Philip Bowen - From West Virginia Fiddle to Viral Americana Breakout | Rugged Revival
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There's a moment early in our conversation with Philip Bowen where he describes growing up in Montgomery, West Virginia—a town of fewer than 2,000 people, cradled between mountains with the Kanawha River running through his backyard—and you suddenly understand why this man plays fiddle like his life depends on it. For Bowen, music isn't some career ambition to be carefully cultivated in the city. It's simply how Appalachia breathes. At funerals, birthday parties, Christmas dinners, someone brings an instrument. The picking and singing are as natural as breathing mountain air.
What's remarkable about Philip Bowen's meteoric rise in the Americana world isn't that he's talented—though he undeniably is—but that he's remained so authentically rooted in where he comes from while simultaneously connecting with millions of people who've never set foot in the hollers of West Virginia. This Appalachian fiddle virtuoso has managed to achieve something increasingly rare in roots music: genuine viral success without compromising his artistic integrity or the deep cultural traditions that shaped him.
I grew up in deep Appalachia, in a very small town with mountains on both sides and a big wide river running through my backyard.
— Philip Bowen
Starting fiddle at just four years old, Bowen emerged from a landscape where music wasn't a luxury or a hobby but rather a fundamental part of how communities preserved their stories and identities. West Virginia, he explains, is itself a melting pot—Lebanese, Italian, Scotch-Irish immigrants all colliding and creating something distinctly Appalachian. His great-grandparents arrived by boat through Ellis Island, settling into this mountainous terrain where their heritage mixed with countless others to form something entirely new. That multicultural foundation matters. It explains why Bowen's approach to traditional Appalachian music feels both reverential and expansive, rooted yet reaching outward.
In conversation, Bowen comes across as thoughtful and genuinely humble about his meteoric ascent. He's acutely aware of the privilege inherent in being discovered, in having the right songs find audiences on social media, in building a global following at a time when the algorithm can make or break an artist overnight. Yet he's also clear-eyed about what he owes to his roots. You don't grow up surrounded by mountains and rivers, absorbing music the way other children absorb their native language, without developing an almost spiritual relationship to the songs themselves.
Music doesn't matter if it was a birthday party, Christmas, a funeral—people bring the instruments and singing is just part of life there.
— Philip Bowen
What distinguishes Bowen from countless other talented musicians chasing viral moments is his refusal to treat Appalachian music as a aesthetic to be borrowed. This is his inheritance, his language, his way of speaking about love and loss and community and place. When he performs, whether it's a intimate kitchen session or a packed festival stage, there's an unmistakable authenticity coursing through every note. He's not performing Appalachia; he's channeling it.
The broader Americana landscape has certainly noticed. Bowen has built an electrifying reputation for live performance—the kind of artist who transforms a room through sheer presence and musicianship. But more importantly, he's done something the industry desperately needs right now: he's made traditional roots music feel urgent and contemporary without ever once abandoning the traditions themselves. His sound is rooted in fiddle work that honors generations of Appalachian players, yet it speaks directly to people encountering that tradition for the first time.
There's something quietly revolutionary about an artist who refuses the false choice between authenticity and ambition, between honoring tradition and building a modern career. Bowen navigates this tension with apparent ease, perhaps because he's never really seen them as contradictory. You don't spend a childhood in the mountains, absorbing music the way it's meant to be absorbed, without understanding that tradition isn't static—it's alive, evolving, and meant to be shared.
For anyone seeking to understand what genuine Americana music looks like in 2024, or simply wanting to witness a musician at the absolute height of his powers, Philip Bowen's story—and more importantly, his music—demands your attention. Listen to the full episode to hear him reflect on that formative West Virginia childhood, the viral momentum that's reshaped his life, and what it means to carry an entire regional tradition forward into an uncertain future.
