Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Her audition: Taryn Papa, 30, of Nashville, Tenn., performed “Anyway” by Martina McBride. Taryn immediately launched into an impressive vocal, earning chair turns from Blake, Kelly and Gwen in turn. After displaying a big voice, she brought it back down for a tender opening. Blake blocked Kelly and praised Taryn’s powerful vocals. Taryn opts to join Team Blake.

Here’s more about Taryn.

* She’s from Connecticut and describes herself as a soulful country singer-songwriter.

* In a getting to know Taryn video on her YouTube channel, she says her grandfather taught her to play piano by ear when she was young; they’d play old Frank Sinatra songs together. She then taught herself to play acoustic guitar.

* Years later, when her grandfather was suffering from Alzheimer’s, he would still remember those Sinatra songs, which Taryn described as an important lesson for her in the power of communicating through music.

* In the same video, Taryn calls Martina McBride a major inspiration growing up and says her dream duet would be a collarboration with Randy Houser.

* Taryn started managing herself and booking her own gigs at age 16. More recently, she’s been playing 300 shows per year in Nashville. She moved to Music City about seven years ago.

* She has opened for Lonestar, Kid Rock, Craig Morgan, Thompson Square and Randy Houser. She’s also performed the national anthem at several major sporting events.

* In 2016, Taryn released “Persuaded,” her debut EP. According to her web bio, she plans to follow up with a full album soon.

* In between, she’s released a pair of Christmas covers, a 2019 single that she wrote called “Rise Up” and a March Christian single “Don’t Be Afraid to Fall” with Laurel Taylor. You can check out the latter two below.

* In a recent Instagram post, Taryn writes: “Being a 30 year old female singer in the music industry has many disadvantages and stigmas … My American dream might not be the typical story line many have painted in their minds for females, but it makes perfect sense to me. … I have a burning desire to have my voice heard and my story told. I won’t stop until I hear one of my songs on the radio.” Follow the link for the full post.

* Oh, and in March of 2020, she was Artist of the Month at Old Red in Nashville. Yep, that would be Blake Shelton’s Nashville bar.

Taryn on social media
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