Bernard Flowers Talks Memphis Roots, Impressing L.A. Reid In Doc Series ‘The Escape: Part 1’

Last month, R&B Memphis newcomer Bernard Flowers dropped his debut single “This Feeling,” now we know a little more about the 23-year-old crooner with this two-part documentary series “The Escape: Part 1.”

In part one, Bernard he dishes on auditioning for Epic Records’ chairman and CEO L.A. Reid, growing up in Memphis, and living for music.

About auditioning for Reid, Flowers auditioned twice, and then process was nerve-wracking. “I played him music, performed it and left,” recalls Flowers. “I really didn’t hear anything back. I was like, ‘Man, what’s going on?’ But I kept working.” A few months later, he got a call to comeback and perform for Reid, and he was determined to make an impact. As it turned out, Reid had his mind already made up. “[L.A.] treated me like I was already on the label,” Bernard remembers with a smile. “Like family. It was crazy. I knew I wasn’t signing with anybody else. He gave me a hug.”

Memphis is the city that raised him, and the place where he knew he wanted to be an entertainer of SOME kind.  He pursued basketball for some time, but felt he was better equipped to do music. “In basketball, I kind of felt like there were players that were better than me,” he explains. “But I didn’t feel like that with music. If I go to the gym with LeBron James, he’s going to beat me. He can dunk. He can shoot. But if I go in the studio with whoever, I feel like I’m untouchable.”

Quite the statement! Could he be the next big thing?

Meet Bernard Flowers in part 1 of the doc below: