If you watched “The Voice” Monday night, you may have heard a familiar name. Zan Fiskum, the niece of CFM co-founder Dave Fiskum, performed “Light On” and wound up with John Legend as her coach, who called her voice “angelic”.
Zan (her full name is Suzannah) is a 22-year-old singer-songwriter from the Seattle area who specializes in Christian and Indie folk music. Her father is Dave Fiskum’s brother, John.
According to the young artist’s website, she grew up in a musical family, joined her church’s worship team at age 12 and discovered a lifelong passion for music. Zan began songwriting at age 16 and collaborated with childhood friend Alec Shaw on a 2017 album titled “Car Town”, on which she had a featured vocal called “Someday”. She has since released six Christian singles and is working on new music in the Indie/folk music genre.
Her appearance on “The Voice” featured her Indie side in how she looked and what she sang. Nick Jonas was the first coach to turn his chair, followed quickly by Legend and then Kelly Clarkson. Blake Shelton apologized for not making it a four-chair turn, which often signals a performer has the talent to a make a deep run in the popular show, now in its 18th season.
Zan is the middle child of five, with three sisters and one brother. Her mother is a music teacher and the family lives in Maple Valley, southeast of Seattle. Her family was with her when she performed.
“As a young child, she was shy and quiet,” says Dave Fiskum of his niece, “but she always had a dramatic flair.” He recalls the day Zan was flower girl for his daughter’s wedding and she remarked, “Everyday I wake up and think this is the worst day of my life — but not today!” “Clearly, today is not the worst day of her life either,” he adds. “We’re very proud of her.”
Zan makes a living as a singer/songwriter and performs around the region. Coincidentally, she is performing in Portland Wednesday night at the Jack London Revue with Thunderstorm Artis, who appeared earlier on “The Voice” blind auditions and received a four-chair turn. Her performance starts at 8 pm.
Her music can be downloaded on Spotify, Apple Music, Play Music, Deezer and iHeart Radio.
