Student Experience
UC Santa Cruz Alumnus Marty O’Reilly takes the stage on The Voice
Marty O’Reilly (Kresge ’12, environmental studies) turned three out of four judges’ chairs during The Voice blind auditions.
Marty O'Reilly appears on The Voice Season 28. Photo: Danny Ventrella/NBC
Marty O’ Reilly (Kresge ’12, environmental studies) took the stage on NBC’s The Voice for Season 28’s blind auditions. Singing a cover of “Trouble” by Ray LaMontagne, O’Reilly wowed judges with his rasp and vibrato. Michael Bublé, Niall Horan, and Snoop Dogg turned their chairs before the audition ended, vying for the chance to add O’Reilly to their teams.
Horan, the first to turn his chair for O’Reilly, told the singer, “The rasp in your voice is insane. I’ve got chills,” and Snoop Dogg described it as something he’d “never heard before.”
O’Reilly ultimately chose Bublé–the reigning champion of the last two seasons of the show—as his coach for the season.
O’Reilly transferred to UC Santa Cruz from Santa Rosa Junior College, and graduated with a degree in environmental studies in 2012. While teaching outdoor education in Santa Cruz, he met Chris Lynch, Matt Goff, and Ben Berry, and formed the band Matt O’Reilly and the Old Soul Orchestra.
O’Reilly is set to release his first solo album The Rhinefarm this Fall, with tour dates in South Carolina, Oregon, and California.
O’Reilly will play at The Crepe Place in Santa Cruz on Nov. 15.