Austin Allsup's prior performing experience gave him a leg up on the Season 11 The Voice competition.

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Austin, a 32-year-old from Fort Worth, TX, won his The Voice battle against Preston James, a 16-year-old from Nashville, TN, after the two artists sang "Bad Moon Rising" on behalf of Blake Shelton's team.

Due to the fact Austin has a better handle on what he's capable of as a vocalist, Blake advanced him to the "Knockout Round."

"I think the biggest thing [Blake] has already done for me is just turning around and giving me an opportunity -- a run at this thing," Austin told reporters during a recent conference call.

Austin is thankful Blake has been "building up" his confidence and telling him that he "deserves to be here."

The artist then explained what his rehearsal sessions with Blake have been like so far.

"We haven't done a whole lot of, you know, work on technique or anything like that, but he has worked with me on how to approach these songs and just kind of stay true to myself," Austin revealed.

"And he's really pushing for me to just be me up on that stage and do what I've been doing for, you know, a long time now. So it's pretty cool to have him really just as a friend, building me up, lifting me up and helping me believe in myself and know that I'm meant to do this."

Austin also clearly has a lot of faith in the songs Blake selects for him to sing.

"I love that 'Moon Rising.' It's a great tune. I've actually, you know, sang it several times over the years playing in clubs and bars," he said.

But singing the song in a Battle against Preston was still a challenge for a couple different reasons.

"I've never played it at that tempo or down a half a step. I usually sing it a half a step higher than what we did, but we kind of had to make it work for me and Preston, so we brought it down a half a step and slowed it down a little bit," Austin told reporters.

"It's a great tune. I would just rather kind of have another classic timeless tune to sing. I've had 'Wild Horses' by the Rolling Stones and 'Bad Moon Rising' by Credence Clearwater Revival. So I don't have a whole lot of room to complain about the song choices yet. So I'm loving it."

The Voice's Season 11 "Knockout Round" begins Monday night at 8PM ET/PT on NBC.



About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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