Country music singer offers sneak peek at married life, new album and enduring gratitude to Blake Shelton
A country musician is peeling back the layers of his personal life as he releases new music for fans amid a fresh start in life that includes his recent elopement in the snow-covered mountains of Colorado to his lady love.
Ian Flanigan, best known for his third-place finish on Season 19 of "The Voice," talked to Fox News Digital this week ahead of his new single's release on Friday, which touches on life, personal milestones and more.
The native of Saugerties, New York, met his now-wife Kelsey Charles at a country music festival in Beaver Creek, Colorado, a year-and-a-half ago, he said, and the pair recently went back to that exact spot to get married.
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"We eloped, so I just had my dad, brother, her parents and a really close friend of mine," he said.
Flanigan described the Feb. 29 ceremony as a "really small, beautiful wedding out in the mountains."
When asked if he was expecting to meet his future wife at a music festival, Flanigan simply said he stopped expecting things years ago.
"Every time I start making plans, they just don’t happen, so I just try not to expect anything," he said with a smile.
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The musician, who has been open about his sobriety, told Fox News Digital that he hopes to destigmatize "any kind of depression, isolation [and] addiction."
"Everybody’s [just] one person away from somebody [who's] struggling right now," he noted.
Flanigan will be nine years sober this April, he said.
"I started off playing dive bars when I was 18 [and] 19, playing for tips and booze … So by the time I was 25, I just had a really unhealthy relationship with alcohol," he said.
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By sharing his personal journey with others, Flanigan said he’s seen a common thread of people wanting to build a community of discussion around the topic.
"A lot of people get more isolated the further down they go," he said.
"And I think a lot of it’s about talking and destigmatizing."
Flanigan’s new single, "Broken Heart," is available for download as of today, March 29 — heard here first on Fox News Digital.
The musician said that surprisingly — judging by its title, at least — it's not a sad song.
"You'd think by [the title] it might be a sad song — but it’s really about celebrating this beautiful woman that you’re with. And a lot of guys are going to be leaving with a broken heart because they’re not leaving with her," he said.
The song was produced by Jon Stone, a friend of his and a fellow artist — and someone with whom he feels very aligned, he said.
As for what the future looks like, Flanigan said he’s looking forward to releasing his new album, "The Man My Momma Raised," soon.
He also said he hopes to be seeing his "The Voice" coach Blake Shelton again before too long.
"Blake has changed my life in so many ways, [and] he’s just been an amazing friend and mentor to me," he said.
"He’s just such a down-to-earth person [and] he’s given me a lot of great advice to kind of navigate this industry." fo
Flanigan said his new album will be a compilation of stories from his journey with his mother — whom he lost this past year.
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"This album is very, very close to my heart," he said.
This summer he'll continue to release more singles and videos from his new album.
Flanigan's single "Grow Up" from 2022 reached No. 5 on the U.S. iTunes sales chart with well over 3 million streams. He has toured extensively with Trace Adkins, Chris Janson and many others.
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