lose your love. [music] [music] Hearts get broke, tables [music] turn, lose, you learn. >> This is Maggie Noel and I love Rugged Revival. >> This is the Rugged Revival podcast, your home of the UK's country, Americana, [music] and Roots Music Community. Uh we're also your escape from all the politics and nonsense [music] going on in the world. So this is the place to be if you want to talk about music, which is our [music] favorite subject obviously. Uh so on today's show, we've got a very special guest. Uh the man has Appalachia running through his [music] veins. He's an awesome dude. Um it's a pleasure to have you on. It's Philip Bowen. How are you doing, mate? >> Man, thank you so much for uh the kind words and I'm I'm glad to be here. Thank you. >> Fantastic. Fantastic. Yeah, I've wanted to get you on the show for quite some time. I've been kind of stalking you online. You're a busy dude, man. And uh rightly so, but it's uh yeah, I it's like I said, it's a pleasure to have you on. We've got loads of questions to go through and um yeah, I think it'll be fun, mate. But um before I go into any questions, what what I started last week was a bit of a new feature and hopefully it will go according to plan. So, it's called the Rugged Revival's soundtrack to your life. And uh if I explain it in a simpler way. So as our conversation develops and I ask some questions, I think I want to help you build a personal soundtrack. So any questions I ask you will kind of ek out songs that will make up, you know, who Philip Bowen is throughout your life. So from childhood all the way up to now. So >> trust me, mate, it's uh it will make sense as we go. >> Sounds great. >> Fantastic. So first things first. So, I I said uh before we jumped on air, um Ronny can't make it this week. Uh but we'll have fun with Alan. We always do. Um but Ronny normally tackles this part, so I'll take his part this week. Um but we we always go back to the very beginning. Uh we British people uh are just naturally very nosy people. I think you said you met some recently and I did. Yeah. >> Yeah. Maybe maybe that kind of tr transferred. But um but we we love talking to you guys particularly from places that we haven't been to and places that are probably quite different culturally to to the UK. Um so I think it makes interesting listening and it gives me a super sense of kind of wonderust, you know, I I just want to go out visit all of these places. Um one day I will. But tell us, mate, you know, what what sort of childhood did you have and where exactly did you grow up, Philillip? >> Yeah. Um, well, I grew up in deep Appalachia, man. Like southern West Virginia. So, when you hear people talk about Appalachia, it's like, you know, Eastern Kentucky, all of West Virginia's in there. Some parts of the Carolinas are in there. Some parts of Tennessee are in there. And, um, I grew up around the mountains in a very, very small town called Montgomery, West Virginia. So, less than 2,000 people. Um, and in the back of in my backyard, this big wide river that I sing about and was a big part of my life, the Canala River like ran right through my backyard. So, I lived in a little valley. There's mountains on both sides. Very picturesque place to grow up. Simple place to grow up. Um, you know, music is such a big part of where I grew up in in the sense of like it doesn't matter if it was a birthday party, you know, Christmas, funeral, whatever. People bring the instruments. singing and music and picking and playing is just part of part of life there, which is why I think so much good music comes from Appalachia is because it's just so much of of like how we tell our stories and everything. So, yeah, I grew up, you know, one of three kids. Um, and uh had a pretty great, you know, family, big big family growing up and um yeah, spent all my all my childhood days in in this little small town in West Virginia. >> Oh, that's amazing, mate. And um yeah, it's it's really interesting talking to people from, you know, the Appalachian kind of side of things and, you know, the the the fact you've got all this rural area to grow up in. People are telling us, you know, you you could be driving tractors, shooting guns, you know, having [snorts] the best fun out there, you know, which sounds fun to me right now, let alone growing up. But, uh, >> yeah, it's an awesome place. Um, but yeah, I mean, what what type of child were you personalitywise? And and has has your personality changed over the years? Yeah, I think it has. But like, you know, West Virginia is a real melting pot. Like, you know, um like for example, I'm half Lebanese. There's a lot a lot of Lebanese immigrants from way back in the day. Uh and it's, you know, a lot of Italian immigrants, Scotch, Irish immigrants, and Lebanese like in this mishmash of culture. So, you'd have these big family cultures that kind of fit right in with what Appalachia was. So, and my great-grandparents came over on a boat into Ellis Island, you know, then found their way down to West Virginia. And I grew up in a very like loving household. My my parents both came from kind of nothing, you know. My mom was a nurse anesthetist and my dad uh worked in like the computer field as a software engineer, oddly enough. And this so he he traveled a lot for work because there's not a lot of that kind of work in West Virginia. So, he was kind of traveling a bit for work. And then, um, you know, I grew up, like I said, playing music, playing sports. We're outside all the time and uh I don't know, man. I've always I've always been a pretty uh positive person. My grandma used to tell me I was a a glass threequarters full kind of guy. And it's true. Like when I'm up, I'm really up. When I'm down, I can get pretty blue. But for the most part, I've always just loved I've loved life and um to be doing what I'm doing now is pretty awesome. It was a dead dream for me for a long time. So, I'm glad that I found my way back to music, for sure. >> Fantastic. And and I I would love to go through that in a minute, mate. But yeah, I love that. I love the positivity and I can kind of feel it exuding off you, mate. I'm probably a half glass empty kind [laughter] of person. So, we we'll hopefully meet in the middle, you know. >> I balance you out a little bit for sure. >> Yeah. Cheers, dude. Um I love asking this question, you know, because we we have a lot of artists from all over America, uh from Texas all the way up to, you know, Kentucky and other states. And I I want to know what it means to you particularly to be, you know, from Appalachia. You know, what makes the region special in your eyes? Well, I mean, I'm you without knowing, I would