All of bluegrass music has been following Mountain Faith Band as they have navigated the pitfalls of America’s Got Talent on NBC this summer. So far, they have won over the judges and the audience voters, and will appear tonight (9/1) in the semi-finals.
Only 21 of the 36 acts invited to perform are left, with more to be eliminated after this evening’s show. And it’s only votes from viewers that can move them on into the final round, where they will compete for a chance at the $1 million grand prize.
Already their appearances on the popular program have won them thousands of new fans, and changed the impression people have of bluegrass music in the process. Even the show’s celebrity judges, who have admitted both their lack of familiarity with the genre, and their initial negative stereotypes, have remarked that they had no idea that bluegrass could be so relevant in today’s pop culture.
So Mountain Faith have already won in a big way, scoring points for our beloved bluegrass along the way.
Of course as the number of contestants shrinks, the competition gets ever more difficult. At this point, most of the marginal entertainers and novelty acts are gone, and it becomes even more important for the bluegrass community to be stalwart in their support of these talented young musicians.
America’s Got Talent airs again tonight at 8:00 p.m., with four different options for voting. Ballots can be cast on the show’s web site starting at 8:00 p.m. (EDT), with 10 votes allowed per login. If you have multiple email addresses, you can log in with them in turn and mark 10 votes for Mountain Faith.
Similarly, votes are also tabulated by phone. A specific phone number will be displayed for each artist during the program, and on the web site following tonight’s airing, with 10 votes from any originating number counted. If you have multiple phones in your home, each can make the 10 toll-free calls.
NBC has a free app for Android and iOS that also enables 10 votes per user, and a Google search for “America’s Got Talent Mountain Faith Band” will register up to 10 votes.
It doesn’t take long to cast 30 or 40 votes, maybe 10-15 minutes in total. Get everyone in the family involved, and we can all make this happen.
Voting is open from 8:00 p.m. on September 1 (tonight) through 7:00 a.m. on the 2nd.
Let’s show NBC the power of the US bluegrass community!
Full voting details can be found online.
