By Amanda Redman
aredman@thepaperofwabash.com

Wabash native Zachariah Smith will be performing at Eagles Theatre at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.
Smith, a contestant on “American Idol,” was awarded a Golden Ticket to compete in Hollywood during a Feb. 19 audition after he sang “Hurt So Good” by John Mellencamp.
The Eagles Theatre concert will help raise money to take care of his family while he is off work for the competition, Smith explained during a telephone interview.
“All proceeds are going to my family while I’m away,” Smith said. “I would like to see as many people there as possible.”
Smith resides in Amrey, Miss. with his wife, Crysta, and three stepchildren.
The couple run Bill’s Hamburgers, a popular restaurant owned by Crysta’s parents, Janice and Reid Wilkerson.
When judges Luke Bryan and Katy Perry found out he flips burgers for a living, they advised him to “burn the apron,” – something he hasn’t done … yet.
“You’re not flipping no burgers,” Perry said.
Lionel Richie complimented Smith’s vocal and performance range.
“You have a rasp and a growl and on top of it, you have fun,” told him.
“That’s what it’s all about,” Smith replied with a wide grin.
Smith will show off that range on the Eagles stage with cover tunes including, “I Want to Know What Love Is,” by Foreigner, “Super Freak,” by Rick James, “Play That Funky Music,” by Wild Cherry, and “Beat It" by Michael Jackson.
The 19-year-old son of Deborah Smith and Mike D. Arwood, Smith got his start singing along while his mother would play piano.  His first performance was at Southside Freewill Baptist Church, he said.
“If the world had only seen him at 6 years-old in our living room with his eyes so glued to the TV and his heart longing to be there so bad,” Deborah said of Zach’s longtime desire to try out for “American Idol.” “I know how much he loves to sing and I know how much he loves everyone here in Wabash.  He literally can’t wait to see everyone Thursday at Eagles Theater.”
Smith is a 2021 Wabash High School graduate and a choir alumnus of Wabash County Honors Band and Choir. He was a Honeywell Media Arts Program student and was selected among Wabash High School Choir students to sing with Foreigner during their 2019 performance at the Honeywell Center.
For more information on Zachariah Smith and to follow along on his singing journey, follow @realzachariahsmith. This concert is sponsored by Dorais Chevrolet Buick GMC. Seating is general admission at $20 and suite level at $30.