The 19th season of The Voice kicked off with a bang, as the coaches got the chance to hear some extraordinarily talented vocalists.
One of those vocalists was 38-year-old Jim Ranger from Bakersfield, California. Ranger opted to sing Keith Urban‘s #1 song from 2016, “Blue Ain’t Your Color.”
The song’s naturally soulful, bluesy vibe played right into Ranger’s strengths. His father was a pastor, so he grew up surrounded by the sounds of church and spiritual music. He followed in his father’s footsteps, and is currently a campus pastor at the New Life Church in Bakersfield.
Ranger also has experience performing for competition shows like The Voice. He previously auditioned for the ninth season of American Idol in 2010, and earned a golden ticket for his performance of an original song called “Drive.”
Ranger didn’t end up earning his big break on Idol. But after his time on the show he went on to release a couple Christian albums before giving The Voice a shot. And based on the coaches’ reactions to his performance of “Blue Ain’t Your Color,” his future seems bright!
He was able to get three of the four coaches to turn for his passionate performance. John Legend was the first to turn around, followed by Gwen Stefani, and last but not least, he caught the attention of The Voice‘s resident country boy, Blake Shelton.
Legend tried to make a good case for himself, telling Ranger that his performance spoke to his own church-singing background. “I was feeling the spirit,” Legend said.
Stefani tried to convince Ranger to join her team by talking about how she had some great shows in Bakersfield back when she performed with her band No Doubt. She also talked about how she’s experienced some success on the country charts thanks to her popular duets with Shelton.
As for Shelton himself, he coaxed Ranger to join his team by speaking about Bakersfield and how much appreciation he has for it. “I love Bakersfield; I love the music history there,” he said.
Ranger had a tough choice to make, but in the end, he felt that Shelton was the best fit for him. He’s now a member of Team Blake!
Watch the performance that helped him reach that point by tuning in to the video below. We can’t wait to see what else he accomplishes on The Voice!