Ian Flanigan came in third on Season 19 of The Voice, on Blake Shelton‘s team. The New York native gained the attention of talent scouts for the reality TV talent show while he was performing in Nashville, unaware of how that one show in early 2020 would forever change the entire trajectory of his life and career.
“The Voice was kind of an unexpected thing for me,” Flanigan admits to Everything Nash. “I wasn’t ever looking for it. So after it happened, I basically just went back on the road the next night. Blake was nice enough to hook me up with two Ole Red shows, literally three days after the finale. And after that, I signed with Reviver Records and we did a single and have been working on a full record that we released last September. ”
Flanigan had a crash course in becoming a celebrity, thanks to his time on The Voice. Now that he’s had a couple of years to settle into his music career, the singer-songwriter is grateful for his time on the show, even if it also created some unique challenges as well.
“I think there are pros and cons, but really I think that the most important thing is building something before,” Flanigan advises.”I feel like The Voice can help push something already existing, but it can’t necessarily create anything for you. I think a lot of what artists need to do is, they don’t have to have an identity and a full package production out there, but there are a lot of people that go on that show without one song online, with no musical background.
“And I feel that no matter how amazing they are, sometimes they miss that chance to really capitalize on what it could do for your career, ’cause it’s not existing yet,” he adds. “So I think navigating it after [the show] is different for everybody based on how you went in before it.”
For Flanigan, his career after The Voice got a big boost, thanks to his collaboration with Shelton on “Grow Up,” from his Strong album, released last year.
“I was living in a van at the time and traveling through Texas and [Reviver Records Founder and CEO] David Ross called me to do a single. I was running through a bunch of different catalogs of songs, and then a lot of my own work, and we came up with three songs that we were gonna do. I tossed them to Blake; we had just been working together, to see what he thought.”
Perhaps surprisingly, it was Shelton’s idea to join Flanigan on “Grow Up,” giving the song a boost as soon as it was released.
“He was kind enough to shoot back and be like, ‘Hey man, I really love this ‘Grow Up’ song. What do you think if I jump on it?'” Flanigan remembers. “He is just the kindest guy in the world. I was like, ‘I think whatever you say, man, that’s amazing.’ So I really just have a world of gratitude for that guy.”
Find all of Flanigan’s music and upcoming shows at IanFlaniganMusic.com.