guess that you've probably heard the similar sentiment from people that are from the region that I'm from in the sense of that it means everything to me truly like um it doesn't matter where I play, I will have people like I had a show in Idaho last year, which is, you know, um way out west, way up north, like thousands of miles from where I grew up. And this couple came and they had some West Virginia roots or some Appalachia roots. And they said, "It means so much to us to hear our stories told in this way." And to me, that is the highest praise I can get when people from my home state or home region, you know, identify with the music and tell me that it makes them proud. It's it's nothing better, man. I, you know, it's just it's just a really special place with a very definite sense of place that people are very proud to be from. And um so it that means everything to me that like I I love being a positive voice or just a a real voice from from where it is that I'm from. That's lovely to hear, mate. And um I keep saying it on the on the podcast and and the conversations I have with different people, but we we started this 12 months ago. No one knew who we were. You're like, who who's a Rugged Revival? These these strange guys from England, you know, doing [laughter] a podcast about independent music, you know, from Appalachia and other regions. So, but the the people that took us in first of all were were people from Kentucky and from Appalachia. So, >> I believe that. I believe that >> it's a real community and we we're kind of blessed to to have got to know the people there. We've made some real kind of friends online and met a lot of people that have come over, man. So, um yeah, I I love the region. I love your explanation of that. It's it's fantastic. >> Um but for people that, you know, aren't so familiar with the Appalachian sound, you know, is there a way of describing it? I know it's not always easy. Um but how would you describe it? I mean, I would describe it is because like I know that I was having this conversation with somebody the other day like, you know, it's sometimes you get asked to describe like what genre are you in and it's hard to describe because I don't think of it I definitely don't think of it as like mainstream country or pop country. I think of it like people use the word Americana a lot. Folk gets thrown in there a lot and I feel like some of the hallmarks of Appalachian music are um you know, one you're writing the songs. Not that you can't have a co-writer, but you've got, as they say, you got a heavy hand on that paper in in the sense of like, you know, it's your story. And then there's real instruments involved and people that can play those instruments. And I'm talking about stuff like obviously, you know, the fiddle is my first instrument. I play the guitar and the mando and a few things, too. Um, but people that are playing the instruments that are from that that represent the voice of the region that we're from. So, you'll find a lot of you'll find a fiddle a lot. You'll find acoustic guitar and mandolin and banjo and some dobro in there sometimes and things like that. And I feel like that is the hallmark of the music and the songs are typically of the storytelling variety. So there's not a lot of songs that are about I mean you'll have some I don't know it's it's more of a storytelling type culture anyway. So I feel like that is where the sound resonates. And so there's all types of varieties and voices from that region but I feel like those are the hallmarks maybe of what makes something this kind of like appalachin folky Americana whatever kind of sound. >> [laughter] >> It's hard to describe honestly. >> It is. You know what? You are way more articulate than I am because uh I would have poorly explained it. But um yeah, it's interesting because I think it's I mean with any sound it's always evolving, you know. I think you know I I love looking watching documentaries and looking at the history of music from different regions and like you say the storytelling aspect was the way that people shared information and news as well back then. Um and that's how the sound developed and and and went from there. I I am desperate to kind of come out to Kentucky mainly as well because I've got some friends out there. Um but but Appalachia as a whole, I'd love to do a road trip. Uh if the wife lets me, probably not, but uh we we'll find it. Um but as an outsider, so if I wanted the full Appalachian experience, so in terms of where I should go, uh what food I should try and what sort of activities I should get up to, what what would you recommend, mate? >> I mean, you know, you want the hills and the hollers, man. like that. That's the experience. And I think that those two places that we've been talking about are a great place to start. So, you know, West Virginia is the only state in America that is 100% within the Appalachian Mountain Range. It's the only one. And so, like I said, like uh the part of the state that I grew up in, southern West Virginia, when you could throw a rock and get into Kentucky, you know, that that uh that eastern Kentucky kind of area. And so, and there's parts of like uh Virginia, the like southeast Virginia that are part of that, too. Um, and so I would say you want to go all throughout, like be up in the mountains, go to maybe the uh the newest national park, which is in New River Gorge in southern West Virginia. Go to some Hills and Hollers, like, you know, see people where they're living. And then the food you want to try is like all the regional stuff. I mean, it's what you might think of in a lot of ways in terms of like southern comfort food, but it's like regional stuff, too. Like if you order a hot dog in Appalachia for example and you ask for a hot dog with everything. They're going to put sllo on it. They're going to put chili on it and onions and mustard. You know, you're going to have a pepperoni roll, you're going to have like a really good biscuit, that kind of stuff. Just the food of the people. Like it's real simple, but it's uh usually homemade with with love. So, you want to Yeah. Just kick back by the river, float down a river, you know, that's a good one to do. Float down a river and and pick some music and that's that'll be a good day for you. >> Oh, mate, that sounds amazing. And if I if I completed all those, will I will will you make me an honory appalachin? >> Absolutely. And I mean, listen, you're you're already so far the way there. I I've been I always say this at my shows, like sometimes I had a show up in New York State. We were out opening for Dwight Yokum in the fall last year and people would