Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Blind audition: Blaine Long, 40, of Chandler, Ariz., auditioned with John Hiatt’s “Have a Little Faith in Me.” Blaine’s vocals soared on the second verse and by the time he finished singing Blake Shelton, Miley Cyrus and Adam Levine were all facing in his direction. Alicia’s team was already full at the time. All the coaches praised Blaine’s performance, urging him to take the last spot on their teams. Blaine opted for Team Blake.

His background: Growing up, he remembers sitting in bed, thinking up songs. “I thought I was going to be a songwriter. Music has always been my thing.” But he dropped out of school and admits he doesn’t even have a GED. “You name a job, I’ve done it,” he says, mentioning construction and working at fast food joints and gas stations. It was tough making ends meet, so he moved into his brother’s sailboat. He says he’d paint houses during the day and work on an album at night. He met his wife, Joni, when he painted her house; they’ve since adopted a pair of children. He now gigs four to seven nights a week and makes his living singing his original music.

What the show didn’t show:
* His Voice bio says Blaine was inspired to pursue music by his older brothers who performed in bands.
* According to his Facebook bio, Blaine spent the 1990s fronting bands that played original music, then transitioned to solo acoustic performances at coffee shops and bars, “moving around to Boulder, San Diego, and wherever music would take him.”
* Head to his website and you’ll see that Blaine has already released at least at least nine albums or EPs. The ones there date to 2006’s “Slip 250.” His eight-track 2010 album “Honey in My Coffee” followed his marriage and, according to that Facebook bio describes “the achievement of a happy home life over the struggles of typical self-destructive musician’s lifestyle.”
* Blaine and his wife adopted their daughter in 2011 and their son in 2013.
* His latest release was last year’s 14-track “Can’t Change the Sun.” You can check out the lead track, “Healing Time,” below. Also be sure to check out the title track, “We’re Asleep,” “Unbreakable Heart” and “Dashboard Lullaby.” They’re superb.
* In an interview at BradCooney.com, Blaine said he and producers were talking about ways to promote his latest album when someone suggested The Voice. Blaine tweeted that it was a video of him performing a song called “Me and Preacher” that actually landed him a private audition.
* Blaine said he was the first person to sing on the last day of auditions and was “extremely nervous” after spending a month preparing for a 90-second performance. As for his performance, he said: “I didn’t think anybody would turn at all. So having to choose was strange.”
* During a conference call with the media, Blaine said he was actually hoping to land a spot on Team Alicia, the only one already full when he auditioned. He said he just had to pick Blake after the country superstar vowed to fight with producers to make sure Blaine got the right songs to perform on the show.
* And Blaine told azcentral.com that he found the TV experience “strange and weird.” “I’m glad for any opportunities that present themselves because of the show, but it was never my goal to be on a reality TV show singing covers,” he told the site. “I write and perform my own music and will continue to do so. But when a door opens, even if it is a reality TV show, you gotta go through it. As a musician, you are always looking for the next gig and this happened to be the next gig I got.”

Keeping up with Blaine:
Twitter: @blainelongmusic
Website
Facebook
YouTube