Idol Chatter & Voice Views

His audition: Jayson Arendt, 24, North Carolina, “Fire Away” by Chris Stapleton: He’s a member of the Texas Tailgators in the Banana Baseball League, and several of his teammates attended the audition. Lionel Richie said he has a nice distinguishable voice. Carrie Underwood said she wants to here more from Jayson the artist, not the baseball player. Jayson got three yeses to advance to Hollywood.

Here’s more about Jayson:

* He’s a guy with an interesting backstory, a longtime baseball standout turned country musician.

* Ah, but even though his collegiate career has ended, Jayson hasn’t stopped playing a form of baseball.

* He’s now an outfielder with the Texas Tailgaters, one of four Banana Ball teams around the country.

* As for music, he told a local TV station that he picked up a guitar for the first time during the pandemic.

* He wrote his first song, “Like a Small Town,” one day after baseball practice at the University of North Carolina Wilmington.

* That song is now one of five singles he’s released. It’s also included on a five-song, self-titled EP that Jayson released in May. Check out the music video for “My July,” one of the songs from that EP, below.

* His latest release is an impressive mid-tempo country song called “Tomorrow It Won’t Be.” That song dropped in August.

* In his Spotify bio, Jayson says his sound is influenced by classic country artists like Travis Tritt, Brooks & Dunn and Jason Alden and newer artists like Kameron Marlowe, Riley Green and Parker McCollum.

* And between baseball and country music, he’s attracted quite a following, with more than 150,000 followers and nearly 3 million likes on his TikTok.

* Jayson is from Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina, but now calls Savannah, Ga., home, according to his Facebook page.

* He’d been playing baseball since age 7 and helped UNC Wilmington to two straight Coastal Athletic Association championships during his time at the college.

Jayson on social media:
Instagram
TikTok
Facebook
YouTube