Growing up on the mean streets of Memphis, TN, Bernard Flowers fell into music when his sister’s boyfriend brought him to a local studio. The die cast, he moved to Atlanta to pursue his passion at 20 years old.
In time, a friend suggested he knew someone who could take his career to the next level. Enter Anthony “T.A.” Tate. They recorded numerous songs together, but “This Feeling” remained the standout. Just a whiff of Flowers’ improvised hook compelled Tate to place his phone conversation on hold and listen closer. Tate mentioned Epic Records executive L.A. Reid would dig his style. “I was like, man... L.A. Reid?” recalls Flowers. “I’m in.”
Flowers felt encouraged by Reid’s attentiveness. “I thought he was going to be doing everything but paying attention to me,” he remembers. “It was the total opposite. He really had respect for what I was doing.” To Flowers, it was like being welcomed into a family. “I ain’t feel like I wanted to sign with nobody else at that point.” While he has entered deals in the past, this is the artist’s first official, major contract.
“Being with Epic has given me stability.”
While Epic entertained some of Flowers’ other songs, it’s “This Feeling” that got their attention, especially when he played it for them live. “That was a good day for me,” grins the singer. Their focus remains, for the time being, strictly on pushing that song; the future will tell when a full- length gets released.
As the artist puts it, “My aim is for this record to be playing in the year 3016.
“Being with Epic has given me stability,” continues the scrappy performer. “I’m not going to be on the street. I’m not trying to survive. I know I'm going to have somewhere to sleep at night.”
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