Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Her audition: Amanda Lee Peers, 29, of Rochester, N.Y., auditioned with ZZ Ward’s “Put the Gun Down.” She showed tons of stage presence and delivered the song with a nice edge, prompting Gwen Stefani to turn around quickly. She turns out to be the only chair turn. Gwen’s reaction: She calls the male coaches stupid for staying put and proclaims Amanda Lee “amazing.”

Her background: Amanda Lee says she grew up in the church, which is where she started playing music. Problem is being gay made her feel “unwelcome” at church. And since she correlated music with church, she walked away from her music for a while as well. She wound up going to college for graphic design, which is now her full-time job. But her girlfriend convinced Amanda Lee to give music another shot. She wound up joining a band, but now plays solo — mostly rock and soul “and a little pop,” she says.

What the show didn’t show: The band Amanda Lee joined was called the Driftwood Sailors and she released a 10-track album with them called “White Horses and Black Jeans” in December 2012. Live versions of two tracks are embedded below. You should also check out “Cooking with Gasoline” and “Sail On” and “Pokey Jones.” For a sample of Amanda Lee’s more recent work, go here, where you can hear full-length versions of three songs and where you’ll find out she’s been working on a solo album. On Facebook, she describes her music as “old soul with a new swagger” and her genre as pop/rock/soul. Amanda explains in her Voice video, saying she grew up listening to rap, punk rock, bluegass “and everything. It definitely influenced me in the way that I’ve kind of created my own niche.” And she’s perfectly content landing a spot on Team Gwen, calling “Tragic Kingdom,” one of her albums with No Doubt, “one of my favorite albums ever.” She also admires the way Gwen has branched out beyond music. “I feel like these days, you need more than music to stand out.”

Update: She was eliminated from the show after losing a battle round to Taylor John Williams. They sang “Jolene” by Dolly Parton.

On iTunes: Her audition song and the 2012 album by Amanda Lee Peers and the Driftwood Sailors.

Keeping up with Amanda:
Twitter: @AmandaLPeers
Facebook
YouTube
Website

“Me and Bobby McGee” (cover)

“I’ve Been Down” (from 2012 album with the Driftwood Sailors)

“White Horses” (from 2012 album with the Driftwood Sailors)