"America's Got Talent" star Philip Bowen is building his music career one listener at a time

Jun. 3—FAIRMONT — Two days after making it to round two on the hit NBC show "America's Got Talent," Philip Bowen was stopped in the Kansas City airport by new fans asking him for a photo.

"It's been crazy, it's been a very surreal couple of days, especially because I didn't know for sure what episode I was going to be in or whatever," Bowen said.

The Montgomery, West Virginia native won't disclose what the next step of his nationally-televised musical journey entails. He sort of politely dodges the question about his second performance on the show and says he is grateful for all of the messages cheering him on.

"I was in the middle of a phone call when my iPhone literally froze up and reset because there was too much going on between social media and calls and emails and texts, there was just too much," Bowen said. "I turned my phone off for over an hour because it was just too overwhelming. But, it's been very exciting. It's been a very good few days, that's for sure."

Bowen, who began violin lessons at age 4, said he "did the whole college band thing," but did not want to live the starving artist life. After getting a masters of business administration in marketing from The University of Tampa, he entered the world of marketing where he is still a project manager.

And, like everyone else around the world, in March 2019, his life changed. Yet, deep in the back of his mind, he still wanted to pursue his dream of music. He had even booked a few gigs at coffee shops before the pandemic lockdown occurred.

"I started kind of getting after it again and writing and playing a lot more," he said.

And like most of the world, his employer had him working from home, which is where he began using social media to develop a following, one listener at a time.

"I was like, 'I want to keep this promise to myself' and so I turned on my camera and started doing it online and, long story short, that's kind of what changed my whole life because I started getting so much traction online — everybody was stuck at home anyway — and I'd do these online concerts a couple of times a week. It just kind of took off little by little," Bowen said.

It grew to a point that viewers were asking how to send him tip money. He'd get $5 here and $20 there and one viewer sent him $500. However, he didn't go and spend the money frivolously.

"My rule is only music is going to pay for music.... so, now I have enough money, I'll go buy a real microphone, I'll stop hanging a sheet over a lamp, now I'll buy real lights," Bowen said.

Bowen wanted to audition for "AGT" in 2022, but had to change plans when he got invited to perform at the famous Bluebird Cafe in Nashville, which is known as a place where future stars get discovered. His career kept getting more traction, when this past January, he was invited to perform on "Mountain Stage" and then, in March, he went to Pasadena, Calif. to audition for the judges of "America's Got Talent."

"I know, for some people, it might seem like this is all happening very fast, but I'm in year four of this journey and I have put so much time and effort in, but it has been so rewarding to see it grow," Bowen said.

"People have been so generous and supportive, it's truly like a very this day and age kind of a thing."

Bowen is also being cheered on by one West Virginian who has actually walked a similar path. In 2011, Logan, West Virginia resident Eugene Landau Murphy Jr. won the $1 million prize on "America's Got Talent" and on Tuesday, Murphy messaged Bowen on social media to wish him the best of luck.

"I congratulated him and wished him success and told him to enjoy the ride," Murphy said. "I told him to just stay humble and keep your head out of the clouds."

Murphy said reaching out to Bowen was just his way of 'paying it forward.'

"I was actually working out at the gym when he came on," Murphy said. "I walked over to the television and watched him play the violin. It's just cool seeing someone pursue their dream."

Like Murphy, Bowen's album producer, Zach McCord, of Bridgeport, said he believes Bowen has what it takes to win the entire competition.

"Oh, he's fantastic. It's interesting because you see a lot of people on social media are average in what they actually do, but very good in marketing themselves. Phil is fantastic at marketing himself and he's even better at fiddle," McCord said. "He blew a lot of folks away when they heard him because he's the real deal."

And in the midst of soaking in the afterglow of being on national TV, Bowen's newest single, "Old Kanawha" was released on Friday. Bowen wrote the lyrics and the music for the song, which was recorded in Bridgeport at McCord Family Studio.

McCord said Bowen did a great job of capturing the true beauty of West Virginia in his new song.

"We don't necessarily have the fanciest of everything you've seen, but I think what's really unique about this place is there's a very subtle beauty to it and probably the most attractive thing about West Virginia is the people," McCord said. "The song highlights the fact that most of the things that are really enjoyable about being here are done in community."

And community could be just the thing to catapult Bowen to victory on "AGT."

"I think that the judges were really impressed with his first performance and I think he did a great job. I also think he might have some stuff up his sleeve," McCord said.

Reach Eric Cravey at 304-367-2523.