say to me, "Oh my god, I love Appalachian music." And I like, "No, listen, you got to think of it like I'm going to throw an apple at you. Appalachia is how we say it in the region." So the fact that you didn't say Appalachia one time, you're you're already you're there, bro. You're there. I'm I'm sure I did at one point, but uh yeah, I I I don't think that my friends would take me seriously otherwise, but that's right. >> Thank you, dude. But um yeah, that that sounds awesome. I'm going to write all those things down and uh yeah, when I get out there, I will be doing that. So, we we kind of touched upon, you know, your kind of childhood in terms of um you know, when you started playing music and and that sort of thing. And um when when did that kind of how did that develop you know in terms of being a serious kind of vocation for you? >> Man it's been it's been a long wind and road for me like you know I've been playing the thrill since I was four years old. So music's always been a part of my life. When I was in college I minored in music. I went to college down in Florida. Um and uh I did the college band thing like a lot of people. But I was so terrified of being a star of an artist and and I honestly I didn't even really know how to go about a career in music. I never really thought about it seriously as a career choice. It seemed like a fun, I guess, kind of fantasy. And then I got out into the real world. I was, you know, about to get engaged and I wanted a a quote unquote real job. And so I put it on the shelf for a very long time. And um right before co I decided I want to give this one serious try before I die. Like I was very unfulfilled in the work I was doing. And um of course like I had a couple local like coffee shop gigs lined up here uh where I live and and then the world shut down. And so I started I wanted to just keep the commitment to myself to give it a try. So I started putting some stuff online and I would do these live streams from my house like three four hours in a night sometimes. But I would do I was doing probably 10 to 12 hours of that in the evenings after I worked by a job and the kids went to bed and stuff like that. I just was doing I was on a grind sometimes for two people, sometimes for one person and then it stuff stuff started kind of snowballing a little bit online. And so when CO was over, I was able to kind of start putting out some music and at least have a few people that would listen to it. And um I have a pretty good size following on social media because of those, you know, that that grind I was doing. And um you know, I did the TV thing a couple years ago. I was on America's Got Talent. Um and I really just did only fiddle on that because I was so scared to sing an original. I didn't want them to own my stuff. So I went all in on the fiddle and I just used that to get people into my world. And while I was on the show, I released my first record. Uh I didn't tell them I was doing that because they're like, "Well, you got So, [laughter] like the week I was on like the live semi-finals, I dropped my whole album." And then it really helped that kind of steamroll. And I had some good friends of mine on that record um like Charles Wesley Goblin and Josiah uh from Josiah the Bonavvilles and stuff like that to really help give it some juice and you know, blah blah blah. So, this is my this is really the start of my just third year, you know, barely my third year of doing it full-time, like where I cut away the corporate job in the safety net. So, you know, I I have an unusual path to this in terms of the time of my life. Like, I I'm I was born in 1984, man. I'm not like some 25year-old, you know, I got three kids and it's a lot to step away from your easy corporate job with all these benefits. I had a very good marketing career that I stepped away from to pursue this and it's been a crazy few years. I mean, my I've been so blessed to to be able to sing my songs. I mean, I I just um I'm so thankful because it's not often that you can start over at 35 and and make a new career for yourself in the thing that you're passionate about, >> you know, to have to have even five people pay for tickets to a show is a is a leap. And so to be able to go out and do these shows and man, I I'm I don't know. I'm very passionate about it. I'm so grateful that I that it's even been happening for a year, much less longer. And so, uh, that's a very long answer to your question, but I'm I it's been a really, it has been a crazy, especially the last 2, three years have been so life-changing for me doing the stuff I've been able to do. And I don't know, I don't have it all figured out, but I'm just I'm thankful I can sing a few songs and write when my writing started getting recognized as what changed my whole life. And so, that that has been a really fun journey for me. You know, >> it's um and it's amazing. You know, I I' I've kind of researched, you know, what what's gone on. Yeah, you've answered a few questions for me already there, but with the, you know, the way Tik Tok blew up and, you know, co was a massive kind of change for everyone. It it was >> it was a horrible time, I think, you know, in terms of people's health and, you know, the safety net of jobs and work, but it it changed a lot of lives in terms of musicians to say, well, I'm just going to go in this, you know, with both feet and see what happens. And it's changed lives in that sense. But I I think for you and I was amazing. You know, I I don't normally look at social media followings and stuff. I went on TikTok because um I I posted something about the promo for tonight >> and um yeah, I I couldn't believe you had a mill. I couldn't believe you had a million followers. I was like, "Wow, that is uh I did not know." [laughter] >> Yeah, trust me. Me neither. I mean, like it's like sometimes I'll get asked that in interviews and they'll be like, >> "Do you realize you have over 10 million likes or something like that on that platform?" I was like, "Honestly, [laughter] it's very surreal." I mean like you know like um and I'm very grateful for that platform and the real work for me has been on whether it's like Facebook or Instagram or whatever you know the way that I was was trying to get it's so hard to get uh any kind of attention to what you're doing in this it's such a saturated business and this was part of my marketing degree so what I was doing at the very beginning is I would post these like fiddle covers that would go super viral and then I would use that to get people into my world and so it it was a lot of work to kind use that momentum to get people into the stuff that I was actually writing