Idol Chatter & Voice Views

His audition: Chris Crump, 31, of Baytown, Texas, performed Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud” for his blind audition. He wasn’t even through the first chorus before all four coaches turned their chairs. Blake Shelton complimented him on the warmth and emotion in his voice. Chris picked Team Blake.

His background: Chris says he was home-schooled from second grade on. He was also part of a family band that toured and performed in matching outfits. “At the time I didn’t know how uncool it was,” he says. By age 14, he decided he wanted to play electric guitar and perform in a rock band. He now considers himself more of a pop singer. At the time of his blind audition, he and his wife had only been married for four months. In fact, they left their wedding reception early so he could attend local auditions for the show. Meanwhile, Chris says he’s worked all sorts of jobs — as a carpenter, worship leader, at a lady’s shoe store and as a TV salesman.

What the show didn’t show: That family band was a gospel group called “Simple Truth.” And, according to his Voice bio, Chris embarked on a solo acoustic career after being told that his voice is “too pretty” for rock music. No problem. After all, Chris already has two albums to his credit, a self-titled pop album from 2011 and a Christian/gospel album from 2012. The latter is particularly good. Make sure to check out the tracks “No Ordinary Love” and “The Sight of You.” I’ve also embedded a couple of songs from those albums below.

Joining the country-heavy team Blake wasn’t a calculated decision at all, Chris admitted in a conference call with the media. He called it a gut feeling the surprised even him, considering he thought he’d probably go with Adam or Pharrell if he had the option. “In the moment, I just thought, ‘Well, you know, I could go with Pharrell, I could fit in really well there, and I could fit in probably really well with everybody on Adam’s team.’ But I kind of didn’t really want to fit in. I wanted to be bold and stretched in a direction that I wasn’t familiar with and so I thought, ‘You know, going with Blake would give me that opportunity.'”

As for getting emotional during his performance, Chris said it wasn’t a reaction to the four-chair turn. It was because he had decided to sing “Thinking Out Loud” as a tribute to a new wife who was so selfless that she’d leave her own wedding reception early so he could pursue his dream. “I was thinking, ‘How can I give back to her in small way?’ … And what better way than to sing my love for her on national television on a song that said exactly everything I wanted to say … And that was why I was so emotional when I was singing … I honestly, I just kept seeing her face every time I closed my eyes and that’s real, true honest answer. And it was very close to the surface for me because of that.”

I’ll be posting profile blogs on every singer who lands a spot on Season 9 of The Voice. For links to the others, head here. Keep checking back. There are many more to come.

On iTunes: Chris released an eight-track self-titled pop album in 2011 and a seven-track Christian/gospel album called “No Ordinary Love” in 2012.

Update:
Battle round: Defeated Krista Hughes singing “When I Get Where I’m Going.” The song hit #140 on the iTunes’s singles chart, the sixth best of the battle round.
Knockout round: He lost to Zach Seabaugh in a performance that was montaged.

Keeping up with Chris:
Facebook
YouTube
Twitter: @ChrisCrumpMusic

Lay My Body Down (from 2012 EP)

Home (cover)

Back to Three (from 2011 EP)

Blind audition — “Thinking Out Loud”