[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers from the premiere of The Road.]
The Road has officially begun! The new show from Blake Shelton and Taylor Sheridan premiered on Sunday, October 19, with 12 artists opening for Keith Urban at a special performance in Fort Worth, Texas.
Each of the contestants got to sing one original song for the crowd, who then got to rate them on a scale of 1 to 10. At the end of the episode, Shelton and Urban decided who would be eliminated from the audience’s bottom three.
Scroll down for a recap of all the performances and to find out who Shelton and Urban sent home.
Adam Sanders
The first artist to take the stage was Adam Sanders. Shelton has actually known Sanders’ uncle, Scotty Sanders, a session musician in Nashville, since he was just 19 years old.
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After years of touring and being labeled as “just the songwriter,” Adam is ready to prove he’s so much more. He performed his most-streamed song, “What If I’m Right,” which came out in 2021.
Urban said that Sanders “came out and killed it” and “took charge” of the stage, while Shelton added, “He made you listen to it.”
Britnee Kellogg
Britnee Kellogg, a mom who has not been able to pursue her dream of relocating to Nashville because of her parenting plan with her first husband, performed her song “Hey Mama.” She wrote the song while struggling with postpartum depression after giving birth to her daughter.
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“I saw a lot of girls relate to that song. Look at her, she’s wiping away tears right there,” Shelton pointed out. Urban said he “likes” Britnee’s voice a lot and that she “just looks like a star.”
Shelton also added, “I got a lot of respect for Britnee. She’s a mother of three, and to balance that with chasing your dream is a lot of work. I don’t know that we have a better female vocalist in the competition.”
Cody Hibbard
South Korea native Cody Hibbard was adopted when she was 13 months old. He attended the Naval Academy, but then struggled with a pill addiction after leaving. He performed his song “Looking Back Now,” which he described as “heartbreak song about growing.”
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“Obviously, he’s limited as a vocalist,” Shelton admitted. “His vocal stays right in that spot. But I don’t know how much that matters, either. He had the audience.” Urban agreed that Cody is “super likable.”
Jenny Tolman
Being on The Road was a big deal for Jenny Tolman, as it was the first time she was touring away from her husband and 2-year-old son. She sang her track “I Know Some Cowboys,” which she said is “always a crowd pleaser.”
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“Jenny’s an artist that’s been able to make it work,” Shelton shared. “Touring, getting out on the road, getting out of Nashville … it’s a super competitive town. She’s done a great job of it.”
Urban admitted that he wanted to see Jenny “work the audience a bit more” and “change it up” a bit throughout the performance. “She’s fun, but we’ve had some really good singers so far. Vocally, she’s going to have to step it up.”
Forrest McCurren
After 10 years of writing songs, Forrest McCurren is ready for life on the road. Even before he performed, Urban noted that Forrest was “super likable,” with Shelton adding, “Forrest walked into the audition for us producers and had us wrapped around his finger in literally five minutes.”
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However, Shelton also noted that Forrest is “more of a singer/songwriter,” and he wasn’t sure how that was going to play out in front of Urban’s rowdy crowd. Forrest performed his song “Small Prayers, Big Blessings.”
“The crowds later in the tour, they might not be as forgiving,” Urban said. “If he was at the Bluebird Cafe, he’d be great. You’d hear all the lyrics, the storytelling.”
Billie Jo Jones
Billie Jo Jones, a mom of four kids, has been traveling with her band for more than a decade, and admittedly “doesn’t like being told no,” despite the negative responses she’s gotten from industry heads over the years.
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Unfortunately, she woke up not feeling great on the day of the performance, and her voice was only at about 80% when she took the stage to perform “Some Girls Don’t Cry.”
It didn’t seem to affect her, though. “She’s not lacking any confidence,” Urban noted. Shelton said, “It’s almost like she wasn’t singing live. Her pitch was that solid. She has that raspy voice, but has that control over it.”
Briana Adams
Briana Adams came to the show from a super small Texas town. She performed a song called “You Only Know the Name.”
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“I love Briana’s story,” Shelton admitted. “When she walked into the audition, you could tell you’re talking to somebody from a very small town. She writes about what she knows and what she’s experienced and I just have a ton of respect for her.”
Urban said Briana needs to “learn some things with leaning in and backing off, working the mic a bit more,” while Shelton pointed out, “She did get them engaged, though, it seemed like.”
Channing Wilson
Channing Wilson, a cowriter on Luke Combs‘ “She’s Got the Best of Me,” has been touring for 25 years, so he already knows what life is like on the road.
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After Channing’s performance of “Blues Comin’ On,” Urban said, “That song played to every part of his voice,” and Shelton noted, “He’s literally like some country legend we already know somehow. He had them from the first note.”
Blaine Bailey
At 23 years old, Blaine Bailey is the youngest in the competition. He said he enjoys singing about some of the issues he faces as a Native American.
“I was really intrigued by Blaine,” Shelton shared. “You don’t see a lot of Native Americans pursuing mainstream music. The fact that he’s able to take his heritage and plug that into what he does musically gives him an edge that no one else in this competition has, but maybe also no one in country music has, period, that I can think of.”
Unfortunately, his performance of his song “T-Shirt” was a bit underwhelming. “He lost the room,” Urban admitted. Shelton added, “I picked that guy to be on the show. It’s not even about reading the room. You got that message you want to deliver, but you’re also here to win this competition.”
Olivia Harms
Olivia Harms is no stranger to the music industry because her mom, Joni Harms, was a musician in the ’90s. In fact, Olivia’s performance song “Ain’t My First Rodeo” was written after she had writer’s block and then called up her mom for a chat.
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“I’m a big fan of what Olivia does,” Shelton said. “She truly is a cowgirl. How is that going to play out here on the road? I have no idea. It could be huge and it may not work for her. But I do think she’s an important artist to have on this show.”
Urban thought Olivia’s performance “might have been a bit too reserved for this rowdy Texas crowd” and noted that the audience was “getting harder to impress” as the night went on. “They’re like, ‘OK, we heard a lot of good stuff, what do you got?’ Even now, you can’t just say, ‘Texas,’ and get them to cheer. Everyone’s done that. What else you got?”
Jon Wood
Jon Wood said he was basically raise to pursue music. He showed his country roots with a performance of his song called “Too Country,” which is about “not being sorry that [he’s] a little redneck.”
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Shelton said that Jon’s voice is “the country voice that truly is like a honky tonk sound” and gushed, “I love that guy. I love his voice.” Urban agreed, but admitted, “I would’ve done the song a little bit higher. So much of it is in this lower point, when he got up higher, it’s like, ‘Oh, good.’”
Cassidy Daniels
After growing up as an Army brat and moving 15 different times, Cassidy Daniels knows she has what it takes for life on the road. Her performance of her song “Crazy Love” also proved that she can back it up.
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Urban and Shelton both gave Cassidy a standing ovation. “Now that’s how you end it right there!” Urban gushed. “She’s loose and carefree.” Shelton said his heart was “still racing” after the performance, too.
Who was eliminated on The Road premiere?
After the audience’s votes, Shelton told the group that the three artists who were “absolutely saved” were Cassidy, Cody, and Adam. “You guys just came out swinging tonight,” Urban told them.
The bottom three, though, were Olivia, Forrest, and Blaine. “It sucks, but it’s just about how you connected here in this place tonight with this particular audience that came out to see Keith,” Shelton told the trio.
It was then up to Shelton and Urban to decide who would be sent home, and they opted to eliminate Blaine. “Forrest, you bring such a unique take on performing. The thing you got to figure out how to do is take that guy and connect with people. Olivia, we’re in Fort Worth, Texas. A lot of these people are cowboys that have come into town for the weekend, maybe that particular song wasn’t enough to rile them up.”
He concluded, “Blaine, I think Keith said it best earlier … whatever it is you give them, is kind of what you can expect to get back from them. We felt like maybe you had the least amount of connection with the audience tonight, and for that reason, we’re going to have to send you home.”
The other 11 artists will move onto the next city and open for Urban once again in next week’s episode.
The Road, Sundays, 9:30/8:30c, CBS