Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Austyns Stancil embraces Gwen Stefani after joining her team on Season 26 of The Voice Monday night. (NBC Photo)

His audition: Austyns Stancil, 34, East Oakland, Calif., “Ooo Baby Baby” by Smokey Robinson: Dang, this guy’s range is pretty incredible. And he’s stayed up there seemingly forever. A high glory note entices chair turns from Gwen Stefani and Reba McEntire. Eventually, Snoop Dogg and Michael Buble following. Snoop complimented his falsetto. Michael thinks he’d have lots of vocal versatility. Gwen says Austyns’s one of the best singers the coaches have heard so far. She said she wants to help him find his musical identity. Austyns decided to join Team Gwen.

Here’s more about Austyns:

* The father of three daughters with a fourth on the way at the time of his audition, Austyns was born in Oakland and is now based in Kansas City.

* He studied at San Jose University and attended Life Academy of Health and Bioscience. He told The Voice his day job is as district manager with a discount store.

* According to his Voice bio, he began singing around age 7 and had his first solo at age 9. That was in church, at his mother’s request, Austyns said.

* Austyns plays piano, organ and drums.

* “Stage is the only home I’ve ever known,” Austyns writes in one social media post. “I grew up moving every three to four years of my life. (The stage) has always been my comfort zone.”

* Back in 2015, Austyns auditioned for American Idol Season 14.

* And he’s performed with a number of gospel artists, including Fred Hammond, Byron Cage, Marvin Sapp and Kirk Franklin.

* Austyn, who has two brothers and a half-brother, lost a mentor when his father succumbed to colon cancer in 2023.

* He’s been performing regularly at KC Soul Sessions at the Kansas City Juke House, and several of his Instagram posts feature performances there.

* One of his daughters is 10 and also passionate about music. In fact, she’s recorded a first song, according to an April Facebook post.

Austyns on social media:
Instagram
TikTok
Facebook
YouTube