‘I do belong here’: Meet the Myrtle Beach resident who is competing on ‘The Voice’
.jpg "THE VOICE -- Season: 16 -- Contestant Gallery -- Pictured: Jimmy Mowery -- (Photo by: Chris Haston/NBC)")
Jimmy Mowery inherited a dream. Now it’s a mission.
The Myrtle Beach resident decided to pursue a music career soon after his father, who was a musician, was tragically killed and now is performing in front of a national audience as one of the contestants on season 16 of the popular NBC reality show “The Voice.”
When Mowery was 11 years old, a man broke into his home on Thanksgiving morning and killed his father in front of the family. He took up guitar to process the grief, honor his father and live out a life that he was always enamored with through his dad’s stories. Now, he performs 200-plus shows along the Grand Strand each year.
“Whenever he passed away, I was like this is his dream to do this and it just became mine,” said Mowery, who debuted on the show Monday night and will participate as a member of Team Adam Levine. “It became my mission to kind of complete that story that he started. That’s what got me into it.”
Mowery, 31, sees this as perhaps his big break after 10 unsuccessful attempts to get on a show like “The Voice” or one of its competitors. After being turned down over and over, Mowery had nearly given up on the prospect of getting on such a stage.
“It’s been surreal so far. After 10 no’s and then finally get the yes — this all happened at this time for a reason,” he said. “Maybe five, six years ago, I wasn’t ready.”
Mowery performed “Attention” by Charlie Puth on Monday’s show, and Levine quickly turned his chair around — an action that signals someone has made the show.
“I was looking out at the crowd and didn’t even notice at first that he turned,” Mowery said. “I heard my family scream so loud back in the area they were watching, and it kind of scared me. I like looked around and then I noticed he’s turned around watching me. Then it’s like, ‘Oh God, don’t forget words. Don’t mess up. You’ve got it. You’ve got the chair turned so get it together.’”
Later in the performance, John Legend also turned his chair. Neither Kelly Clarkson nor Blake Shelton turned around during the performance, leaving Mowery a choice between Levine and Legend.
Mowery, who said he’s idolized Levine and Maroon Five since they arrived on the scene in the early 2000s, said his decision was easy, yet difficult at the same time.
“I kind of had my mind set from the beginning that even if all the chairs turned I wanted to go with Adam,” he said. “But it was hard listening to both of them pitch to me. So it was hard not picking John.”
Mowery described Levine as having a great sense of humor, down to earth and very relatable. And while he can’t reveal how his time on the show ultimately ends, Mowery said he’s gained plenty through the experience, from vocal tips from the coaches to gaining the confidence needed for a big stage.
“The biggest thing is — if not winning — just the exposure gained from the show could open the doors I’ve been trying to open over the years,” he said.
With the territory comes criticism. He faced some early on from Clarkson in particular on the first show, and then there’s the viewers.
On the flip side, he’s had plenty of people cheering him on. He’s originally from Pennsylvania but moved down to Myrtle Beach when his then-girlfriend got a job offer in 2011. He’s gained plenty of friends while performing in the area for years and attended his own watch party at Remedies on Monday night as many from here and as far as Pennsylvania were cheering him on.
“It’s been overwhelming. That night of the show I got like probably over 100 texts and I stayed up until like 3:30 to go through to answer and thank everybody,” Mowery said. “And then I woke up to my phone just being filled up again. I’ve just been trying to get back to everybody.”
No matter his ultimate fate on the show, Mowery believes he’s better off from going through the experience.
“I think the show has kind of made me feel like ‘Yeah, maybe I do belong here,’” he said. “I’ve worked hard for it.”
This story was originally published February 27, 2019 at 3:26 PM.
