It was a chair (and head)-turning experience.

Within 30 seconds of Ricky Duran launching into a soulful rendition of Leon Bridges' "River," all four judges of NBC's "The Voice" had turned their chairs and were watching the performance in rapt attention during "blind auditions" broadcast Monday.

"It was pretty shocking, actually," said Duran, 29, who grew up in Grafton and is a well-known voice and face in the Worcester area music scene, where he was an active presence until moving to Austin, Texas, nine months ago.

As was indicated by the chair-turn, judges Blake Shelton, John Legend, Kelly Clarkson and Gwen Stefani all wanted Duran on their team.

"It kind of blew me away," Duran said. "I was just trying to complete the song. I didn't want to get too excited and forget where I was."

The judges gave him a standing ovation.

"I'd love to be your coach, dude," said Shelton who praised Duran's tone and stage presence. The other judges had similar words of praise ("I'd love to work with you," Legend said), but Duran chose Shelton.

As exciting as the experience was, the appearance and the song also had a deeply personal meaning for Duran, who said his performance was in memory of his late parents.

Duran said he discovered "River" shortly after the death of his mother, Odette Duran, from breast cancer last year. Duran's father, Ricardo Duran, who had nurtured his interest in music, tragically took his own life in 2012.

The song, with the repeated line "Take me to your river," is about "coming out of a dark place," Duran said. "I think the best songs are when the artist has a connection to the song, so I thought that would be a good fit."

Duran's sisters, Natalie, Maria and Julia, were in the audience cheering him on.

His parents were originally from Guatemala and settled in Grafton to raise their family.

"I went out there singing the song thinking about them. It was a performance in memory to them, and I couldn't be happier as a tribute to them," Duran said.

Duran graduated from Grafton High School and Berklee College of Music in Boston.

"As long as I can remember I wanted to be a musician," he said. His father was a musician who taught him to play guitar, he said.

Duran was a member of the Worcester band The Blue Light Bandits, and was involved with creating Songs For Hope, a local benefit concert for the American Foundation Of Suicide Prevention. A regular winner at the Worcester Music Awards presented by Pulse Magazine, he was named Best Male Vocalist at this year's awards at the Palladium in April.

"Things had been going well, but I decided I was at a plateau," Duran said of moving to Austin.

His career has also been doing well there, and Duran said he's been performing about five nights a week and making a living at it. A representative of "The Voice" heard about Duran and asked him to audition in Austin. From that he received an invitation to the blind auditions in front of the show's judges in Los Angeles.

During Tuesday's show, Duran told the judges he was from Worcester, Massachusetts. Legend asked Shelton if he has ever been to Worcester. Shelton replied, "Yeah, I use it on my steaks,"

Shelton told Duran that he has a river at his place in Oklahoma. "I would love to take you to it," he said.

Taping of "The Voice" took place during the summer, and Duran and other contestants are not allowed to reveal how they subsequently fared beyond what has already been broadcast.

The judges have now completed their teams, and "The Battles" begin Oct. 14.

Worcester area singers have previously done well in the competition. Worcester native Alisan Porter was the winner in 2016, and singer-songwriter Sam James of Sturbridge appeared on the show in 2012.

Monday night was the first opportunity for Duran's Worcester area friends to see how he would fare.

"My phone is off the hook right now," he said. For a while the battery had drained Tuesday night.

"It's awesome. A lot of people have been reaching out to me. That's cool," Duran said.