and doing beyond just like I was like I'm not a cover artist. That's not what I'm trying to do. I love playing the fiddle, but like me doing fiddle covers is not what I want to do for my job. So, you know, that was a a serious grind to get like my writing focused on and and recognized and then start doing like shows for that stuff. And so, uh that was the big challenge for me was like, okay, well, how do I leverage this massive audience I have? Um, and so, you know, maybe I I lost a bunch of followers, I'm sure, that way, but then, um, I have such a unique spectrum of fans that will show up to these shows because of they might have found me through TV or something else I did and maybe they're newer to the writing that I'm doing. And so, um, yeah, it's it's uh I'd rather have the platform than not have it, that's for sure. But it's been it's been a fun and interesting challenge to try to figure out how do I translate those people into like uh sticky fans as they called it that will come to shows and listen to us >> everything else. >> Definitely get that mate. It's it's interesting because we had Spencer Hatcher on the show a few few podcasts back and he he he kind of blew up on Tik Tok and his socials and you know did something similar to you in terms of spotting an opportunity that perhaps wasn't being uh not exploited in that way but you know being utilized and his bluegrass background you know came into that and he was playing bluegrass covers and you know and and he amass an awesome following but what people don't see is you like you say the grind and the graph that you pull into it they just see he's got a million followers I think. Yeah. Have you seen what he did to get to that point, you know? >> Yeah. I mean, it's like lit literally thousands and thousands of hours of like doing that from a home at first. I mean, like like I said, I I truly had no idea how to go about doing that. And then when people started asking for my released music, this is true. Like there's a couple the first couple songs I put on Spotify, I did not even know how to do all that. Like the way I did these songs was I would record like fulllength videos of me doing them um with like my iPad microphone and then I would stack all the videos up. So you had to have like five perfect takes. Then I would stack them up in iMovie and extract that audio and that audio would be the song. That's I didn't even know what I was doing with that stuff just to just to get something out into the world, you know. and and um but I feel like bootstrap and stuff like that really teaches you a lot about um you know how how much it takes and you got to treat songwriting like it's your job to really get the stories how you want to get them and in a meaningful way and then um it's it's just been a huge learning curve for me and uh yeah I don't know man it's it's it's been it's been exhausting in some ways but it's very gratifying to um to have been able to do some of the things I've been able to do so I'm very thankful for it >> definitely mate I I I did write a question. It's like, is it weird to have a million followers and a million people looking at you? Do you feel like there's a responsibility there for when you now post? >> It's very weird. I And I feel like sometimes you get a lot of pressure on on certain things like if there's something big going on in the world, you know, sometimes people will like [laughter] what's your take on this thing that I have no, you know, I'm like I don't like I'm I really don't enjoy uh getting into that side of it sometimes. But it's also just on the like the uh and a lot of this is because of the TV thing too, you know, like in airports and things like that if people recognize you. It's it's very cool in some ways because nobody used to ever care what I did period, you know, and especially the songs I was writing. And so I am like I'm very diligent about I don't care if it's 50 people at a show or 5,000. I'm at that merch table till the last person is done talking to me and I will be there every show come hell or high water. And that can be pretty uh exhausting sometimes, but at the same time, like I said, nobody ever cared about what I did. So, I could take 5 minutes and sign a vinyl for you and take a picture or whatever. Like, I'm very passionate about that because um I'm still independent. Like, I'm not signed to like a big label or nothing like that. So, I I am very thankful for every single person that comes to a show and wants to talk or whatever. So, it's just, you know, it's just a different way. It's a different life than I had when I was doing the corporate world. It's a it's a big adjustment. It's been a big adjustment for my family, you know, doing these runs like, okay, well, how much touring is too much? How do we live when we come home? How do you land back at home and be dad and a good husband and everything like that? So, it's just been a huge a lot of figuring it out the past few years. That's for sure. >> Yeah. And like you say, I think with being in a corporate world that's that's really helped you say with the marketing and the you know organization and responsibility you know that some some people have just dive into music at an early stage you know it doesn't don't have that you know experience. So >> that's super cool, man. And um you know, going into your own music as well. I mean, that's why I wanted to to kind of bring you on and talk to you about um it's uh I said at the beginning, lovely Appalachian music scene, made some great friends and um I think we got some kind of cross friends when you did the uh the Ramble with our buddy Josh Mitchum. >> Oh, what a guy. Yeah, absolutely. >> What a beautiful venue he's got as well. Um >> man, that was I it really it's very unique, too. And I I love I truly love stuff like that where it's like these venues where the community will come out and support, you know, and uh let's see who was there that night. Uh Lance Rogers was there the same night I was and uh Rich Henderson and some other great folks. And um yeah, what a special venue. And Josh is such a great dude. >> He is. Yeah. I've had the opportunity to when he's come over a couple of times to a grab a beer and and get drunk and then uh b do some recordings. So it's been cool. And uh yeah, it's so cool. But um but yeah, man, it's um you know, we've got uh the the Appalachian community that that turns up to the Ramble and you know, is that what it's like, you know, all over, you know, in terms of local shows, that that sort of support that you get from local communities? Yeah, I do think I do think that one of the one of the real joys about playing in small towns, especially