Chesapeake native Daniel Marshall Griffith appeared on American Idol Sunday evening. The former Virgina Tech football player audition with a cover of Garth Brooks’ ‘The Dance.’
He revealed on the show that he just started performing live and he’s only played 4-5 gigs in his life!
Despite his lack of experience, Griffith earned a Golden Ticket to Hollywood from judges Lionel Richie, Katy Perry and Luke Bryan.
Richie told the Idol hopeful, “Dan Marshall, you have that storytelling thing, man. There’s something you can’t teach and that’s called natural talent and your craft of who you are. I like what I just heard.”
You know, I was really nervous when you said you’ve only been doing this for five or six months,” Perry added. “I do think you have some natural-born talent. I think that you’ve had your family members say ‘oh go do it,’ but to come here to see if the world likes it that’s a huge risk. All you need is support and a little guidance. It’s not there, but the foundation is secure.”
Luke Bryan chimed in saying, “First and foremost, playing the guitar may be taking your focus away from singing. If you make it to the next round, let the big time pros play the instruments.”
He offered up encouagement saying, “Man, you’re one of the best sounding country artists that have been through, but you’re not doing all of the emotion properly. If I had 20-minutes out there to coach you, I could really show you some tricks, you’ll just have to focus on toeing the line the whole way if we’re talking in football and country music tune.”
Watch Dan’s audition below.
Dan Marshall; Photo by Eric McCandless, ABC
