Idol Chatter & Voice Views

His audition: Rowdy Shea, 23, Bowling Green, Kentucky, “You Shouldn’t Kiss Me Like This” by Toby Keith: His solid country vocal prompted a quick chair turn from Gwen Stefani. He continued to deliver a solid performance, but it wasn’t until the very end that he got another chair — Michael Buble’s. Gwen liked the warmth in his voice. Michael asked if he’d be open to dipping into some pop as well. Rowdy said he’s mostly a country singer. Turns out Rowdy got married just a week before auditioning and, in a sweet gesture, brought his wife Kaci on stage to help select a coach. They chose Gwen.

Here’s more about Rowdy:

* He’s a real-life cowboy by day, “chasin’ music by night,” according to the description on his YouTube channel. And that would be country music, if you’re wondering.

* His interest in horses and riding horses came naturally. He was named after the Clint Eastwood character “Rowdy” from the TV series “Rawhide.”

* He grew up in Bowling Green, Kentucky and later moved to Texas and Oklahoma pursuing his interest in horses and training horses.

* Along the way, he fell in love with the Texas honkytonk music scene, according to his bio on Red River Nomad.

* And his Voice bio says his mother suggested he give music a try when he started to get burned out training horses around the clock.

* He wound up landing a ranch job with a mentor / friend named Bradley Boyd who encouraged him to pursue music with the same passion he’d put into training horses.

* As a result, he started performing gigs and participating in songwriting sessions in Nashville.

* Rowdy said he was about 20 when he started singing. Some of his first performances were at rodeos. He fell in love with it and decided “this is something I see myself doing the rest of my life.”

* Rowdy doesn’t appear to have music on streaming sites yet, but he’s preparing to, with a handful of originals on his website and his Soundcloud page.

* One of those is a song called “Make America Cowboy Again,” written with Pete Sallis and Trent Willmon. Check it out below. He also has a song called “Faster Horses” that appears to have been released at some point.

* It’s been a big year for Rowdy. He married his girlfriend of three years, Jaci, over the summer. Jaci recalls that Rowdy took her to pick up a cow and a donkey on their first date. And in keeping with Texas cowboy tradition, they were gifted an animal upon their marriage — a goat named Roger.

Rowdy on social media:
Instagram
TikTok
Facebook
YouTube