Samuel Harness, a 26-year-old from Indiana, impressed on the season 21 premiere of NBC’s The Voice with a cover of a popular 3 Doors Down hit.
Influenced by Bruno Mars, Lewis Capaldi, Ed Sheeran amongst others, as well as his Dad and brother, who play in a bluegrass band called The Harness Family Band. Harness, who is one of five adopted children, says seeing his Dad onstage doing what he loves “was extremely inspiring.”
Sporting a camouflage jacket overtop a red shirt and khaki pants, Harness put gave a unique spin on 3 Doors Down’s hit “Here Without You.”
“The song is really about missing somebody that you love,” Harness explained of his choice of audition song. “That resonated with me because right now, I’m thousands of miles away from my 4-year-old son. It’s a rock song, and I’m going to slow it down a bit and give it my unique flavor.”
Who else LOVES Samuel Harness' Blind Audition? 🙋♀️ #VoicePremiere #TeamLegend pic.twitter.com/nE6qigpXZR
— The Voice (@NBCTheVoice) September 22, 2021
Following his unique performance that impressed nearly all the judges, Grande, Legend and Shelton gushed over his vocal abilities, while Clarkson gave some advice.
“Your sound is absolutely phenomenal, you have such an incredible, unique voice and such a grip on it,” Grande gushed. “I loved the whole journey from the beginning to the end and hearing those amazing raspy high notes that were so grungy but didn’t sound unhealthy. It’s a really hard thing to do, to have that much grit and soul, but also make it sound clean and clear at the same time.”
“You have that thing from the moment a song starts, I would be able to tell it’s you,” Grande added.
“It’s interesting you pointed out Lewis and Ed and Bruno because the vibrato and the rasp that you were working with was so unique and interesting and signature for you,” Legend praised. “It’s a really powerful thing as an audience member to have an artist emote like that. You would be a magical addition to team Legend.”
Legend then admitted that he is jealous of his rasp and what he is able to do with his vocals.
Clarkson added a bit of constructive criticism saying, “I think you have such a cool voice and at the very end when you sustained that big note. That’s when I feel like your voice finally opened up, but it was like the end of the song and everybody had already turned around. I love your voice.”
“I like to work with all kinds of people, and voices like yours are rare. It’s like, instead of a rasp, it’s like a sizzle, like a frying egg whenever you,” Shelton said. “I would be honored to be your coach. I am the returning champ…”
Harness ultimately chose Legend as his coach.
“I’m so happy, I love Samuel. What a powerful performer he is and woo the emotion that came from him,” Legend gushed as he welcomed him on to Team Legend.
The Voice returns next Monday at 8/7c on NBC.
