Whitefish-born musician Ethan Thompson, performing as Alt Bloom, earned a spot on Queen Latifah’s team on the NBC singing competition “The Voice” last week. 

Thompson sang "The Bones" by Maren Morris, accompanied by a piano. The judges on the show remarked about Thompson’s range and his ability to span multiple genres. 

Both country music star Riley Green and Queen Latifah expressed an interest in having Alt on their teams. 

“You sound amazing,” Latifah said. “When you got into some of those higher registers, all it did was show me you had more.” 

While he felt good energy from both judges, he chose to partner with Latifah. 

“I really like that Riley is very much in the music industry – still a touring artist doing his thing, and Queen is someone who's like a legend and she's done a little bit of everything,” he said.  

Thompson said he liked the way Latifah expresses herself on the show. He said she is honest, sweet and pure when talking to the young performers. She also sang directly to Thompson when trying to sway him to join her team and in that, she was successful. 

"After she turned and sang to me during that whole process ... there's no other option in my mind because she was pulling for me hard,” he recalled. “I was always going to go out and be with whoever I just felt the best energy from, and Riley gave me great energy, too, he was very sweet, but Queen just took it to a whole new level and I'm super glad I went with her cause her whole team we ended up all becoming really good friends.” 

Thompson was in a band called Ocean Park Standoff and has written several songs for other artists. He formed the new name, Alt Bloom, for his next chapter after days of careful consideration. 

“I wanted to start something new that was just a distance from everything I've done before,” he said. “I want it to be like a fresh start for me.” 

Thompson attended the University of Montana for a year, followed by a few years on the East Coast at Berklee College of Music. Connections there led him to move to Los Angeles. He moved back to Whitefish about a year ago to find the North Valley Music School had just opened at its new location near Smith Fields. With a desire to give back to the community, Thompson reached out to the school and is now on the faculty. 

"If I had that when I was a kid here in the valley – it would've been so cool to have someone who's been in industry give some instruction,” he said. “I love talking about music and I especially love young writers and producers who are excited to learn.” 

He taught a songwriting class and a production class with the school and during the recent Whitefish Songwriter Festival, he taught a full-day songwriting seminar. 

"I can talk about songwriting, the industry and lyric writing, pretty much all day,” he said.   

"Toby Scott was ... one of the first people to really encourage me into the industry and I've always been so grateful to him and I want to be that for whoever I can.” 

North Valley School Executive Director Deidre Corson said she is “pumped” to have an artist of Thompson’s caliber on the faculty.  

"We are so thrilled and incredibly proud to see Ethan representing our hometown and our school on such a massive, worldwide stage,” Corson said. “Having an artist of his caliber on our faculty is a true testament to the exceptional level of talent we have here at North Valley Music School.” 

She said the school’s entire musical family is cheering for him as he embarks on this exciting journey with Latifah and “The Voice." 

Thompson said because his mother “thought music was good for our brains,” she enrolled him and his two older sisters in voice and piano lessons. He credits that early exposure to music with his enduring love of it. 

Since he was the youngest, he was keen to do whatever his sisters were doing. 

"I was taking piano lessons when I was like 3,” he said. “They ended up not staying in music, but I was able to get all their hand-me-down instruments.” 

The rising musician expressed his gratitude for the support he’s received from the local community and asked them to keep an eye out for the voting rounds on “The Voice” in mid-October, when fans will be able to vote. 

"I just released a new EP called 'Welcome Back' and it's a mix of old music a new music,” he said. “I'm going to be announcing a tour here, before too long, for the top of next year, too.” 

Reporter Julie Engler can be reached at 406-862-3505 or [email protected]. If you value local journalism, pledge your support at whitefishpilot.com/support.