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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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As the U.S. approaches the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, Americans are debating not just politics but the nation’s past. In this episode of Us & Them, host Trey Kay brings together student and academic scholars and community members at Marshall University in West Virginia to examine what the revolution means to us today.
Continue Reading Take Me to More NewsAn Us & Them episode honored by the Virginias Associated Press Broadcasters for Best Podcast examines the hidden side of homeownership in Appalachia. While West Virginia has the nation’s highest homeownership rate, aging housing stock and low incomes leave many residents living in deteriorating conditions. Reporting from western Virginia, this episode explores what happens when owning a home doesn’t mean building wealth.
Continue Reading Take Me to More NewsTough-on-crime laws are changing the landscape for people experiencing homelessness and addiction. In this encore episode of Us & Them, Trey Kay returns to Kentucky to track the fallout from the state’s 2024 Safer Kentucky Act. The pressures are rising — in city housing systems and across rural Appalachia’s thin safety nets.
Continue Reading Take Me to More NewsOn this week's premiere broadcast on Mountain Stage, guest host David Mayfield welcomes Solas, Tim O’Brien & Jan Fabricius, Amanda Cook Band, Clymer & Kurtz, and Darrin Hacquard.
Continue Reading Take Me to More News
