Idol Chatter & Voice Views

His audition: Chris Kroeze, 27, of Barron, Wisc., auditioned with Stevie Ray Vaughn’s “Pride and Joy.” His strong opening prompted quick chair turns from Blake Shelton and Jennifer Hudson. Blake called his singing “electrifying.” Chris decided to join Team Blake.

His background: Chris says he lives in the epitome of small-town America. His closest neighbors are a half mile away. But he plays about 230 shows a year. Chris describes himself as a country singer, but says he’s not afraid to rock out. He also has started to do shows for the troops in the Middle East, though that meant flying for a first time. All that said, he admits music at the level he’s at isn’t “sustainable” for much longer. He said he needs the boost The Voice could give his career.

On choosing Team Blake: “I think Blake’s a good fit for me,” Chris said in an interview with Media Hub. “I love country music. I mean, there’s no denying that. And even if I don’t play a lot of Blake’s music at my shows — I do one or two of his songs — I just think we have a lot of the same influences. The stuff I listen to — the founders of country music — I have a strong suspicion those guys were big influences on Blake as well.”

What the show didn’t show:

* Chris classifies his music as country, blues and southern rock on his Facebook page. But in the same interview, says he plays a wide variety of music at his shows, from Hank Williams and Patsy Cline to Led Zeppelin and Bon Jovi with some Chris Stapleton and Luke Bryan thrown in for good measure.

* Chris told News 12 WBNG that his father surprised him with a gift of a small acoustic guitar when he was just 6 years old, and that’s how he got hooked on music.

* The switch to singer occurred as a result of an eighth-grade talent show. Not only did he get praise for his voice, a local bar owner hired him to play a show. “It might have been like $50,” Chris recalled. “But when you’re 14, it’s pretty cool.”

* On his website bio, Chris says he’s been performing more than 200 shows per year and has opened for Montgomery Gentry, Joe Nichols and Josh Thompson.

* In 2016, those shows included a number of shows for U.S. troops serving in the Middle East, and Chris said he was happy to have the opportunity, noting that his dad was an MP and both of his great-grandfathers served in World War II. “Not having served myself, it’s a little something that I can do to contribute, to bring a little bit of home to our men and women serving our country,” he told the New Richmond News.

* Chris told Midwest CMA News that he benefited from those shows as well. “After playing 230-ish shows per year for five years now, I’ve somewhat lost interest at times. This helped me spark my passion.”

* Even as The Voice began airing pre-taped Season 15 episodes in late September, Chris was be traveling back to the Middle East to perform for the troops again.

* In terms of Spotify streams, his most popular song to date is “Four-Letter Word,” which you can check out below. He recorded the song in Dierks Bentley’s Nashville studio, with Bentley’s backing band. A community fundraiser in his hometown of Barron helped make the experience possible.

* Currently, Chris has two other songs available on iTunes and Spotify — “I Don’t Miss You No More” from 2016 and a Christmas version of “Hallelujah.”

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