Terry McDermott was the very first singer we met on Season 3 of The Voice and traveled a circuitous route to get there.
It started in Scotland where he was a member of a six-man rock band called Driveblind.
In 2003, the band traveled to Los Angeles to do “the rock star thing,” Terry recalls.
They enjoyed enough success to release a debut album on Geffen Records a couple of years later.
But then they all got to the age where they started getting married and doing different things and the band members went their separate ways.
Terry, 35, now lives in New Orleans with his wife and son.
His wife calls The Voice “his reintroduction to a world he took a little break from.”
Terry says he “came to America with a passion and a dream” and feels “like it got taken away a little too early.”
For his audition, he sings “Teenage Wasteland.”
And for much of his 90-second performance, it doesn’t appear that dream will be rekindled.
But then all three male judges on the show turn around late in his performance.
Adam praises Terry for his “clear pristine voice.” Christina says that voice has a “great radio quality.”
What the show didn’t show: In addition to their debut album, Driveblind released a four-track EP, “The Future You Were Promised,” in 2008. More recently, Terry has served as lead singer for Lotus Crush and released a 10-track album with that group in March 2011. The band includes guitarist Peter Klett and drummer Scott Mercado, original members of Candlebox, which enjoyed considerable chart success in the mid-1990s, including a platinum debut album. Head to Terry’s website, and you’ll see a humorous post in which he talks about singing in a Japanese Coke Zero Commercial. He says the song from the commercial was played before every J. League (soccer) match. “Technically, I’ve been heard in stadiums all over Japan,” he jokes. “Not quite in the way I imagine, I might add.” Head here and you can listen to plenty of Lotus Crush music.
Update: The singer from Scotland got all three male judges to turn around for his blind audition of “Teenage Wasteland.” On the first night of the battle rounds, he beat Casey Muessigmann when they performed “Carry on My Wayward Son.” He was pitted against fellow rocker Rudy Parris in the knockout round and won with “Baby, I’m Amazed.” During the live playoffs, he sang “Don’t Stop Believing.” Fans voted him into the Top 12. He then closed the Top 12 show with “More Than a Feeling.” The song was 48 on iTunes singles chart the next day, third best among artists on The Voice.
Editor’s Note: Check back for live blogs during the finals on The Voice.
Terry McDermott singing “Black Hole Heart” with Lotus Crush
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