Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Alexis Marceaux is the Hurricane Katrina survivor we met on The Voice’s sixth blind audition episode.

On the show, she explained that she and her family evacuated New Orleans a day or two before the hurricane hit.

They thought they’d be returning soon. That didn’t happen.

“It’s been seven years since the hurricane hit,” she said, wiping tears from her eyes at one point and admitting she seldom talks about it. “It was the most traumatic thing I ever experienced. Everything was torn apart. It was complete chaos.

“We lost our house entirely. We weren’t able to salvage anything. It was extremely heartbreaking. But a lot of people lost their families. I’m lucky to have mine,” added the 23-year-old lifelong resident of New Orleans.

In terms of music, Alexis has been writing songs since 13, enrolled in college at one point, but dropped out so she could devote her full attention to her music and touring with other artists in the New Orleans area.

On The Voice, she sang Fleetwood Mac’s “Go Your Own Way,” hit her stride once the chorus kicked in and enticed Cee Lo to spin his chair.

He complimented her on “a wonderfully impeccable voice” and her “smart girl chic” appearance.

What the show didn’t show: Only Cee Lo spun around, but don’t discount this young woman. Her 2011 “Orange Moon” CD is one of the most interesting pre-Voice releases I’ve come across, alternately haunting and whimsical. Her last name is pronounced Mar-soh, and she performs with Sam Craft, whom she describes as her “other half” in her Voice blog. They’ve toured as Alexis and the Samuri. She has also performed with a New Orleans indie rock band called Glasglow and plays guitar, piano, percussion and harmonica. In her Voice blog, she says she grew up listening to her grandfather play his Cajun accordion and her dad play drums in various bands. And in an interview with her hometown newspaper, she provides a glimpse at how The Voice auditions work. By the way, that 2011 album was preceded by “Dandelion,” released in 2009. Both are available on iTunes. You can listen to all the tracks on “Orange Moon” here. Oh, and here’s her website.

Editor’s Note: Check back for live blogs once the battle rounds begin on The Voice.

Alexis sings “Brains” from “Orange Moon”

“Wishing Well” from Orange Moon”