Idol Chatter & Voice Views

His audition: Benny Weag, 29, from Garfield, Wash., performed “Shivers” by Ed Sheeran. Blake Shelton was the only coach to turn for his performance, so he automatically became Team Blake. Viewers saw just a tiny snippet of his audition.

Here’s more about Benny.

* He’s “a small-town singer-songwriter with big aspirations,” living in the Polson, Montana area.

* He grew up in the small town of Garfield, population 600, in eastern Washington State.

* Benny says he was given his first guitar at age 3, but his love of music really started to grow a few years later when his mother started teaching him piano.

* At 13, he joined a small youth group and taught himself to play guitar. He also began to play guitar and sing during church services.

* At 15, Benny got involved in the Washington State FFA Talent program, leading to his first opportunity to perform for a “real audience” when he competed at the state level two years running.

* As a senior in 2010, he was chosen as one of the top 13 FFA talents at the national level, traveled to Indianapolis and sang an original in front of a crowd of about 10,000 — his largest crowd to date.

* After high school, he moved to California in an attempt to pursue music, but ran out of money and returned home.

* He’s continued to dabble in music since and has done more than dabble since moving to Montana and joining a worship team at New Life Church.

* Benny began performing gigs with a drummer he met and now performs full time in western Montana and the Flathead Valley. He’s also been working on recording an album of original music.

* He’s auditioned for The Voice multiple times, beginning with when he first returned to Washington State from California.

* He’s also battled Myotonia, a disorder in which his skeletal muscles have trouble relaxing and a condition that has sometimes made playing guitar difficult.

* As for his music, his website says: “Inspired by the likes of Ed Sheeran, Christina Aguilera, and Shawn Mendes, Benny covers top hit songs throughout the years from Elvis to Ed, along with adding in plenty of originals for zest!” You can check out one of those originals — “Light Up the Room” — below.

Benny on social media:
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