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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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Our Song of the Week is “The False Lady,” performed by Dublin-born singer-songwriter and guitarist John Doyle and Manchester-born flute, whistle, and uilleann pipes maestro Michael McGoldrick.
Continue Reading Take Me to More NewsOnce on the margins of medicine, psychedelic drugs are now drawing renewed interest from the Trump administration as potential treatments for some substance addictions and certain mental health conditions. A new executive order aims to accelerate research and expand access to substances such as ibogaine, despite their known risks. On the latest episode of Us & Them, host Trey Kay revisits a long-explored question: can psychedelics safely help treat addiction and trauma in America?
Continue Reading Take Me to More NewsOn this West Virginia Morning, Appalachian music comes in all kinds. Inside Appalachia’s Mason Adams spoke with Mason Salomeini, organizer of electronic music celebration Dungeon Fest.
Continue Reading Take Me to More NewsAs 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.
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