Idol Chatter & Voice Views

His audition: Ben Allen, 42, of Estero, Fla., performed “Red Dirt Road” by Brooks & Dunn. Blake and Gwen turned early in the performance. John joined as well. Gwen liked his strong, clear confident voice. Kelly predicted he might make the finale. Blake said he’s eager to pass along some of his country music knowledge to Blake and also predicted he’d be successful on the show. Ben opted to join Team Blake.

Here’s more about Ben:

* He had been working as a house flipper in Tennessee, but picked up the guitar after moving to Naples, Fla.

* “I pulled this guitar out of my closet and started playing it for three hours a night. I didn’t know how to play it, but I started playing it. You know, YouTube is a wonderful thing. I never had a lesson,” he told the Naples Daily News in a September 2017 interview.

* At the time of the interview, he was working as an inspector for Collier County, Fla., and playing gigs at night.

* Ben performed as part of an acoustic duo for about two years, according to that newspaper article. Then, about five years ago, he formed the Ben Allen Band.

* The 2017 interview coincided with the release of the first Ben Allen Band single, a song called “Loving You Right Now” that you can check out below.

* At the time, Ben talked about releasing more originals — and two others are available on the band’s website — but the debut single is the only one on streaming sites at present.

* In a separate Q&A published around the same time, Ben, 40 at the time, said his major influences include Dierks Bentley, Eric Church and Luke Bryan.

* At the time, the band was playing more than 150 shows per year in the southwest Florida area.

* Since picking up the guitar, Ben said he has opened for Thompson Square and Charles Kelly of Lady Antebellum.

* In the Q&A, he summed up his band this way: “Like current country music? Then you will love us! Don’t like current country? See us anyway so we can surprise you with quality, diversity and a rockin’ good night of music, happy crowds and an overall crazy fun night.”

Ben on social media:
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