Benton Blount will be taking the Park Theater stage tonight, Aug. 5, at 7 p.m. He’s a Top 10 finalist on “America’s Got Talent.”
“We are super excited to play the theater,” said Blount. “I’ve heard lot of great things about its renovation and the city of McMinnville itself.”
Blount was born and raised in Valdese, N.C., and currently resides in Greensville, S.C. “America’s Got Talent” enthusiasts will recognize him from season 10 of the show which aired on NBC in 2015.
The show didn’t start his career, but it did make an impact.
“I have always loved music,” said Blount. “My family was full of singers and musicians so I grew up around it, although I never tried it myself until my senior year in high school. I had been touring heavily and making some progress before the show. However, I can’t deny that spending a year on a show playing in front of 13 million people is for sure a milestone in my career.”
Blount says his musical influences while growing up were diverse.
“I listened to a wide variety of music but my favorites were the ones who told stories and could really sing: Travis Tritt, George Strait, Edwin McCain, The Goo Goo Dolls, Metallica. I told you it was diverse. I love rock, Southern rock and blues music. I think that’s why my songs sound the way they do. It’s my vocals that bring them back into the country genre.”
Blount is not your typical looking country music singer.
“I know people look at me, with my tattoos and appearance, and they don’t think I look like a country singer. When I sing, I have a gruffness to my voice that is different than most country singers too. But when I start to talk, you can hear that I’m as country as cornbread. And the songs, with their real-life stories and positive outlook on life, have more in common with country music than anything else. Country music is where I belong.”
Blount says he takes 90 percent of his original songs from personal experiences or experiences of people close to him, while the remaining 10 percent come from everyday life: news, politics, church, or Friday night at the bar.
If you want to meet Blount, Friday night will be your chance.
“I plan on performing a wide variety of originals, a few of my favorite covers, as well as songs from ‘America’s Got Talent.’ As normal, I’ll go out with a set list that will likely change based on what the crowd seems to be into. I love to talk so I’ll be talking to as many people as possible.”
Admission for the Benton Blount concert is $5, a back-to-school special. General admission tickets are available at the door only beginning at 6:15 p.m. The concert starts at 7 p.m.