Country singers have long found success on The Voice, especially with Blake Shelton and Reba McEntire representing the genre. But this season, there’s a fresh country artist sitting in one of the red swivel chairs and Kelsea Ballerini brings a younger vibe as a coach.
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Halfway through night 2, Kelsea was listening for a male country artist with a true country voice, and she found it in 21-year-old Jaelen Johnston from Derby, KS. But she wasn’t alone in her appreciation. Adam Levine and Michael Bublé also turned their chairs.
Jaelen, who got his first guitar at 16, won them over with his performance of “Where the Wild Things Are” by Luke Combs.
“How long have you been singing,” Kelsea asked.
“About six years now,” he responded.
“Do you write?” she asked.
To which Jaelen responded, “Yes, ma’am,” setting off the jokes.
“How does it feel being called ma’am at your age,” John asked.
And Adam teased, “Not feeling so young anymore.”
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But Jaelen took it in stride. He had been taught manners and–he had a card game of dos and don’ts — at a very young age and his mother even told viewers that his first words were, “More food, please.”
“I’m going to turn my chair back around,” Kelsea joked back. Then she more seriously asked, “What is your end goal?”
“Up until today, it was a chair turn,” Jaelen honestly answered.
“That’s a good answer,” Adam chimed in.
“In all seriousness, I love all kinds of music, but I am die-hard country music,” Kelsea said, getting down to business. “I have had 10 years putting out music in that genre, and your voice is unreal. And range? You’re not just a singer, you’re an artist. I really think leaning into the songwriter of you is going to be fun. And I want to see where that takes us. Your full discography of what you listen to and figuring out what the full realm of who you are as an artist is…that’s my bread and butter. I love it.”
Photo by: Trae Patton/NBC
“But I want it too,” Adam said, adding, “My batting average on convincing country artists to come on my team is extremely poor because of that big smelly guy Blake Shelton, who…”
Kelsea interrupted Adam, “Don’t talk about my dad like that.”
Adam continued, “I’ve heard so much greatness in the genre, but I’ve almost never had the chance to work with country artists. But you’re too good for me not to have turned my chair around. The tone of your voice is so unmistakenly bold and strong. Although I might not be an expert in the genre like some others, I know a guy, and I’m sitting in his chair, so come to Team Adam, and let’s break the mold together.”
John hadn’t turned for Jaelen, but he still complimented him: “I can’t believe you’re so young. You sound as if you’ve lived a lot of stories, but that’s such a powerful quality in country music, especially because it’s such a storytelling genre. You can’t fake it. You’ve got to sound and feel authentic, and I felt the authenticity coming from your voice. So, congratulations and welcome to The Voice.”
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Then, it was Michael’s turn to plead his case.
“Love your voice, man. Kelsea, obviously, has a great depth of knowledge about this, and she lives it. Just because I don’t know it as well doesn’t mean I don’t love it. In the last few years, I’ve had the most fun in my life doing duets with Willie Nelson and Dolly Parton.”
Kelsea interrupted again to say, “I sang with Dolly and Reba and Trisha [Yearwood] and Garth [Brooks] and Taylor [Swift].”
Back to Michael, who pointed out, “My first big song that hit that I wrote, and Blake Shelton had it with ‘Home.’ Whatever happens, I’m going to be a fan. I love that voice. I love that rich, deep baritone.”
John asked his fellow coaches, “Does anybody want to say anything? Adam’s kind of a last-word guy.”
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Adam said, “This sucks. I always lose the country singers.”
Then John adjourned the session and asked Jaelen, “Who do you pick as your coach?”
Before he answered, Kelsea begged, “Don’t break my heart.”
And Jaelen didn’t. He said, “It’s hard but I got to go with Kelsea.”
Kelsea said, “That was tough. I broke a sweat. But I came out victorious, sweaty but victorious. Jaelen is a cutie, patootie cowboy. When he started singing, it made me think of Josh Turner. That low, yummy country voice. I really see people falling in love with him quickly.”
The Voice airs Monday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT on NBC. Streams next day on Peacock.
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