Feeling like a star: Myrtle Beach resident reflects on time on ‘The Voice,’ eyes future

Jimmy Mowery said he now knows what it’s like to feel like a star.

Being among the final 24 contestants on NBC’s “The Voice” provided the Myrtle Beach resident that opportunity.

“It was cool because they actually had pits there in the crowd that last episode I was on, so you were able to like reach down and grab people’s hands and really feel like you’re a star,” said Mowery, who sang “Youngblood” by 5 Seconds of Summer on April 29 in his last performance before being eliminated from the show the next day.

In the end, Mowery’s run came to a close as part of the final two dozen who outlasted thousands, as he was not among the eight contestants who won a public vote to advance nor was he among the five other performers “saved” by one of the coaches, who included Adam Levine, John Legend, Kelly Clarkson and Blake Shelton.

Mowery, who was eliminated as a member of Team John Legend after previously competing as a member of Team Adam Levine, said he felt more confident he would advance from the live cross battle round than the previous one.

“By far it was definitely like the biggest gut punch and I walked off,” said Mowery, an Altoona, Pennsylvania, native. “Even as a grown man, I had a tough time fighting back some tears. I was just really bummed.”

Nonetheless, the experience was one of a kind for Mowery, who regularly performs at bars and other venues along the Grand Strand as a full-time job. He said the crowd on the show was intimate despite looking much bigger on TV than it does in person.

“When I was on that stage it felt more like just filming a music video or something,” he said. “It didn’t register being on stage that like those songs were reaching however many millions of people were watching at home. In my mind, I was just performing to those people there in the crowd.”

Aside from the competition, Mowery said the experience allowed him to create friendships with other contestants. They hung out at the hotel and its pool, played arcade games and went to a batting cage together.

“We all just hung out with each other. We were all in the same hotel,” he said. “Everybody just kind of had their guitars and stuff and sat around in each other’s rooms and just sang all the time.”

Being on the show provided other opportunities Mowery likely wouldn’t have had otherwise. He got to work with one of his idols in Levine in addition to Legend, he made an appearance in commercials for Marshall’s, Toyota and Lay’s Potato Chips and performed in Jim Henson’s studio, where he ran into and chatted with Harry Styles and John Mayer.

Performers were permitted to take pictures with celebrities they met out in Hollywood but were told to keep contact to a minimum when they came across stars in the studio, Mowery said.

“I was like ‘Oh my God. I just want to take a picture and actually prove that this happened,’” Mowery said of the encounters with Styles and Mayer.

Mowery said that most of all he gained confidence from being on the show while also noting that the coaches and other vocal instructors helped him enhance his singing abilities.

“It was cool,” he said. “I almost consider it like a little singing boot camp training program.”

Mowery dedicated his time on the show to his father. When Mowery was 11 years old, a man broke into his home on Thanksgiving morning and killed his dad 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.

Since leaving the show, Mowery’s been busy with social media, calling it a full-time job, putting in orders for merchandise and making contacts to further his career. He said he’s had help from Daughtry guitarist and vocalist Brian Craddock, whom he met through Myrtle Beach bar owner Jason Klocker years ago, as far as what steps to take next. Mowery said he’s working on setting up a trip to Nashville with hopes of assembling a management team and perhaps getting signed by a record label.

First, though, he’s going to get back to his old trusty full-time job — performing for local fans. Mowery will be at Remedies, one of Klocker’s bars that held weekly “The Voice” watch parties, to perform and do a meet and greet beginning at 4 p.m. Sunday.

“It was cool to see everybody’s reactions and stuff at Remedies, “ Mowery said of the watch parties. “I’m just excited to see what [Sunday’s] turnout looks like.”

Before getting on season 16 of “The Voice,” Mowery had applied to that show and other similar ones 10 times. Finally getting a shot, he believes he gave it his all.

“I just treated every week out there like it was my last. I just felt so grateful to be out there among some of the most talented singers I’ve ever heard in my life,” Mowery said. “Just like they say in like sports and everything, ‘If you want to get better, surround yourself with the best of the best.’”

This story was originally published May 7, 2019 at 6:30 PM.