By Heather Clower
The Parsons Advocate
One of Tucker County’s own, Mistee Griffith marked a big one off her bucket list on recently, as she took the stage in Charleston to audition for the hit show American Idol.
Griffith was one of around five hundred who attended the event to showcase their talents in front of the show producers to hopefully earn a spot on the next season. Only forty competitors were advanced on, and though Griffith wasn’t amongst them, her love for singing will not stop there.
Originally from Nestorville in Barbour County, Griffith moved to the area around eight years ago when she met the love of her life and now husband, Eric. Along with their four month old son Easton, they are some of her biggest fans; however, it goes much deeper than that. “I auditioned for my family and for my papaw”, she stated. “He was the one who got me started singing with Amazing Grace”. “He passed away July 21, 2018. He was my best friend”, she added.
Griffith didn’t stop there as she continued sharing her amazing voice any way she could. “I sang The Star Spangled Banner for all basketball games in middle school (Kasson Elementary Middle School) then when I got to high school (Phillip Barbour High School) I was in choir”. During her sophomore year, she was selected into the All State Choir, being one of the first students to do so in over the last decade. Her junior year she was given a solo in all of State Choir out of four hundred students. “My last year was my senior year. I was the first and the last student to make it all three years in the past ten plus”, Griffith said.
Her voice carried her into college at Glenville State where she practiced opera as a soprano 1. “I did that for almost two years”, she said. “I like to sing a little of everything. Country is my favorite though”, she replied when asked her favorite style to sing. Griffith was asked how she handled her nerves and anxiety prior to her performance. “I honestly wasn’t nervous because Eric was by my side the whole time and the whole town of Parsons, as well as my home town was very supportive”, was her reply.
Griffith expressed a desire to sing whenever and wherever she can. Our community is vastly diverse boasting plenty of opportunities to hear Mistee and other local artists, such as at the Purple Fiddle and the Tucker County Fair.
