Roofer in Ladson, SC

HOPKINS — Whenever he’s home, Steve Ray Ladson takes his banjo out to the barn and plays for his family’s horses. And the miniature donkeys.

The Hopkins native takes note of how the animals react to what he’s playing.

“If I'm hitting something, I'm playing something and it strikes a nerve on them, they let me know that that’s pretty good,” said the musician who can play 10 instruments.

Staying connected to his roots — church, family and trail rides with his cousin, friend and NFL receiver Xavier Legette — is the foundation upon which Ladson has created a new genre of music, “Blackgrass Brothercana.”

The blend of rap, hip-hop, soul, blues, rock and country has captivated the nation and catapulted him to the finale of “America’s Got Talent,” where he’ll compete for $1 million this week.

Ladson wowed audiences — and the panel of celebrity judges — during his audition for the NBC competition show with “Back of My Truck,” an original track that melds hip-hop and roots country to create a tune ripe for radio play.

He stunned the world again last month with a second original track, “Boots like Mine,” which earned him a straight-shot to Sept. 23’s finale show thanks to judge Sofia Vergara’s “Golden Buzzer.”

“You are a superstar,” Vergara told Ladson over thunderous applause during the August episode. “But to be honest, I didn’t like this song … I loved it.

His music has racked up millions of streams over the past few months, launching the professional musician from playing in the bands of established acts to his own performing center stage. It’s a dream more than a decade in the making, but Ladson isn’t resting on his laurels.

“Can't get caught up,” Ladson told Free Times from Los Angeles a few days before the finale. “You got to keep going and keep going. So, just trying to soak it all in, enjoy it … and keep working.”

Even after the show, work will continue. Ladson’s got several tour dates — including a headlining set at Jam Room Music Festival in November — and an album in the works.

Hopkins to Hollywood

Ladson grew up in Hopkins, a small rural town about 30 minutes from Columbia. His father is a pastor, and Ladson’s first performances took place in church. It taught him how to play to a crowd, stage presence tricks and where to set a performance’s tone based on its size and context. He suspects he’s memorized most of the hymnal they sung growing up — Hymn 434 is one of his favorites.

“Church is spiritual, you know, a lot of this stuff is still spiritual too, because it's a connection,” he said. “People need to feel you.”

When he was 22, Ladson booked his first professional gig. For 13 years, he toured with Grammy-winning gospel acts like Robert Randolph and the Family Band and the Blind Boys of Alabama, a Southern blues/gospel group founded in the 1930s.

He’s toured the world with these bands. He remembers turning 23 in Warsaw, Poland. The experience honed his musicianship and helped him plot a course to make his own music, which has always been the goal.

“I paid my dues, put in a lot of work. I learned the ropes from them. I've seen exactly what to do, how to do it, so it made me prepare for my own boat,” Ladson said.

‘Blues was always a feeling’

Ladson draws a lot of inspiration from blues groups from the early 20th century, including bluesmen Sonny Boy Williamson and Robert Johnson. For Ladson, “Blues was always a feeling” he felt in himself.

“I always loved the blues, and just love the way that they could sing and just be a one-man show and move a crowd and have a party, just with one man,” he said.

Ladson leans on the blues but also pulls from hip-hop beats and flow, as well as country twang and lyrics, to create his sound.

He’ll be performing a third original song during Tuesday, Sept. 23’s season finale of “America’s Got Talent,” where about 40 family members will be traveling to California to watch him — many of whom have never seen him play live outside of a church setting.

“It's gonna be really special,” he said.

A hometown boy — he makes sure to come home at least once a month to “breathe in the country air” and take a trail ride — Ladson urged South Carolinians to tune in and vote for him.

“It’s gonna be a rodeo,” he promised.

Ladson performs on the finale “America’s Got Talent” at 9 p.m. Sept. 23 on NBC and Peacock. Voting starts after the show’s conclusion and goes through the night. Download the NBC or “AGT” apps, or head to nbc.com/AGTVote to cast a vote for Ladson.

The winner will be announced Wednesday, Sept. 24 at 8 p.m. on NBC.