The Voice coach Blake Shelton is sitting pretty during the Top 10 live performances of Season 15 of The Voice. He has three country music artists competing including the eldest of the Top 10, 39-year-old Dave Fenley from San Antonio, Texas. For his The Voice Top 10 performance, Fenley sings the ballad “When You Say Nothing At All”, which became a hit song for Keith Whitley in 1988 (see video below). Whitley tragically died months later of alcohol poisoning, at the age of 33.
Eight years after Whitley’s death, in 1995, the marvelous Alison Krauss covered the song for a tribute album to Whitley, Keith Whitley: A Tribute Album. Krauss included the cover on her compilation album Now That I’ve Found You: A Collection — and it became her first solo Top 10 country hit. The song and album’s success caught Krauss by surprise. In 1995, she told The Los Angeles Times, “it’s a freak thing.” Krauss’ recording also won the 1995 CMA award for “Single of the Year.” The Voice airs Mondays and Tuesdays at 8 pm on NBC. [Download Dave Fenley’s cover of ‘When You Say Nothing At All’ on iTunes.]
