Idol Chatter & Voice Views

His blind audition: Blind Joe, 32, of Fargo, N.D., auditioned with a cover of The SteelDrivers “If It Hadn’t Been for Love.” Blake Shelton turned around as soon as Blind Joe hit the chorus. Eventually, every other coach followed. Blake said he’d love to introduce Blind Joe to Nashville. Blind Joe joined Team Blake.

His background: Blind Joe describes himself as a guy “who’s played a lot of small-town bars, but always had big-time dreams.” The disability stems from the fact that he was born three months premature. Joe says he wasn’t given much chance of surviving. “I ended up pulling through just fine except my retinas didn’t attach.” Then he displays a sense of humor, adding “this is a truly blind audition.” His granddad bought him his first guitar when he was about 5 and attached mailbox numbers to its neck “so I knew what letter corresponded to the note I was playing.” In college, he started playing at a honky tonk down the street. “My first show, I made $100 in tips,” he recalls. “I was like, ‘Hey, this is alright.'” Ten years later, he’s still playing honky tonks with his wife serving as his roadie. He calls her “my angel.” He also works a non-music job, teaching blind and visually impaired people how to use accessibility devices on their smartphones. “I love being able to help people, but my heart and soul is in music,” he says.

What the show didn’t show: Want to hear more of Blind Joe’s music. You won’t have to look far. Known as North Dakota’s “outlaw country rebel,” he’s released four full-length albums, all of which are on iTunes. He’s also participated in four cross-country tours and opened for the likes of Craig Moran, David Allan Coe and Bret Michaels of Poison.

Despite all that, Blind Joe figured trying out for The Voice was a long shot because so many singers are vying for a spot on the show. Even when he made it to the blind auditions, he wasn’t banking on a spot on the show. “I’m a very nervous person and I don’t handle competition well at all,” he admitted in a conference call with the media. “So through the entire song, I was very nervous — and, you know, I got to the end and I thought – I just remembered thinking, ‘Man, I hope I turned at least one.'”

He turned all four, of course. Blake delivered that bit of great news. And Blind Joe said he picked Blake because he’s “been a hero of mine for years and, you know, the possibility to be coached by him was just too much of an awesome opportunity for me to pass up.” And Blind Joe calls his blind audition song one of his favorites ever — “something that I love to sing.” As for his time on The Voice, he has a simple goal, Blind Joe told his hometown newspaper: “I really just want to connect with people and do what I can to inspire people and show people it doesn’t matter what life throws at you. If you have the right mindset and you really go for what you want, you can do it.”

For links to more bios of Season 9 artists on The Voice, head here.

On iTunes: He has four albums available on iTunes: “Warm Whiskey, Cold Beer” from 2014, “Where the Hell Are All the Honky Tonks” from 2014, “Whiskey, Wine, Beer, Pot and Cocaine” from 2013 and “Soul Singin’ Son of a Bitch” from 2007.

Update:
Battle round: Defeated Blaine Mitchell, singing “Old Time Rock and Roll.” Blaine was stolen by Adam Levine.
Knockout round: He sang “Mama, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Cowboys,” but lost to Barrett Baber.

Keeping up with Blind Joe:
Facebook
YouTube
Twitter: @theblindjoe

Blind audition — If It Hadn’t Been for Love

Battle round — Old Time Rock and Roll (with Blaine Mitchell)

Knockout round — Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Cowboys

Pre-show music

Pity Don’t Get Ya Paid (from Where the Hell Are All the Honky Tonks)

Lindsay’s Song (from Warm Whiskey, Cold Beer album)

Don’t Give Your Heart to a Rambler