Roane County native and Midway High School graduate Ben Allen Hughes is one of the few that have been given a chance to perform on season 19 of NBC’s The Voice.

In his blind audition for the show, Hughes performed “Red Dirt Road” and it only took 7 seconds into the song for Blake Shelton to press his buzzer.

The 42-year-old Hughes was born and grew up just outside of Kingston in Angler’s Cove. He currently resides in Estero, Florida

Ben was raised in church and first started singing in the choir. He continued singing in the school chorus but didn’t seriously pursue music after high school. It wasn’t until he was 31 that he performed at an open mic on a whim and loved every second of it. He formed a duo and later his own five-piece band, the Ben Allen Band, which is now one of the biggest bands in Southwest Florida. For the past 10 years, he has been a construction inspector by day and musician by night.

“The Voice” airs on NBC Monday and Tuesday nights at 7 p.m. central/8 p.m. eastern.