track from the new EP. If you’d like to hear more, check out his YouTube channel.

Here are links to Eric’s Facebook page and Twitter account (@ericpaulgordon).

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

“More Than Words” (Extreme cover)

“Feel Again” (OneRepublic cover)

“Shine” (original)