Trent Harmon's hometown is Amory, Miss., where his family still lives and runs a ranch and restaurant, but since earning a history degree from the University of Arkansas at Monticello, he's also put down Arkansas roots.
"I've got as strong of a connection to Arkansas as I do to Mississippi," he told Paper Trails in a recent phone interview.
Last April, he moved to Malvern to be closer to his girlfriend and also to the musical connections he'd made here.
"Before I auditioned for American Idol, I was traveling back and forth between Malvern, Amory, and Nashville. I would literally drive to Nashville to have dinner with someone to make those music contacts, and then every other weekend, I was in Mississippi." He helps with the family's ranch and restaurant in the northeastern Mississippi city of about 7,000.
Then came American Idol.
"It was crazy," Harmon recalls of last year's Little Rock audition. "Thousands of people were lined up for several blocks at 4 in the morning. I'd driven in from Mississippi the night before and had a wedding reception to play at Garvan Woodland Gardens in Hot Springs the night of the audition."
The scariest moment so far for Harmon, now in the final four? When, early in the competition, he contracted mononucleosis.
"I didn't know anyone out here and I didn't know what to do," he says. "I thought, 'Do I tell the show? If I do, will they send me home?'" He did and they didn't.
He's had some touching, tender moments along his American Idol journey, such as visiting with sick children from the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
When Harmon recently sang Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Simple Man," celebrity judge Jennifer Lopez became visibly moved while critiquing Harmon, who, in response, also teared up.
"She's really had my back since day one and I don't know why," he says. "I think she realizes I have a God-given ability but also that I don't want to coast... Just three weeks ago, I was slobbering and spitting all over the microphone but I've been working and practicing really hard and my performances have improved."
The trio of judges again showered him with praise after his performance Thursday night of ZZ Top's "Sharp Dressed Man." This weekend, Harmon and a film crew traveled to Amory for additional filming.
From the start, he decided not to have his family and friends attend the shows in Los Angeles.
"I made the choice to treat this whole experience like a job. You don't take your parents to work with you. I told them if I make it to the last show, they can come out and see me then."
Win or lose, Harmon plans to continue to pursue a music career after American Idol.
"I've had a lot of people reaching out to me and wanting me to do shows and gigs," he says. "Right now, obviously, I can't but I'm compiling a list and will reach out to them in the future."
He understands fame can be fleeting.
"You're never as hot as you are right here and now when you're on TV, so you have to run with it as fast as you can."
SundayMonday on 03/27/2016