Gyth Rigdon

Gyth Rigdon captured widespread attention during the early months of 2019 through his appearance on NBC’s The Voice, where he placed second on season 16. Throughout the competition he projected a distinctly Southern identity, moving with equal ease between country material and blues numbers. That hybrid style had taken shape across the preceding ten years as he maintained a steady schedule of live performances and issued a series of self-released projects that foregrounded his spare, twangy delivery.

Born in the modest Louisiana community of Singer, Rigdon spent his formative years laboring on the family’s racehorse farm. Church singing occupied him in childhood; later he picked up guitar, an activity that soon led to composing his own songs. After finishing high school he focused on building a performing career, gradually securing opening slots for regional acts such as Johnny Lee.

He also began competing in talent contests, among them the early-2010s series The Sound. During that same period he contributed music to the 2013 film How to Love a Geek, moved to Nashville, and started putting out independent recordings. The EP When I Began appeared in 2016, followed two years later by the album When I’m Gone. In the same stretch he obtained higher-profile support engagements with artists including Jake Owen, Gary Allan, and Andy Grammer.

Rigdon returned to national television in 2019 for season 16 of NBC’s The Voice. Blake Shelton served as his coach, and Rigdon drew notice for his interpretation of Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA,” ultimately finishing runner-up on the program.