'The Voice': Sanford's Britton Buchanan could be 'The Boss' of NBC's singing show
If you want to get Britton Buchanan going, just ask him about Bruce Springsteen and then sit back. The 18-year-old's love and enthusiasm for The Boss pours out.
"I saw Springsteen in Virginia Beach in 2016, and I was in the pit," he said during a recent phone interview. "During 'Spirit in the Night' he walked right by me and I got to touch his arm and I freaked out like a little girl, right? Later in the show during 'Tenth Avenue Freeze Out,' no joke, I swear to you, the man came out and saw me dancing and came right up to me and held my hand.”It was a moment. And there will be more of those to come.
Buchanan, a senior at Lee County High School, may get a chance to perform one of his hero's songs on NBC's "The Voice," this season. Buchanan wowed judges in the show's Season 14 premiere with his rendition of Ray LaMontagne's "Trouble" and then picked Alicia Keys as his coach.
This week, he'll go up against one of his teammates in the Battle Rounds.
At home in Sanford
Buchanan started playing guitar when he was 8 and singing publicly around age 12. Until his big TV break, Buchanan said he mostly sang in the Sanford and Triangle areas, even singing the national anthem at the Durham Bulls game. Twice.
The young Matt Damon-lookalike also been active in the drama club at Lee County High, playing Danny Zuko in “Grease” last spring.
Buchanan is comfortable singing nearly every genre of music — a quality that could take far on the NBC singing competition.
But apart from a couple of great aunts, Buchanan said singing isn't a big part of his family history. His family members, who were present for his televised audition for "The Voice," are very supportive.
His parents, Shannon and Todd, live in Sanford with Buchanan's little brother, Dawson, a sixth-grader at Lee Christian School. His mother is an office manager for a cardiologist and his father, well. "With all honesty, I have no idea what my dad does. He works at Duke Energy but I don't know what he does. Mom, do you know what he does? My mom doesn't know what he does. For all we know, he works for the CIA," Buchanan joked.