A Baltimore homecoming for an American Idol

Jeremiah Lloyd Harmon returns to Baltimore, grateful for his time at TU

By Rebecca Kirkman & Roy Henry on June 28, 2019

In his first hometown performance since “American Idol,” Jeremiah Lloyd Harmon paused for a moment before his first song to take in the crowd gathered on the pier at the Hard Rock Cafe in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. From his seat behind the keyboard, he recorded a video of the cheering fans holding signs reading “Welcome Home Jeremiah” and wearing lime green buttons with the hashtag #TeamJer.

“I’m seeing more and more familiar faces as I look around,” said Harmon, who was a voice performance student at Towson University before competing on ABC’s “American Idol,” where he made it to the final six.

One of those faces belonged to Jason Widney, Harmon’s voice teacher at TU, who came to the event with his son, Avery, to support his former student.

During the Hard Rock performance, Widney said he was impressed by Harmon’s deep growth and maturity over the past six months—a far cry from the sleepy student that would come in for his 9 a.m. voice lessons at TU.

While most of the music they focused on was classical, Widney says Harmon has always had “the rare gift of being able to authentically perform many diverse musical styles.”

on Jul 10, 2018 at 3:23pm PDT

Harmon’s homecoming party and live performance on the pier at the Hard Rock Cafe was presented by 100.7 The Bay and WMAR 2 News. Most of the songs he performed will appear on his upcoming album, which he began recording in Long Beach, California, in May.

“It feels amazing to be back at home,” Harmon says. “I used to walk down in the Inner Harbor as a kid all the time, and to be performing here is kind of a cool moment for me.”

Harmon, 26, is a Catonsville native who transferred to TU from University of Lynchburg in spring 2017. Just days into his final semester, he made the difficult decision to postpone his anticipated spring 2019 graduation to compete in “American Idol.”

“My time at Towson has had a strong impact on me,” Harmon explains. “I never experienced such a welcoming community [as] at the school of music at Towson. I still keep in touch with the faculty members there. A few of them have been really instrumental in all the change that has happened in my life the past six months or so. I have nothing but love for Towson.”

On “American Idol,” Harmon became known for his powerhouse vocals, original music and openness about his personal faith and his coming out story.

As Harmon prepared for what would be his final week of the competition, the Towson University Chorale performed an arrangement of his original song “Almost Heaven” during its spring concert on May 4.

Arranged by Chorale member Gino Abellanosa, the performance turned into a department-wide show of support.

Harmon recalls the moment he first heard a recording of the Chorale’s performance. “I immediately started tearing up. I just thought it was so well arranged and well performed. It’s so endearing to see all the people I know and have sung with up there singing my song,” Harmon says. “It really hit me. I was just, like, crying. It was really sweet. It was a cool moment.”

Since the end of “American Idol,” Harmon has performed at the Capital Pride Festival in Washington, D.C., and the Queerty Pride50 awards in New York City, where the online magazine honored him as an LGBTQ+ trailblazer.

Earlier this month, Harmon released “Souvenirs,” a selection of homemade demos from the past seven years, to benefit UNICEF’s relief efforts in Sudan.

In July, Harmon will head back to the West Coast to complete his album, which he hopes to release as soon as possible. He will reunite with the rest of the “American Idol” top 10 for a concert at the Museum of Flight in Seattle on July 20.

Eventually, he plans to move to Nashville to continue a career in music.

Much of Harmon’s success has stemmed from his ability to tell his story through music. And that message was at the core of his advice to music students.

“There’s always going to be a more skilled musician than you,” he says. “Don’t get caught up in the athletics of music, because there’s always going to be somebody who can out-sing you, who has a better range, who can do more riffs than you. But if you focus on who you are and telling your story through your music, that’s what will set you apart.”