Idol Chatter & Voice Views

His audition: Evan McKeel, 20, of Richmond, Va., auditioned with MUTEMATH’s “Typical.” Blake Shelton turned around midway through the performance. By the time it ended, all the other coaches had joined him giving Evan the fifth four-chair turn of Season 9. When being questioned by Pharrell Williams, Evan mentioned that he enjoys singing Stevie Wonder’s music. Then, at Pharrell’s urging, he launched into a lovely version of “Overjoyed.” When the talking ended, Evan joined Team Pharrell.

His background: Evan says he started singing when he was very young, joining a choir in elementary school, then participating in his youth choir at church. “That’s when I really got used to performing on stage,” he says. He was about 16 when he performed his first solo gig at a farmer’s market. “I made $20, and I think I played 20 songs,” he recalls. He also performs at the Windsor Memory Care Center for Alzheimer’s and dementia patients. “That’s a place where I can really make a difference,” he says. Evan credits his dad for teaching him to approach his music as a business, and says he’s been following that direction for the last three years, making his living through singing.

What the show didn’t show: During a conference call with the media, Evan said he started attending West End Assembly of God when he was very young “and that’s really where my love for music and my gift in music were nurtured and grown.” When he’s home, he says he still leads worship there once a week. And he says he’s been involved in a church theatrical production called “Glorious Christmas Nights” for the last 16 or 17 years and that rehearsals and performances are a three-month process. “I’ve spent more nights and days in that Church than I have in any other building in my life, so it’s a huge part of my story.”

And he partly credits that theatrical training for his reaction when Pharrell made the “out-of-the-blue” suggestion that Evan provide a snippet of a Stevie Wonder song during his blind audition. Though admittedly caught off guard by the request, Evan said he embraced it because he wants to explore lots of different genres musically “and it gave me a chance to show a little bit different side of what I do, which is something I care about it.”

The request is also a large part of the reason he chose Pharrell, though Evan says he changed his mind five or six times leading up to the audition, settled on Blake if the opportunity presented itself, then changed it five or six more times while the coaches were talking. “I knew that anyone that was willing to challenge me and put me on the spot and give me a chance to prove myself was someone that approached music the why I did and understood what I wanted to do as an artist,” Evan said of Pharrell.

Oh, and according to his social media counts, Evans musicianship goes beyond singing. He also plays guitar, piano, mandolin and violin. He released an EP in 2013. And on Twitter, he writes: “I take my faith and music seriously. That’s all though.”

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

On iTunes: A 7-track EP called “Teal” from November 2013. You can listen to all the songs on his website.

Update:
Battle round: Defeated Riley Biederer, singing “High Ground.” Riley was stolen by Gwen Stefani.
Knockout round: Defeated Tim Atlas. Evan sang Switchfoot’s “Dare You to Move” and it turned out to be the second most popular song from Night 3 of the knockouts.
Live playoffs: He sang “Overjoyed,” the same song he sang a snippet of at Pharrell’s request in his blind audition. The song hit number 40 on iTunes, ninth best of 24 live playoff songs. Evan was voted into the Top 12 for Team Pharrell.
Top 12: He sang “This Is It” and was voted into the Top 11. The song hit number 56 on the iTunes Top 200 (10th best of the night) and number 27 on the pop singles chart.
Top 11: He sang “Smile” and hit number 43 on the iTunes’ Top 200. That was the eighth best of the night, but Evan found himself in the bottom two and was eliminated when Korin Bukowski earned her second straight instant save. Evan sang “Let’s Stay Together” for his save song.

Keeping up with Evan:
Website
Facebook
YouTube
Twitter: @EvanMcKeel

Blind audition — Typical

Battle round — “Higher Ground” (with Riley Biederer)

Knockout round — “Dare You to Move”

Live playoffs — “Overjoyed”

Top 12 — “This Is It”

Top 11 — “Smile”

Top 11 (save song) — “Let’s Stay Together”

Inside Your Eyes (from the EP “Teal”)

Treasure (cover)

Sara Smile