Mason goes by “Mason Picks” as his stage name but his real name is Mason Via.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mason is from the south which is probably why he has a love for bluegrass music, he lives in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He is currently 23 years old and was born in 1998. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He already has a number of accolades to his name performing his bluegrass music in and around North Carolina. Some of the most recent were when he was named the 2019 Floydfest OTR competition runner-up. He also won the Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The story of how Mason became involved with American Idol had a funny beginning..<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to bluegrasstoday.com<\/a> he said, “I was initially contacted about American Idol through Instagram. I thought it was a scam.\u201d He then performed in a Zoom audition in front of the three judges, Katy Perry, Luke Bryan, and Lionel Richie. On his audition: “It is really larger than life. You\u2019re out there in front of really bright lights. The judges are miked so they\u2019re really loud, they\u2019re all in make-up, and they talk to you like they know you. My voice dried up like a cotton ball.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1)<\/strong> While he was trying out for Idol<\/em>, he made friends. He became fast friends with fellow contestants James Perdue<\/a>, Chayce Beckham<\/a>, and Anthony Guzman<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n