Idol Chatter & Voice Views

His audition: Griffin, 23, of Greenville, S.C., auditioned with a fun, upbeat version of Michael Buble’s “It’s a Beautiful Day.” His performance earned chair turns from Gwen Stefani, Pharrell Williams and Blake Shelton — the only three coaches with a spot remaining on their teams when he auditioned. Pharrell said he “couldn’t believe” Griffin’s range. Griffin joined Team Pharrell.

His background: Griffin grew up with three siblings, and they were always playing music and putting on shows and plays, he and his sister say. By age 12, Griffin decided he wanted to move to Nashville and be a musician. But times were tough for his family; “I can remember times when my siblings and I would wonder where dinner was going to come from,” he admits. After high school, he and his sister Hannah started a bow-tie company. They operated it for about three and a half years before selling the company. That gave Griffin the financial freedom to move to Nashville. The only problem: He’s now working as a patient accounts representative at a senior living community. “I moved to Nashville to become a musician, not to sit behind a desk all day long,” he said in his pre-performance interview.

What the show didn’t show: Daniel Griffin told his hometown newspaper that he began playing piano at age 5 and taught himself to play guitar around age 12, about the same time he got really serious about music. He also sang in church and in the chorus at Eastside High School, graduating from there in 2009. As for his musical style, his grandmother is partly responsible. “She would always take me in her spare bedroom — that we would sometimes call the music room — and she would always bring out these old Frank Sinatra records. And other records, like Bing Crosby and Elvis Presley, so many of the great singers from back htem. She would have me listen to them.” From there, Griffin says he starting listening to jazz, gospel, R&B and pop. “There’s definitely a variety of genres in my background,” he says, adding he thinks that has helped him develop his own “unique sound.” And he said he decided to perform a Michael Buble song for his audition to help set himself apart from the other singers on the show. As for his decision to join Team Pharrell? “I felt like he understood me as an artist and what direction I wanted to go.”

Update: Griffin lost his battle round match to Luke Wade; they sang “Maybe I’m Amazed.” But he was stolen by Team Blake, giving him second life on the show. He was eliminated in the knockout round, losing to James David Carter. Griffin sang “As Long as You Love Me” by Justin Bieber.

On iTunes: Just his audition song.

Keeping up with Griffin:
Twitter: @hellogriffin
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