Nashville Makes An Impression On “The Voice”

The second season of NBC’s The Voice is well underway, and Nashville’s considerable talent pool is being represented so far by three singers.

Early in the season, North Dakota-born singer/songwriter Gwen Sebastian landed a spot on team Blake Shelton by delivering a stirring rendition of Sugarland’s “Stay.” Blake commented, “Hey listen, you are a great country vocalist. You have every quality. You are tender in the right places, and you are powerful in the right places, and it matches the lyrics. I just think you really know what you are doing. You have a great sound and you’re developed.” Sebastian will also be blogging about the experience on the show on gactv.com.

If Sebastian’s name sounds familiar, it’s because she actually had a little success on MusicRow’s CountryBreakout Chart back in 2010 with a single called “Hard Rain.” She’s currently being represented by Flying Island Entertainment.

Additionally, Team Blake picked up Nashville resident Brian Fuente after his audition with the Grace Potter song “Paris (Ooh La La).” Fuente moved to town in 2007 and is a self-taught guitarist who formerly fronted the rock band Newmatic.

Also representing Music City is Nicolle Galyon, who turned in a performance of Kenny Chesney’s “You Save Me.” This time around, judge Adam Levine was the one to pounce, and selected Galyon for his team. See the audition here.

Galyon, a Kansas native, is a graduate of Belmont University and Warner/Chappell songwriter who has penned songs for Laurena Alaina, Josh Kelley, and Brent Anderson. She’s also a classically trained pianist and played Belmont’s yearly showcase The Best of the Best while she was a student.

A Belmont University representative also informs us that three other alumni are part of this season. Contestants Katrina Parker (Team Adam), Hailey Steele (of The Line, Team Christina) and Tony Vincent (Team Cee-Lo) all previously lived in Nashville and attended Belmont at some point in time.

Go Nashville!