Lauren Pennino

SUNY Oneonta graduate Ryan Quinn appeared on NBC’s “The Voice” on March 7th after performing “Can’t Find My Way Home” during the audition phase of the show. Quinn received a rare four chair turn from celebrity coaches Adam Levine, Blake Shelton, Christina Aguilera, and Pharrell Williams.

Quinn is from Westmoreland, NY, near Utica, and graduated from SUNY Oneonta in 2013. He was trending on the social media site Twitter the following day, was talked about on CNN, and was already charting on iTunes. One week later, the YouTube video of his audition reached a mouth dropping 1.8 million views, and his second performance  (a duet with another contestant) added 330,000 views in two days.

Quinn graduated with a degree in Music Industry/Communication studies, and grew up playing the drums and piano. He never considered himself a serious singer until he entered college. During his time spent at SUNY Oneonta, he taught himself how to play the guitar and studied voice with the music department lecturer Colby Thomas. He was a member of the campus ensembles including Hooked on Tonics, the Funk band, and Mothers of Intention Frank Zappa tribute band.

As an RA for Blodgett Hall, he organized several open mic nights and was always found playing music and singing along with friends.

Quinn and a few of his friends who were also music majors randomly decided to head to New York City to audition for “The Voice.” None of them got any call backs and he kind of gave up on that idea.

After constant encouragement from his friends and family, Quinn decided to give the audition another shot. After his audition for Season 10 last summer, he got a call back informing him that he had made it. He had to keep this tremendous news a secret until the show aired.

Be sure to keep an eye out for our fellow Oneonta grad, as he fights his way week by week on “The Voice” every Monday and Tuesday night at 8/7c.

More From Big Cat - WBKT-FM