Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Her audition: Hanna Ashbrook, 24, of Mount Prospect, Ill., auditioned with Tegan and Sara’s “Closer” in a blind audition that was part of a montage package. She landed a spot on Team Gwen, who said her voice “sounded like a true artist’s voice.”

Her background: We didn’t get to meet Hanna on the show, but The Voice website tells us she started singing at a very young age. She realized writing music was a huge passion of hers after performing an original song at a high school talent show. She attended Columbia College, but had a major health scare near the end of her time there. A bout of bronchitis turned into nodules on her vocal cords, The Voice website indicates. Surgery left her without a voice at all, and she took a job as a busser at a restaurant. . Unable to speak, she took a job as a restaurant busser. Then The Voice says she took a gamble on a second surgery, regained her voice and now writes jingles for television and commercials.

More on Hanna: During a conference call with the media this week, Hanna described herself as a guitar-playing singer-songwriter whose music is “more indie folk pop.” But her Facebook bio tells us that the first instrument she mastered was a violin, an instrument she began playing at age 9 and continued playing until she was a junior in high school and started focusing on playing guitar, singing and writing songs.

She studied in the contemporary, urban and popular music program at Columbia College Chicago, graduating in 2013. She has played music throughout the Chicago area, opening for the German pop duo BOY at one point. And she was apparently working on a debut EP when The Voice came calling. You can check out a couple of her originals below. She’s posted another, called “Already Know,” to Soundcloud. And the full length version of her audition song is below; Hanna sounds very, very good on it.

As for the blind audition we didn’t see, only Gwen turned, Hanna said. “I was kind of bummed that they didn’t show it only because my family and friends were super looking forward to it. But to be honest, I wasn’t 100 percent happy with my audition. It was a ton of pressure, but I still did the best that I could.”

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

On iTunes: She’s a featured vocalist on the very catchy “Happy Place” by Oh, Hush! Plus her performances from The Voice.

Update:
Battle round: Lost to Summer Schappell, singing “Leave the Pieces” and was eliminated.

Keeping up with Hanna:
Facebook
YouTube
Twitter: @hanna_ashbrook

Happy Place (with Oh, Hush!)

The Bottom (original)

Maybe Someday (original)

Blind audition song — Closer