in Appalachia, but really anywhere, but really there it's especially true that people just are so glad to have people coming through and doing music and telling stories. And so it is very much a thing of like um okay, I know Josh or Josh, you know, uh Phil Phip played here or there, let's go see him. He's from this neck of the woods. Let's go see him play. And it does feel very very supportive like you know when you when you go through these towns and it's very life-giving in that way where you know um people are there for the songs you know they want to hear the they want to hear the words they want to hear the songs and what you're singing about. It's very cool. >> Awesome mate. And um you in terms of actually playing so you you mentioned you're a multi-instrumentalist. Um it's really hard to say for me anyway. Um I'm always fascinated by by your you kind of people. You know I think you're you're freakishly talented uh in in that manner. can pick up nearly any instrument and play it really well. But first of all, is is there an instrument that you you do struggle to play and what is it? >> Yeah. I mean, I I I really think it'd be fun to try the banjo. I have not I have tried a couple times. I really haven't put too much time into it. It I think it's cool because of what you can do with it. Um I I'm I'm okay at the piano, but I I don't play it correctly. So, I would really learn to love to really just like improvise and really get really get excellent at the keys, but I've struggled to do that. And one thing that I really cannot I feel like I have um truly no ability on like if it was like a little box drum I could play a box drum but when I'm like sitting with a great drummer and they got the hands and the feet and everything going at one time I cannot cuz I'm used to having like one hand for melody and one hand for rhythm or rhythm or whatever. So doing all the above and the feet like really stresses me out. Can't do it. >> Yeah. A lot of people mention uh pedal steel as well. uh that seems to be, you know, crazy hard to to learn. But >> it's kind of like the fiddle where there's no frets. I mean, you know, pedal pedal does have pedal is such a feel instrument. So the fiddle like there's zero every like whatever it is. Every eighth of an inch is a different like semmit tone or whatever. So at least on the guitar, you got frets. It's a little more forgiving, but the fiddle is so precise, you know? So the pedal is the same way. You got to be kind of dead on or it's it sounds awful, you know. >> Fantastic. And um in terms of your own musical journey, so Philillip um you know in terms of recording professionally um I go for your back catalog and you know it looks like around 2020 um you you started releasing a whole range of music. It was really interesting kind of going for all your Spotify and and kind of delving into the collaborations early on with like Cherry Blossom Club and you even recorded a lowfi track. So it seems like you were delving right in man to to do [laughter] something. >> Man that's good man that's good. Uh that's like a throwback. Yes. So I would I mean at first like I just didn't know what I didn't know and I just I love making music. It's my favorite thing. And so man the amount of different session work I did on just the instrumental side of my life is so crazy. Like I've got some really fun credits like I did uh I've got a couple cuts on Noah Noah Khan stick season album. I played the fiddle on that like and then like you said like some really cra like interesting lowfi tracks like I did some uh composition work for sync work and things like that. And then I try to really try to find a started to dial in like okay for my own stuff that I'm writing like what do I want it to sound like? And for me I want this to sound like home. And so uh even like this next project I'm working on um is going to be probably the focus and most rootsy sounding project I've done because I've been through this loop with recording a couple times and it's always a journey to try to figure out how does this thing going to output like how I want it to sound, you know? So, it's uh that that process was brand new to me like I've said and so I've learned something every time and and so I it helps you kind of learn what do you want to try to go for and like how do you get there and all those kind of things? >> Yeah, man. So, so did you with saying that did you kind of figure out your directional journey as it went or right at the beginning did you think right I'm going to do it this way? I wish I wish I could say that like from the very first time I knew exactly how I wanted things to sound but I really I had I did have some ideas but at the same time like for example that first full album old can like I was doing that this was very much a time where I would literally I got money for one track I'm going to cook cut it and I don't know what I I don't know okay this guy knows somebody that can come play this I'm going to try that and um I did that with Zack McCord was my main producer on that I love Zach he's a got a great studio in West Virginia and I met Charles through him originally. That's how we initially started working together. Um, and uh, so like I knew how c certain songs I wanted to sound. I tried some different things that like there's a few things on that old Cana record that I don't necessarily play in that format, but I thought it would be fun for the record, you know? And the same with like Appalachia Forever, that second record. Uh, there's a few things that maybe like uh maybe aren't as like root rootsy or acoustic as I always play, but I liked the vibe for the studio. And so, >> yeah, >> now that I'm going into this like next thing I'm working on, I I was able to I had the time and the resources to be able to say, "Okay, well, this is a producer I really want to work with." So, for example, um at least half that record I'm going to work with Rachel Bay who did um I don't know if you're familiar with like Nick Jamerson or not, but like she worked on his last record >> and that's how I found her. You know, I was like, "Oh, she worked with this person I know who I like I really like how this record sounds and I feel like she knows how to make this sound go." So, we've been working together for the last few months to try to bring this to life and I'm I'm going down to Nashville next month to cut some stuff, but blah blah blah. But that that's I feel like it's for me it's been a journey of like finding my way through this path and then I now I have a little bit more of the luxury of like time to be like, "Okay, I really have the time and resources. I want to think through