The Voice: The Truth About Ian Flanigan
Singer Ian Flanigan of The Voice Season 19 earned his keep on Blake Shelton's team. The award-winning country singer snatched Ian up following his blind audition performance of Zac Brown Bands' "Colder Weather." Shelton even jumped out of his seat in amazement to praise Ian's vocal ability. "Where is your beard that's supposed to go from here to there," Shelton jokingly asked. "Your hat, your giant beer gut, all the stuff that goes along with that voice that you have? How is that possible?"
The upstate New York native told the coaches that he's a touring musician living in a motorhome with his family. Just a few days before his debut on The Voice, Ian shared an Instagram post revealing that he popped the question to his fiancé. "This beautiful woman and I are getting married!!!! No luckier man on the planet. Looking forward to the rest of our lives," Ian captioned photos of his wife-to-be. In addition to living on the road with his fiancé Ayla, the traveling musician also is a full-time dad to their 7-year-old daughter Kamea. "Hard to believe that today this little munchkin turns 7 years old," he captioned a photo with his daughter. "We've already been on a thousand adventures together and I couldn't be more proud of the little woman she's become. Happy birthday Kamea!!!" Ian's rich family life has surely helped ground him in his career as a singer-songwriter. But where did Ian Flanigan get that impressive voice?
Ian Flanigan's 'pretty unique' soulful sound
Shortly after being added to Blake Shelton's team on The Voice, Ian Flanigan sat down with FabTV to discuss his "pretty unique" singing ability. "I'm trying to be as authentic to myself as I can be," he shared when discussing his innovative vocal range. While on the show, Ian has received praise from the coaches for the control and sound of his voice. However, the raspy nature of his voice is something he tries to harness. "I guess it is very raspy at times," he admitted. "I try to not be too raspy."
During his blind audition, John Legend acknowledged Ian's baritone, saying it sounds like he's lived "a thousand lives." That unique ability to incorporate soul into his country sound is something Ian takes pride in. "I think soulful is an expression more than a genre," he told FabTV before toying around with titling his genre of music. "I try to express myself from my soul. But I guess technically it might be more Americana folk. I don't really know." In December 2020, Ian's Instant Save performance of Travis Tritt's "Anymore" kept him in the competition and proved how much of a fan favorite he became. "I know country always wins on this show but man I wouldn't be mad if Ian won HE IS GOOOOOD," one fan wrote in the YouTube comments.