Sam James

Photo Credit: Sam James (Facebook)

Sam James auditions for NBC's "The Voice".

Photo Credit: www.nbc.com

Auburn native and local musician Sam James was chosen from over 120,000 singers to audition for the NBC television show "The Voice".

As seen on Monday night's episode, James sang "I Don't Want To Be" by Gavin DeGraw, auditioning for the celebrity panel of experts including Adam Levine, Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green and Blake Shelton.

Although he was not chosen to continue in the competition, the judges gave him favorable reviews including Levine who said he sounded exactly like DeGraw.

"There's no hard feelings man, I respect all of you and I appreciate it," James said following the audition.

Born and raised in Auburn, James attended Assumption School in Millbury, Westborough High and graduated from Saint John's Preparatory School in Shrewsbury before moving to Worcester. He now resides in Sturbridge.

According to his website, "Sam James is a singer-songwriter rising to prominence in the alternative folk-rock scene. Fresh off an extended tour, he has already amassed a sizable fan base. Inspired by such masters as Bob Dylan, Dave Matthews, John Mayer and David Wilcox, James writes and performs his own songs on guitar and piano."

"Thank you so much for your support from "The Voice!" You are all amazing. I know you tuned in to see and it didn't go as planned for me...don't be discouraged, I assure you I'm not. It was an incredible experience and opened lots of great doors for me. Please continue to show me love and come out to shows in your area. You mean a lot to me and the response from tonight was amazing," James posted on his Facebook fan page.

The day after his appearance, some of the local radio stations discussed James' audition and mentioned plans to play his music. When he is not touring, the musician plays locally at clubs, restaurants and various venues.

He can be heard this Saturday, Feb. 11 at Berklee College of Music at Café 939 in Boston. To purchase tickets, click here.

Check out Sam James' performance on second season of "The Voice" episode two (clip at 28.41).