Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Blind audition: Josh Gallagher, 25, of Nashville, Tenn., auditioned with “Stay a Little Longer” by Brothers Osborne. Blake Shelton turned at the first run-through of the chorus. Eventually, Josh’s solid country vocal prompted a chair turn from Alicia Keys as well. Alicia complimented Josh on his voice and reminded him that country, the blues and soul “are all brothers.” Blake pitched his commitment to country music. Josh joined Team Blake.

His background: Josh’s parents are retired from law enforcement careers. His brother is in the Air Force; his sister works in the prison system. “There’s sort of a pattern there. Music for me, just sort of came out of nowhere. I’m the black sheep,” he joked. As a youngster, he dreamed of playing professional baseball and was recruited to play the sport in college. But he told The Voice his lack of commitment to academics spoiled that hope. He moved back home and played music at a variety of venues, then relocated to Nashville about two years ago.

What the show didn’t show:
* Josh played quarterback on the football team and catcher on the baseball team at Penn Cambria High School, batting .328 during his junior year on the varsity baseball team according to MaxPreps.com.
* Josh released his first two singles earlier this year — “Ain’t No Angels” and “We Always Had.” You can listen to full versions of both on Josh’s website; “Ain’t No Angels” is especially impressive.
* He’s working on a debut EP and, if you head to his YouTube channel, you can check out a couple of other originals — “Lovin’ on You” and “No Turning Around” — the latter obviously wasn’t a problem on The Voice.
* You’ll also find lots of country covers there, including Taylor Swift’s “Tim McGraw” and a couple of Chris Stapleton tunes — “Fire Away and “Tennessee Whiskey.”
* He’s a regular performer at Tin Roof Broadway in Nashville.
* According to his website bio, Josh has opened for country stars Randy Houser, Easton Corbin, Thompson Square, and Eric Paslay.
* Josh returned to his hometown in Pennsylvania during the first weekend in October to a hero’s welcome, with fire trucks, family and friends lining the streets, holding banners and signs welcoming him home, according to WJAC TV in Johnstown.
* While he was mostly into sports in high school, he told WJAC that he’s been singing since he was 10 years old.
* Josh said he picked Blake as coach because “his devotion to strictly country music is what I’m after. That’s what I want to do as an artist.”
* No matter what happens on The Voice, Josh said he’ll be ecstatic for the experience and added that Blake has already passed along some helpful musical advice. “It’s a stepping stone,” he told WJAC. “It’s a milestone.”

Keeping up with Josh:
Twitter: @joshgallmusic
Facebook
Website
YouTube