Idol Chatter & Voice Views

His audition: Brian Pounds, 24, of Austin, Texas, sang Darius Rucker’s “Wagon Wheel.” The performance prompted chair turns from Blake Shelton and Cee Lo Green, the only coaches with vacancies on their team at that point. Blake complimented him on a “great sound” and a “great clear voice.”

Brian Pounds of Team Blake Shelton on The Voice. (NBC Photo)

Background: Brian is a full-time musician who classifies himself as a soul singer-songwriter. But his family was always into athletics and Brian at one point dreamed of playing pro baseball. But just before his senior year of high school, Brian announced that he wanted to focus on music and playing guitar. Brian said it started with a guitar his brother had lying around. “I learned two songs. Then I learned three songs. It kind of captivated me.” After high school, he started playing bars and restaurants.

On choosing Blake: Brian said he always thought he’d choose Cee Lo. “Blake is an incredibly charming guy and had a lot of really great things to say and kind of understood me as an artist. It just felt right when I chose him. … You definitely know he can take you as far as you need to go on the show and even after. I would definitely say his three wins influenced my decision.”

What the show didn’t show: His Voice bio says Brian not only gave up sports, but left college and a job to pursue music full time. In a conference call interview the day after his audition aired, Brian said he followed a girlfriend to Oklahoma University when he was 18. “We broke up, like an hour and half after I got there. It had nothing to do with the college. I think it’s just that college, in general, wasn’t meant for me.” Music is, clearly. Brian released an album called “After You’re Gone” in 2009 that is out of print, but that you can listen to here. Then he released an excellent eight-track EP in 2012. You can hear two tracks from that EP below. Also make sure to check out “Stranded Out on 17th,” “Take Me Back to Texas” and “Romeo and Juliet.” The latter ranks with Kat Robichaud’s “Burn” as the best pre-Voice track I’ve discovered so far thanks to Season 5 of The Voice. In his CDBaby bio, Brian says he took up guitar because his brother was into it “and he was my hero. The first time I played on stage was my junior year of high school and I had to play for three hours. I didn’t know that many songs, so I played everything three times.” On Facebook, Brian lists his genre as “folk rock/country/kick ass.”

Quote: “I’ve never been so happy to be so broke,” he says of his early career. “But when gigs aren’t rolling in and you’re not quite sure where that money’s going to come from and you’re sitting over a pile of noodles you can barely afford, you definitely have those moments of self doubt.”

iTunes: The studio version of his audition song and that eight-track EP from 2012.

Keeping up with Brian: On Twitter — @BrianPounds — Facebook — YouTube — Website

For profiles of other Season 5 contestants, go here.

Brian Pounds, “In the Morning You’ll Be Gone” (from his EP)

Brian Pounds, “My Company” (from his EP)