Idol Chatter & Voice Views

His audition: Luke Wade, 31, of Dublin, Texas, performed Otis Redding’s “That’s How Strong Love Is” for his audition song. His was the very first blind audition shown in Season 7 and he had all four judges facing in his direction four lines into a soulful performance. Pharrell Williams vowed that he knows just “what to do with that voice,” reminding Luke of his blue-eyed soul connections. And Luke joined Team Pharrell.

His background: Luke says he came from a creative family; his dad is a painter and his mom ran a dance studio. In fact, Luke danced for about 10 years, starting at age 3. To make an allowance, Luke would clean his mom’s dance studio and listen to classic music on the record player there. He eventually formed a band and started touring. “It turned into putting 50,000 miles a year on your car trying to get 10 people to buy your CD at a coffee shop.” He’s been performing now for 12 years. During his pre-audition video, we also learned that Luke lost the vision in his right eye during a paintball accident when he was 13. “It showed me how life can change in a second,” he says. “You can’t take anything for granted, and you can’t stop pushing.”

What the show didn’t show: If you liked what you heard on The Voice, there’s no shortage of Luke Wade music to check out. He released a 12-track album in 2010 called “Tomorrow’s Ghosts” with No Civilians, a five-track EP called “The Runaround” in January, and a 13-track album called “The River” in March. Oh, and that paintball accident isn’t the only obstacle he’s overcome. According to his Facebook bio, he also suffered a near fatal bout of spinal meningitis as a child and suffered severe heatstroke that left his with temporary amnesia at another point in his life. Still, he says, his music remains hopeful. “The thing I prize most in music is its ability to relate, to find something in someone else and maybe … give someone some positiveity or make someone realize they’re beautiful or that they already have everything they need.” Why Team Pharrell? “The thing Pharrell said to me is, ‘I want to lift you up and show American who you are.'”

Update:
Blind audition: Got all four judges to turn their chairs for his performance of Otis Redding’s “That’s How Strong Love Is.”
Battle round: Defeated Griffin; they performed “Maybe I’m Amazed” so well that Griffin was stolen by Blake Shelton.
Knockout round: Sang Hall and Oates “Rich Girl” and defeated Taylor Phelan in a battle of singers who had turned four chairs in the blinds.
Live playoffs: He sang Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On.” The song landed at number 66 on the iTunes singles chart and 32 on the pop chart. Luke was voted into the finals.
Top 12: He sang Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud.” The song hit number 37 on the iTunes singles chart and number 20 on the site’s pop chart. He was voted into the Top 10.
Top 10: He sang Otis Redding’s “Try a Little Tenderness” and was voted into the Top 8 after the song landed at number 51 on the iTunes singles chart and number 25 on the pop chart.
Top 8: He sang “Holding Back the Years” by Simply Red. The song hit number 57 on the overall iTunes singles chart and 23 on the site’s pop chart. Luke found himself in the bottom four on results night. He sang “Stand By Me” for his save-me song, but the instant save went to Chris Jamison.
Wild card: He sang “Have a Little Faith in Me.” The song landed at 71 on iTunes singles chart, but the wild card spot went to Damien.

On iTunes: His Voice performances, plus the two aforementioned albums and the EP, which features four live tracks. You can check out full-length versions of many of his songs on his Soundcloud page.

Keeping up with Wade:
Twitter: @lukewademusic
Facebook
YouTube
Website

Pre-Voice

“The Runaround”

“Faith Pt. 2”

“As Long as She Knows”