how I want this to be uh to kind of come out like I want it to come out." >> Yeah, that's really cool, man. And um I I I just loved kind of >> progressing with like the the the kind of timeline on your Spotify, [laughter] you know, it was so cool and interesting and um you know, even listening to you like your demo tapes, which some of the demos ended up on. I'm glad I'm glad you pronounced it first. So old Canoa. Um yeah, >> was that was that good sounding? Um so it was Lightning Bugs. I think that's probably my favorite track um out of that and and you know, you mentioned being a positive guy and I think it exudes that. It's uh such a nice uh record, such a cool kind of fiddle arrangement on that. Um so definitely recommend uh people check out not just the album, but I I love that particular song, man. >> Thank you, man. >> But it's cool how you kind of um hook up with, like you say, different artists. We we had Nicholas Jameson on last year, I think. Um absolutely love that guy. And yeah, Rachel Bam's an interesting um artist and and you know, producer. Yeah. >> Um, so that that's great that you've got some plans to to kind of work on that. But, um, >> so yeah, in terms of I suppose collaborations, so you've worley Godwin and Josar and the Bonavvilles and, >> you know, >> what what what kind of was the direction with that? You know, did you have a plan in terms of the type of sound you wanted with these guys? >> Yeah, I mean I mean um, for the, for example, for the Charles Busy Goblin track that's on Appalachia Forever, this song called Blue as Water. It's obviously very heavy. It's very sad and we have both been through a similar experience in this way. So like and I every time I play that song out there's people waiting to tell me about their own story which I think is one of the best things in music but um so I love a sad song for that reason. And so I think maybe right away when you think of Chuck you don't necessarily think of like man he's going to sing a big sad ballad about losing a child. I mean, that's a really heavy subject matter, but when I played it for him, like, we just synced up on that the idea of the song and how how we wanted that to feel. And so, he could, to me, he could sing the phone book and it sounds good, man. You know, you know, he can sing the McDonald's menu and I think it sounds amazing. And so, to be able to sit down together and like work on something like that was a real treat. And with Josiah, for example, him and I like he's probably one of my my two or three just best friends in all music. We've known each other for a very long time. Uh we met each other through like Tik Tok initially like several years ago and then we've written and worked together a ton and the song that that sure could use the rain um we had set out to write something else and it just wasn't coming together and so we kind of got inspired by this idea of like writer's block and like losing your losing your sauce almost you know and so um I think with each different person we approach it different ways like we want it to feel as natural as we can but I love making music with my friends and so I all I really care about is telling a good story. I want the song to be good a good story and good writing. And so him and I that sure could use a rain song. We we sat down. We we started cooking that song in the morning. We just didn't stop. We we ended up like, "Okay, let's finish the song. Let's do a demo. Ah, you know what? Let's just go ahead and cut it." So, we went that day. We went from like 8:00 in the morning to like 3:00 a.m. because we were so passionate about just getting it done. And I think that's like the magic that you can get when you uh get a great great coowriter or a great musician friend in the room with you and like, "Okay, let's make this let's make this work." You know? Absolutely, mate. And I I love to kind of hear about the journey that you you went through for that. It's it's just so interesting. And both albums are awesome. You've got some awesome people on there forever. Leon M. Love that dude as well. Such a nice guy. Um so yeah, that's that's a cool track. That is a cool track. So we wanted a fishing song, man. Like that. Like I was talking to Leon about something else and I had played on a I had played some fiddle on a track for him and we were just both in Nashville and I was talking to him about like I got this tune I think would be really fun to have you on specifically like I love his voice for that and I wanted that I wanted that song the studio version of it to kind of feel like a little bit like ' 90s country you know like like that that fiddle like you know just a fishing song is what I wanted. you could sit on the boat in the summertime and listen to this song and uh he played the harmonica on that and the electric and sang and uh it was awesome. Yeah, that was a really that was just a fun song to do for sure. >> Yeah, he's a fun guy and yeah, we we had him on too and if he's not talking about fishing, he's singing about it or he's doing >> Exactly. >> So, that kind of sums him up a little bit, I think. [laughter] >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Exactly. We have a very We have a very similar He's he's easy to work with vibewise, you know what I like he's just very chill and um we we had a ton of fun doing that. >> That's superb. Uh there's one question I forgot to ask. I'm going to completely blame Ronnie because he couldn't be bothered to make this episode. >> Yeah, let's play Moran. I think that's a good idea for sure. >> I I think so, mate. So, um I mentioned right at the beginning I said I'm going to do a soundtrack of your life and right at the kind of end of the childhood kind of section, I wanted to ask if you could pick one song that defines your childhood kind of era, what might it be? It it could be absolutely anything. One thing I always think of whenever everybody asked me about that time in life is my parents both were very eclectic music listeners. But the first time I ever remember stopping and being like, "What did that song say?" And like being so into the words of the song was the song Copper Line by James Taylor. My dad had this the white James Taylor uh CD, like the greatest hit CD. I think it was volume two or something. And I wore that thing out. I remember being like in the back of our conversion van on my CD player and hearing that song come on and like it's snapping me out of something and I remember like looking out the window and being like, "Oh man, this is like I love how this makes me feel. I can picture the place." And I got very into James Taylor because of that. I love his writing. And so