"The Voice:" Ian Flanigan Talks About Moving Onto Live Rounds

Hudson Valley native Ian Flanigan has taken the latest season of NBC's "The Voice" by storm, and is now ready to move onto Monday's first round of live performances.

The 30-year-old singer-songwriter from Saugerties sang his way into America's heart when he first appeared during his blind audition. Flanigan's gravelly voice impressed all four coaches, but he ultimately ended up on Blake Shelton's team.

After beating out teammate Aaron Scott in the Battle Rounds, Flanigan moved onto the Knockout Rounds, where he received some pretty kind words from none other than Usher, who called Flanigan "one of Blake's top guns."

"Usher's like an amazing human," Flanigan said. "If you're watching, everything he does is pretty perfect, like he'll even show you a vocal run and it's just like the best thing that you could ever do in your lifetime. It feels amazing. It was an honor to meet [him]."

After a stunning rendition of Luke Combs' "Beautiful Crazy" from Flanigan, Shelton sent him onto the live shows.

Now let's talk about that guitar. In all three of his performances, Flanigan has played his own guitar, and you may notice the letters etched along the edges. Those letters have played a big part in Flanigan's career and are so much more than just a cool design.

"Those are actually initials, and...my last two records that I put out, I did a crowdfunding, I did an Indiegogo, so I could get the record done, and that was one of the options that people could choose to support the record," Flanigan said. "They could donate to the cause and I would wood-burn their initials into my guitar. There's probably about 25. The whole thing was so I could take them all on every stage with me, and now I've been advocating to play that guitar on every show just so I can keep them with me."

Ian Flanigan will perform live on NBC's "The Voice" this Monday, November 30 at 8 p.m. While he's unable to divulge any details about what song he'll be performing, he did give us a hint to keep us guessing until Monday.

"It's been recorded by three artists that I know of," Flanigan said. "I can't say what it is, but I'm excited. It might not be what you expect."

Also starting Monday, viewers will have the chance to vote for their favorite artists and help them move onto the next round. And certainly, our Hudson Valley guy would love some home state love!

Listen to our latest interview with Ian Flanigan here: