Montgomery native to play Mountain Stage

Jan. 12—"Philip Bowen on the strings."

With those words, some of the videos on TikTok and a multitude of other music platforms are introduced by Bowen, who was born and raised in Montgomery.

Bowen, a 38-year-old singer, songwriter, story-teller and multi-instrumentalist whose home base is now in the Detroit, Michigan area — where he lives with his wife and three children — will make a return to his beloved home state this Sunday, Jan. 15. He will be on the bill for a live, sold-out show of Mountain Stage with Kathy Mattea at the Culture Center Theater (1900 Kanawha Boulevard East, Charleston, WV). The show will run from 7 to 9:30 p.m. and will also feature the Tim O'Brien Band, David Mayfield Parade, The Dirty Grass Players and Lauren Calve.

It will mark the opening of Mountain Stage's 40th season.

"Before I got back into music, I moved (to Michigan) for work (he has his MBA from the University of Tampa and works in the digital marketing field)," said Bowen, the son of Gary and Lou Ann Bowen of Montgomery. Now, "the music's kind of taking off."

Bowen says he began playing the fiddle at the age of four after becoming enthralled while watching Itzhak Perlman perform on "Sesame Street."

"My mom wanted us to pick (an instrument)," he said. So, he knew where he was headed. Bowen began learning to play under the tutelage of West Virginia Institute of Technology's Dr. Fred Meyer, who was an oboist but set his young pupil on the right path.

He later studied violin under violinist Kathryn Langr.

Bowen recalls receiving his first guitar on his 18th birthday. "I've been playing the fiddle since 4, and guitar since 18 (an acoustic guitar given to him, along with an accompanying instructional DVD, by his father on his birthday), and writing music," Bowen said.

"I didn't want to be a starving artist," he said, instead considering music until recent years as a "fun hobby."

While still maintaining his current job, Bowen has continued to expand his musical outreach in recent years, largely on the power of various online platforms. For example, his biography notes that he has 960,000 followers on TikTok, and he won TikTok's Gamers Greatest Talent competition, earning $25,000 and beating out thousands of other competitors.

The online outreach has been crucial to his burgeoning musical efforts, he said. "It's enabled us to get a broad range of fans and followers." That said, he says he still enjoys getting out and playing shows on the road.

According to his biographical press material, Bowen is "an accomplished session fiddle player with over 100 credits to his name for a wide range of artists including Brandon Davis, Noah Kahan, Spinmont, Styles Haury, Jenna Paulette, Josiah & the Bonnevilles and more." Among his guest spots have been Ross Golan's "And the demo is..." and he's received notice from Yahoo, PopMatters, Atwood Magazine and Nashville Songwriters Association International.

Bowen has also played numerous live events including weddings, conferences, private events, festivals and more. He made his debut appearance at the legendary Bluebird Cafe in May 2022.

"I'm extremely busy," Bowen — an independent artist who is working with producer Zach McCord to release his first album, titled "Old Kanawha," in late spring or early summer 2023 — said in a Jan. 10 phone interview. "But that's the pain I want to feel."

He'll surely feel excitement this weekend when he takes the stage at Mountain Stage.

"It's honestly difficult to describe how much of an honor it is to be invited," said Bowen. "It's always been a huge goal for me. Mountain Stage is kind of our state's cultural gem, for sure."

"I'm over-the-moon excited," he said, adding, "I know I'm going to have a lot of family and friends support me."

While he's admittedly a fan of many of the acts that have played the venerable Mountain Stage, Sunday will mark the first time Bowen has been involved in a live Mountain Stage production either as a performer or spectator. "I've never been in-person for a show, but have watched online and listened to the podcast replays," he says. "Some of my favorite performances have been The Punch Brothers, Bahamas and Sarah Jarosz, although it's hard to narrow it down."

Bowen says the Mountain Stage appearance, in which he plans to play a four-song set, will simply be another way to throw some love to his Appalachian roots. "There's a lot of pride in where I'm from. It's important for me to shine the light (on Appalachia)."

For more on Bowen, visit www.philipbowenmusic.com or follow him on platforms such as TikTok, YouTube, Spotify, Discord, Twitch, Apple Music, Facebook or Instagram.

For more information on upcoming Mountain Stage shows or to support the organization, visit https://mountainstage.org/. Mountain Stage is produced by West Virginia Public Broadcasting and distributed by NPR Music.

A donation-based livestream of Sunday's show will become available on the Mountain Stage website at 7 p.m. on Jan. 15.

Email: skeenan@register-herald.com; follow on Twitter @gb_scribe