Pastor and Father of 8 Wins “The Voice”
Win of His Life
Todd sang in church his whole life. As the lead pastor at his home church, he sang a lot, and when he auditioned for The Voice he blew the judges away, getting all four chairs to turn. All four judges were stunned, and though he sang regularly, Todd stunned them, even more, when he said that he had never sung professionally. He thought that many of the contestants were so good and had performed and developed professionally, and he had not. Todd came to the show after he tried to teach himself to play the piano. He wasn't that great but “would bang out the songs” on the piano and post them on Instagram. A friend saw them and said he should audition for The Voice & sent him information to audition for the show in July 2019. Being busy with life, at one point he decided not to audition for the show. He and wife Brooke had just taken a long road trip to Colorado and he didn’t look forward to another long drive to the open call in Atlanta, which was a 4 ½ hour drive. But Brooke encouraged him to go, saying he would regret not going. “She sorta talked me into it,” he says. Todd’s blind singing audition touched everyone. For the finals, Todd sang "I Can Only Imagine.” Kelly Clarkson was nearly brought to tears, saying she wanted to come to his church just to hear him speak, not only to sing. Having a heart to sing country music he chose Blake Shelton as his coach. At the finals, Todd was surrounded by Brooke, his wife of 21 years, and their eight children, some who cried when their dad was announced the winner. He is now a local celebrity and getting used to being stopped and recognized by the hometown folks.
The regular production of the show was changed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. He and other contestants could not perform before a live audience. Todd did all his remote work from his church, and all his family could be there which was great. Oldest son Eagan, 20, was a big help with setting everything up, keeping tabs on things, etc. “All my family was there,” he says, “and the kids got to be part of everything.” Looking back Todd is glad it worked out the way it did. Not having to face a large audience and having his family with him kept his anxiety down. “I love the Lord, and I love my family,” Todd says. He is a man of faith and thinks that God just had it done this way. “And I’m thankful that it was,” he says.
Bright Future
Todd’s future looks bright with several projects in the works. He is working on a new CD, a new book deal, a reality TV show has been mentioned, etc. At present he has a regular live show – with social distancing, etc - in Pigeon Forge, TN every Thursday-Saturday night at least until OCT. He will be singing a lot of songs from his appearances on The Voice as well as other favorites of his own. The shows will include more than music.
