Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Blind audition: Dave Moisan, 33, of Louisville, Ken., showed off his ability to reach the stratosphere with his voice by singing “Sex and Candy” by Marcy Playground. Adam Levine and Miley Cyrus turned early in the performance; Alicia Keys and Blake Shelton followed, giving Dave the second four-chair turn of Season 11. Adam praised Dave’s smooth and soulful sound. Alicia complimented the passion in his voice. Dave joined Team Alicia.

His background: He’s a medical device sales rep and clinician trainer. “A lot of time, I’ll be in surgery, helping the doctor with my equipment,” he told The Voice. But growing up, his passion was swimming. He won state championships and became a two-time All-American in high school. He even got to compete against Michael Phelps. “We actually beat him in a relay,” Dave recalled. “But he destroyed me in the individual event.” In terms of singing, he never performed until college. He attended a Maroon 5 concert and met Adam backstage. Dave eventually formed the Dave Moisan Band. His wife, Allie, sings background vocals for the group.

What the show didn’t show:
* Dave told the media he really didn’t sing until after attending that Maroon 5 concert. He was in college at the time and got involved in a hip-hop band.
* Some of the first songs he wrote were while practicing as part of the swim team at Notre Dame. “I mean, we were in the pool for four hours a day. And so you were staring at that line and you’re not hearing anything else and so you have all kinds of crazy thoughts. I wrote a lot of the lyrics — albeit they may not have been the greatest because they were some of the first lyrics I ever wrote. But yes, I’ve spent a lot of time looking at the bottom of the pool and writing songs and that’s kind of where it all began.”
* On Facebook, he classifies his music as “jubilant folk pop.” He goes on to explains, writing, “My goal is to write music that means something and makes people happy.”
* Dave released a 12-track album called “Ungravity” in 2011 and a five-track EP called “Heavyweight” earlier this year. Standout tracks on the latter include “Animal” and “We Ain’t Watchin’.” Both are embedded below.
* Dave says he likes co-writing with people “who have a little bit different flavor than I do so that way it creates something new and unique that I wouldn’t necessarily normally create.”
* Given his history with Maroon 5, Dave admitted he arrived at the show thinking he’d join Team Adam if he had the opportunity. “But the other thing that I was thinking coming into this experience is that I want to grow as an artist and I want to be able to push myself in directions that I wouldn’t necessarily push myself,” he said during a conference call with the media. “And when Alicia spoke, she is just so incredibly magnetic.”
* Dave admits he’s feeling a little added pressure because he’s trying to follow the footsteps of another Kentuckian on The Voice, Season 10 winner Jordan Smith. “I am excited but also timidly petrified about following in those big shoes that I need to try and fill because he is incredible,” Dave said during that conference call.
* And he just launched a revamped website that includes an extensive Spotify playlist of music already available from all his new cast colleagues on Season 11 of The Voice, which is a really, really nice touch.

Keeping up with Dave:
Twitter: @davemoisan
Facebook
Website
YouTube