The Voice Recap: St. Louis' Mighty Pines Frontman Neil Salsich Slayed

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VIA THE BAND

Neil Salsich (second from right) is competing on The Voice.

Neil Salsich is off and running on NBC’s The Voice. 

The fact that the St. Louis singer would be a contestant on the upcoming season of The Voice had been the worst-kept secret in town for several weeks. Word spread that Salsich, frontman for local heroes the Mighty Pines, had been in L.A. to tape the early rounds of the show. 

Last night, the season premiere finally aired, and we can now report the following. 

Salsich went first. Surely, this lead-off spot is a good sign for Salsich, as the show looks to hook audiences from the get-go with a strong opening contestant. 

For his blind audition, Salsich sang the Hank Williams chestnut “Honky Tonk Blues.” It was, at first blush, a curious choice, as the song would seem to position Salsich as countrier than he actually is. However, that pick turned out to be smartly strategic, designed to hook judge Blake Shelton, a country singer who knows his way around a Hank tune and who has an impressive winning streak on the show. 

Salsich turned in a rollicking version of the Hank classic, one that showed off a number of his strengths: his impressive range, a falsetto that is varyingly powerful and nuanced, a rocker’s growl, an expressive personality, a hazy yodel, professional poise, some improvisational runs and impressive orthodontia. 

Neil’s mom and sister wiggled, beamed, clapped and cried at side stage alongside host Carson Daly.

Salsich received the rare, coveted four-chair turnaround — first Shelton, followed by Kelly Clarkson, then Chance the Rapper and finally Niall Horan. However, in a sign of how impressed Shelton was, he used his one block for the entire season to prevent Salsich from choosing Clarkson as his coach (despite the likelihood that Shelton was Salsich’s first choice all along). 

After the song, Neil introduced himself, clearing up some citywide confusion about how to pronounce his surname (SAL-sick): “My name is Neil Salsich. I’m 34, and I’m from St. Louis, Missouri.” 

With Clarkson out of the running, Salsich listened to pitches from Chance, Horan and Shelton, all of whom, along with Clarkson, praised Salsich’s voice and vibe. Shelton reminded Salsich that this season of The Voice would be his last as a coach, a strategy he used all night as extra incentive for contestants to choose him. 

Sure enough, Salsich elected to become a member of Team Blake. As Shelton stood up to celebrate, Salsich shouted, “We’re going all the way, Blake!” From the looks of things in the early going, he may be right. Stay tuned.