The Canberra Grammar School old boy has earned plenty of respect for his distinctively-toned voice. This week he was put straight through to the next round by Seal after providing a rocking performance of the Johnny Cash classic Folsom Prison Blues during the first live finals of the television juggernaut.

But his general work ethic has also been noted.

Another coach, rocker Joel Madden, gave him high praise this week for "working on yourself"' and "working on everything, the whole picture".

Gibson, 26, told The Canberra Times this week that he had also been concentrating on improving his health and fitness and been given a gym plan devised by Seal. The Grammy award-winning singer had even joined him in the gym to put his through his paces.

"He showed me through it," he said. "There's a lot of work on the treadmill. It's almost like a game going through everything."

Gibson, whose parents Richard and Margaret live in Bungendore, is one step closer to winning The Voice after Seal put him through to the next round of the live finals and saved him from his fate being decided by a public vote this week.

"I really didn't know what the coaches would be like at the start, but Seal has been amazing," he said.

Madden has also proved to be a support, even though he is a rival coach on the show.

"Joel has had my back the whole way through," Gibson said.

The American rocker told Gibson this week that he had "come so far on this show. I'm so proud of you".

"I just love watching someone that wants something so bad work so hard for it and I couldn't give you enough props, man," Madden told him.

Seal was equally moved, saying Gibson had rightly earned the respect of an established artist such as Madden.

"When you look back on this performance, you will not be surprised that he poured all those accolades on you, because you earned it tonight. That was fantastic," Seal told Gibson after his performance.

"Did you hear the crowd? That's awesome. I'm so proud of you. You were fantastic tonight. I am so honoured to be working with you."

While his family ultimately settled across the border in Bungendore, Gibson grew up in the Canberra suburbs of Campbell and Narrabundah, as well Jerrabomberra in NSW.

A former member of the Canberra Boys Choir, the singer-songwriter has gone from busking in Canberra and Sydney to performing to a national television audience.

"I think I've got what I wanted from it already, so much exposure," he said.

"And just to be completely free on that stage is fantastic. But I think what I would really like to do is perform a song I have written on stage."

Gibson is a contemporary performance graduate from the Australian Institute of Music in Sydney. He is up against AIM student, Celia Pavey, originally from Forbes in country NSW.

Sandy Goddard was the housemaster at Canberra Grammar School when Gibson boarded there for three years, learning classical guitar at the school where ''everybody loved him''.

''He was not a terribly confident chap when he came in but living in an environment with 90 other boys, you really do rely on them. They gave him a lot of support for his music - listening to him, 'That's great, Gibbo' - that kind of thing,'' Mr Goddard said.

''When they talk on The Voice about his growing confidence, that's been evolving over a number of years. He's quite a humble, understated bloke. And he's always had a very strong social conscience.''

Mr Goddard said he thought from the start Gibson could go all the way on The Voice because of the sheer force of his talent and the fact he had ''soul and character''.

And while he doesn't need the public vote this week, Gibson was buoyed knowing his home town was with him all the way.

There are still two rounds of the The Voice live finals to go, followed by the semi-finals and the grand final.

"I've really had a lot of support from Canberra and I love Canberra," he said.

And perhaps reflecting the single focus of The Voice, Gibson was able to report to us that he had never heard of the Skywhale.