Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Preston Duffee of American Idol Season 21

Idol returns to ABC on Sunday, Feb. 19, for its Season 21 premiere.

Here’s more about Preston.

* He’s a country singer in his early 20s from Hartsville, S.C.

* He graduated from Hartsville High School in 2019 and attended the Florence-Darlington Technical College to study mechanical engineering.

* Preston’s been posting music online for at least five years and has nearly 3,000 followers and more than 13,000 likes on his TikTok.

* He frequently performs along the South Carolina coast, including Myrtle Beach and Murrell’s Inlet.

* He played one of his first full-band shows at Murrell’s Inlet last April writing on social media: “I used to stand in front of my mirror with my red Fender Starcaster that only had four strings on it, jamming to Rascall Flatts and dreaming of playing with a band, so that 9 year old kid lived one of his dreams Saturday night.”

* Preston doesn’t appear to have released music yet, but he’s posted several originals to TikTok. Check out “Something to Write About” below.

* In a 2020 Big Chillin’ podcast interview, Preston said he started singing in church at a young age, got his first guitar around age 8 and taught himself to play with the help of YouTube videos.

* At the time, he said he felt “new country” fit his voice best, music along the lines of Jason Aldean. He listed Keith Whitley and Josh Turner among the artists he most admires.

* Preston has performed with former Voice standout Ashland Craft and once backed former American Idol standout Danny Gokey at a Civic Center show.

* In that podcast interview, he said that if he ever audition for a singing show, it would likely be Idol, if only to meet Luke Bryan.

Preston on social media:
Instagram
TikTok
Twitter
Facebook
YouTube

@pduffmusic Something To Write About #original #voiceeffects #countrymusic #acoustic #fyp ♬ original sound – PrestonDuffee