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Philip Bowen, a fiddle-playing social media star and Montgomery, West Virginia native, is set to appear on the Tuesday, May 30 episode of America’s Got Talent.
Bowen is one of the featured contestants auditioning for the talent contest. The show will kick off its 18th season.
He’s most known for his viral TikTok series called “Does It Fiddle?” where he improvises melodies over popular songs from different genres.
But he’s also making a name for himself as an Appalachian songwriter. He performed original songs at a Mountain Stage show last January. His song “Old Kanawha” was the program’s March 30 Song of the Week. His debut album, which is named after the song, is also set to release Aug. 18.
Bowen was also a recent subject of West Virginia Public Broadcasting podcast Us & Them. He spoke to host Trey Kay about growing up in Appalachia, and how his songwriting reflects realities of the Mountain State’s coal industry.
“I worked at Cracker Barrel one summer out of college, in Kanawha City. And these coal miners would come in for breakfast, like literally black head to toe,” Bowen said during a sit down interview with Kay about his song “Vampire in Appalachia.” “There’s nobody that’s gonna tell you breathing that stuff in for your whole career is gonna do your body any good. And so I just was getting really frustrated by all of that sacrifice to provide for a family.”
Bowen is not the first native West Virginian to receive attention through America’s Got Talent. Landau Eugene Murphy Jr., a jazz singer from Logan County, won the show’s sixth season.
America’s Got Talent will air Tuesday, May 30 at 8 p.m. on NBC.
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They love West Virginia, but love alone may not be enough to keep them here. In the second of two Us & Them episodes, Trey Kay talks with young West Virginians who say they may need to leave in search of careers, community and a place where they can imagine their futures. Their decisions reveal what the Mountain State risks losing when young people cannot see a place for themselves at home.
Continue Reading Take Me to More NewsMountain Stage is changing locations for its final two live events of 2026. The Sunday, Nov. 15 show will now take place at the Charleston Theater at the Convention Center, and the Sunday, Dec. 6 show will be held at the Capitol Theater in Downtown Charleston.
Continue Reading Take Me to More NewsWith the midterm elections approaching, Us & Them is taking the Dinner Party on the road to a trio of communities across West Virginia. In the first of our three gatherings this fall, host Trey Kay is back in Charleston bringing together conservative and liberal West Virginians to share a potluck meal, talk politics and see whether conversation across the divide can uncover some common ground.
Continue Reading Take Me to More NewsAppalachia, and the entire world, really, was shaken by the passing of Dolly Parton. Dolly — everyone called her Dolly — was a Tennessee native, country and pop music singer, and philanthropist who invested heavily in people – especially here in Appalachia. And in children’s literacy through her Imagination Library, which provides free books to young kids. To a lot of people, she was Appalachia. To mark her passing, Inside Appalachia Host Mason Adams spoke with Ted Olson, a country music historian at East Tennessee State University’s Department for Appalachian Studies.
Continue Reading Take Me to More News
