[6] He sang and performed through many musicals while attending Amory High School and, later, the University of Arkansas at Monticello where he also led on-campus worship services as an undergraduate.

[4] Months later in October 2014 he was again flown to Los Angeles for several weeks with his family to be filmed for the show although ultimately no judge chose him and his audition did not air.

[6] Harmon auditioned for American Idol in Little Rock, Arkansas, in August 2015,[8] surprising the judges, after hearing of his farm upbringing, singing the rhythm and blues song "Unaware" by Allen Stone.

[12] Judge Harry Connick Jr. noted Harmon also lost an "exaggerated jaw vibrato" that would eventually cause him to lose his singing voice.

His winning coronation single "Falling" was written by singer songwriter and American Idol judge Keith Urban with Dallas Davidson and Brett James.

[27] He recounted that in the restaurant business, he served whomever walked in the door: "I think that you should treat all people equally and respectfully, and that's what I do, and that's what I'm going to continue to do no matter what law is passed.