Former Monmouth College baseball star appears on NBC's 'The Voice'

A former baseball player at Monmouth College is trying to knock one out of the park in a different field.

Ross Donnan, an Evanston, Illinois native and Monmouth College graduate, is a contestant on NBC's "The Voice" singing competition.

Donnan appeared under the stage name, Ross Clayton (his middle name). The 2012 Monmouth graduate was trying to impress the judges, Blake Shelton and Kelly Clarkson, while also impressing new coaches Niall Horan and Chance the Rapper.

Donnan ended up turning four chairs and chose Niall Horan as his coach.

Donnan’s music is described as “a bittersweet blend of modern Americana country and old-school twang,” drawing inspiration from artists such as the Zac Brown Band, George Strait and Bob Seger.

Donnan’s roots in performance can be traced to his senior year of high school, when he said “peer pressure” led him to audition for a part in the Evanston (Illinois) Township High School production of the musical comedy Little Shop of Horrors.“I had a lot of friends who were doing it, and they told me how much fun it is, and how you get attention from the girls, and how great the cast parties are,” said Donnan, who now lives in McLoud, Oklahoma, where he’s a software developer. “I said, ‘Sure, why not? It’s my senior year. I’ll try something new.’”Donnan’s audition went so well that he was given a leading role.“I was Steve Martin, if you’ve seen the 1986 movie,” said Donnan. “I was Orin Scrivello, D.D.S., the narcissistic dentist.”

After a successful baseball career at Monmouth College, Donnan said he when he got out into the real world and found that he had free time after he got off work.

“Playing in college was fun, and I caught the bug,” he said. “I enjoyed the performing aspect of it. My job after college was from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m., so I had entire afternoons to fill. Someone said to me, ‘Why don’t you start a band?’ So I put out an ad on Craig’s List that I was looking for musicians … and the first iteration of the Ross Clayton Band started in 2012.”

His next two years were spent “gigging all over Chicago and the Midwest,” and he briefly found an audience in Nashville, the center of the universe for country singers. He then moved to Oklahoma, where he started a family and also toured around the tristate area playing clubs, festivals and dance halls. During that time, he released a single, “Turn Up Again.”

But as his family grew – Donnan and his wife have three children, ages 8, 6 and 3 – he decided to step away from performing for a more normal life.

That changed in 2022, when Donnan was invited to send a 60-second tryout video to "The Voice."

“I jokingly mentioned it to my wife, and she said, ‘Yeah, why not just do it?’” said Donnan. “It was a super low-risk, high-reward thing.”

Fast-forward to Donnan impressing the judges and picking a coach.

"The Voice" airs Mondays on NBC.

This article originally appeared on Galesburg Register-Mail: Ross Clayton makes appearance on NBC's The Voice competition