The goofy dude with the hats, Sawyer Fredericks, bested Michigan roots rocker Joshua Davis to win the NBC vocal competition, 'The Voice' Tuesday night.

Davis, who penned an original song about the people in Michigan for the show, wound up third, and performed a duet with Sheryl Crow on the finale.

In the end, it wasn't all that surprising that Fredericks (who ruined Neil Young's 'Old Man', which I didn't think was possible) walked off with the title, as he was one of the clear favorites of the viewing public since the voting started a few weeks back. Pop singer Meghan Linsey came in second.

Davis, meanwhile, hung on by the skin of his teeth a few weeks back, and slowly built up respect along the way.

Davis' original song 'The Workingman's Hymn' was in the iTunes top ten for a brief time this week, below only Fredericks and Linsey's songs. The song is about the economic disparity in Michigan and is an ode to the resiliency of its residents.

“It’s important to me to show my kids that there is hope even in troubled times,” he said  prior to Monday night’s live performance.

Here's the studio version of the song.

In the final episode of the show's eighth season, Davis got to perform a duet with Sheryl Crow, whose musical style lines up pretty close to Davis'. They matched up for a 'battle round' style take on Crow's song 'Give It To Me'.

Davis has already scheduled several Michigan appearances this summer as he gets ready to use the show's exposure to launch his already solid music career to another level.

Davis will perform as part of the Ann Arbor Sonic Lunch series on June 11. (Another Michigan artist to check out in that series is Jessica Hernandez and the Deltas, they are phenomenal.)

Davis' Lansing based band, Steppin' In It, will play at the Grass Lake benefit on June 23. 

And his Joshua Davis Trio will perform at the Hoxeyville Music Festival on August 14-16.

 

 

 

 

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