CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A West Virginia native has been growing his brand in music, but Philip Bowen, a native of Montgomery, will get a chance to showcase his talent for the entire world this week. Bowen will appear on the season premier of America’s Got Talent on NBC Tuesday night.
“I went out to Pasadena, California a few months back and did the whole audition process. It was a ton of fun and crazy to see a production of that size and scale. I did what I did, but I wasn’t expecting to get a call that I was going to be on the premier so that was cool,” Bowen told MetroNews.
Due to non-disclosure agreements, Bowen was very limited in what he could say about his performance ahead of the airing. He couldn’t even reveal what songs he played, but said he was satisfied he did all he could to impress the judges.
“I wanted to try and do the best job I could do and give them something memorable they hadn’t heard before. I feel like I did that so we’ll see how it all goes,” he explained.
Bowen has a growing following on social media. He has carved a niche by putting the mountain fiddle into various well known tunes, like “Country Roads” or even some places where it would be less expected like “Gangsta’s Paradise.”
But he’s starting to find his own niche. His first album, “Old Kanawha” will come out August 18th. Already some of the singles on the album are circulating including the first tune, “Sweet Honey.” The title track, “Old Kanawha” will feature a collaboration with Morgantown’s Charles Wesley Godwin. Bowen came up with the ballad while stuck inside during the pandemic in 2020. The AGT appearance will definitely expose him to a much larger audience just ahead of the album released.
Bowen said he walked into the production with all of his fellow competitors and got some strange looks when he opened up his 100 year old fiddle case. However, he said those looks were exactly what he wanted.
“I think that’s what I wanted to bring to the table when I walked out on the stage with that and hopefully give them something unexpected,” he said.
Although there were definitely some nerves early, Bowen said everything became calm when he started the music.
America’s Got Talent will debut Tuesday night on NBC at 8 p.m.