Idol Chatter & Voice Views

His audition: Tyler Dickerson, 21, of Denham Springs, La., auditioned with “Hard to Handle.” Blake Shelton turned around just a couple of lines into the song, told Tyler he sounded great and chastised the other three coaches for not turning around.

His background: Tyler is working with his dad’s fencing company; his dad calls him his right-hand man. But his dad also says it’s tough to see Tyler working building fences when he should be singing. Tyler said he got into singing as a child as a spur-of-the-moment thing and wound up performing around Florida as The Outlaw Kid. When he was 13, he was signed to a record label and says John Rich “took me under his wing,” serving as his manager and producer. But then came a phone call that his record label had folded. Shortly thereafter, he was seriously injured in a car crash. He calls The Voice his second shot at music stardom.

What the show didn’t show: By age 11, Tyler was performing 200 shows a year, and The Voice wasn’t exaggerating when it indicated he appeared on the verge of country stardom at one point. And it started when he entered a talent search competition associated with John Rich of Big and Rich.

After signing with Lyric Street Records in 2009, Tyler released an EP and had a single (“Tell Your Sister I’m Single”) hit the Billboard country singles chart. He also landed a prize tour spot — as an opening act on the farewell tour for country icons Brooks & Dunn. He was still just 16 and said at the time that it was “like another dream had just come true.”

Of course, we heard how that dream ended on the show, and the car accident Tyler was involved in “left him lost and feeling disconnected with music,” according to The Voice website. He did return to performing, providing lead vocals at one point for a Louisiana-based cover band called Rockin Rouge.

In a conference call with the media, Tyler admitted there have been times when he felt like another shot at music just wouldn’t happen for him. But he adds: “I always come back to — God put me here for a reason. He saved my life so many times for a reason, and I have a purpose in this world and my purpose in this world is to make people smile, make people happy with my voice that he has given me.”

I’ll be posting profile blogs on every singer who lands a spot on Season 9 of The Voice. For links to the others, head here. Keep checking back. There are many more to come.

On iTunes: That self-titled four-song EP from 2010. “Tell Your Sister I’m Single” is embedded below.

Update:
Battle round: Lost to Zach Seabaugh, singing “I’m Gonna Be Somebody,” and was eliminated.

Keeping up with Tyler:
Facebook
YouTube
Twitter: @TylerDickerson_

Crazy to Love Her (original)

Rhiannon (cover)

Tell Your Sister I’m Single (from self-titled EP)

Blind audition — “Hard to Handle”