Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Blind audition: Preston James, 16, of Nashville, Tenn., auditioned with Chris Stapleton’s “Nobody to Blame.” Blake Shelton turned around, but no one else, meaning Preston automatically became a member of Team Blake. His auditioned was montaged, so we saw only a tiny snippet of it.

His background: The Voice website tells us Preston grew up around country music. That’s because his dad was a road manager for country artist Collin Raye and his mom was the former publicist for Miranda Lambert, the Dixie Chicks, Martina McBride, George Strait and Travis Tritt. As for Preston, he won the Youth Division at the 2015 Nashville Blues Challenge and had the opportunity to perform at the International Blues Festival in Memphis. He also helps out with his mother’s wedding venue business.

What the show didn’t show:
* According to his website bio, Preston’s family connections to music go beyond his parents. His great-grandfather and cousins sang gospel music and his aunt was a performer at Dollywood.
* Preston’s dad started teaching him guitar when he was 6 years old and Preston wrote his first song when he was 8.
* As he grew up, music became “a calming force” for Preston as he struggled with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder, his website bio says.
* He’s honed his performance skills through Centennial Jam Band, Nashville’s free metro recreational parks music program for kids under 18, and by attending the Nashville School of the Arts.
* Despite his young age, he’s a fan of the blues. “I love a song with a story performed by someone expressing how they feel inside,” he says. “That’s why I like blues. There’s so much emotion coming out in such a simple way. Traditional country is pretty similar; the two genres walk pretty much hand in hand.”
* Preston fronts the Preston James Band, which also includes Yates McKendree, Stephen Hanner and Grant Smith, according to his website, though he’s also joined by Kristyn Burke and Justin Martin in the videos below. Preston has played music ranging from classic rock to blues to country to bluegrass and refers to his sound as “southern soul.”
* Preston might have landed a spot on Team Blake, but said he arrived at The Voice with a bit of a bone to pick with the country music superstar. You see, he had a huge crush on Miranda Lambert, one of his mother’s clients, when he was young. Miranda baby-sat him a time or two and attended a Valentine’s Party with him when he was in kindergarten. The day after the party, he says it was his mom’s job to release the news that Blake and Miranda were together at the time.
* But the grudge died pretty quickly when he landed the spot on Team Blake, Preston admitted in a conference call with the media. “He turned like right towards the end,” Preston said of his audition. “I was like literally holding out like the last note of the song. And I was looking in the opposite direction. And I was having fun no matter what. It was just such a cool experience. And I just noticed everybody was cheering. And I looked over and I was like, ‘Oh, that’s so crazy.’ I didn’t even see him like or hear him turn. I was just in my own world.”

Keeping up with Preston:
Twitter: @Prestonjames01
Website
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