that is one I think of all the time. And I think of uh I don't know man, John Denver. I listened to a lot of John Denver. And then of course like man in my in my middle school and high school days I also just like loved hip-hop. I listened to so much hip-hop. Like so much hip-hop. I just love the sampling and the arrangements and stuff like that. So, I don't know. Just a weird mix of everything, I guess. But that song Copper Line by James Taylor is still one of my all-time favorite song. >> Oh, thanks for sharing that, mate. And I think we're we're both uh gentlemen of the 80s, so yeah, I feel you in the hip-hop and and that sort of era, man. It's uh I think it was the best era, but I think everyone says that my era was the best. >> Like that that first Green Day record. I loved that record. The one with like Brains 2 and stuff on it. And um like in fact we've been we were closing out some of our last shows that we were doing with like this kind of Appalachin version of Time of Your Life by Green Day cuz I just love Anyways, yeah. So I'm a very eclectic listener. I love music period. So yeah, same same as mate. says and um I suppose the next one and and I always ask this one because you know being an independent platform for independent artists and with there being so much new music out at at you know at the moment I don't think people realize how much good new music is coming out every single day >> um cuz anyone I listen to go oh I'm kind of stuck listening to the 70s 80s or '9s stuff because you know that's my thing but I think we try and spoon feed people a little bit on the rugged revival and say look go and listen to these guys They they're absolutely amazing. You'll be blown away and you'll go down a rabbit hole. I promise you. But um but my question for you, Philip, is um you know, if you could choose a best song that you've listened to, let's choose the last five years, uh what is it and what makes it stand out for you? >> Man, I love this band called The Milk Carton Kids so much. I've seen them many times. I have this song called Michigan by the Milk Carton Kids. It's fantastic. There's a a folk acoustic duo. That one definitely. Uh there's a song called Tugboats by the Brothers that I also love. It's a great tune that it's a great band. Um um let's see. One song that's like newer to me. Oh, you you'll probably be ded on this song. I heard this song for the first time like a few months ago and I'm telling you like I need to meet these guys. Have you heard of the band King Fisher? >> I haven't. No. >> I think they're I think they're an Irish band. And I'm going to say I'm going to say >> I don't know. They got this song called Killa or what? It's the name of this town that they're all from. But this band, bro, it's like they're they're they're so good. It reminds me of being home, but they're Irish. You know what I mean? It's like that they have a banjo on a guitar and >> Yeah, man. Yeah. It's a big similarity, I think, between Irish and Appalachian music. >> For sure. And I love that like this the like kind of storytelling stuff. They're great. Um, let's see. That was three. I was three, right? Um, man, uh, I've really been enjoying this is so hard to do cuz I like so much great music. I I I really I love Vince Gil. Vince Gill is like one of my heroes. I have never had the chance to cross paths with Vince Gil and he does this song called The Last Dance at the Old Texas Moon and it's a it's an old Bob Will song and he is just like he kills that song. So, anything Vince Gill acoustic especially I love Vince Gil and um some >> I don't know man I don't know it's hard and I I've always loved John Mayer too man like John Mayer's like latest album I really just went crazy for that album I love that I love that record and >> Sierra's too Sierra Ferrell's too I love Sierra but I don't know there too many to name bro I don't know >> like you say yeah but like I think the the emphasis is there's loads of new music out and people people need to go and check it out I'm definitely going to check out King Fisher Um, they sound interesting. They sound fun. >> Yeah. Yeah. And it's it's it's not too far. And there's a Have you ever heard of the band Frightened Rabbit? >> No. No. >> Okay. The They're not like doing music anymore. Their lead singer unfortunately passed away a few years ago, but I found them when I was like in college. And that was like the first independent band I like was went crazy for. They're they're a Scottish band, but they were like torn in the United States. >> And um that's that's a good homework for you. Frightened Rabbit. >> Frightened Rabbit. They're incredible. like they have some really the Midnight Organ Fight I think was like their first big album and it is it is fantastic. I love that. I love Ering stuff. Well, that I've not heard before. So, that's probably three or four names, mate, that you've >> There you go. >> That's my homework for later. Um fantastic, man. Yeah, I I would love to meet Vince Gil as well. uh whether he'll ever come on the podcast. I think I'm probably aiming >> out of this world. But um the closest I've got is uh when we went to Fort Worth last year and we got to see Mint Still uh the greatest Vince Gill tribute band in the world. >> That's fantastic. [laughter] Did Did you get some good barbecue in Fort Worth when you were there? >> Oh mate, I absolutely miss it. We we just don't have the kind of the quality of food or the care, you know, that's put into making barbecue. But I I will say I will say one of my goals I still have not played a note overseas >> in terms but Canada doesn't count but like I was like um I that's one of my goals for like later this year. I really really want to get to the UK and do a few like I don't know. I just feel like like every time I play around here and somebody from the UK is there, they're like, "Oh, they you would just it would just be so great over you have to come over." Like I would like to do, you know, the UK and I Anyway, so that's one of my goals. I got to get over there. I'm going to make it happen. >> We we want you to come over, mate. And um I mean we we try and help artists you know um make it over to the UK and you know if there's ways that we can help you know put together a tours and you know with with the rugged revival we have a grit sessions as well. So if you're familiar with Western AF and and those sort of sessions yes absolutely. >> Yeah. So we we try and showcase you know nice areas in the UK. There are some I promise you. Um you know and you know we we did some with Josh Mitch when he was over last year. I I lose track of time, but um yeah, and some other Kentucky boys, Cody Lee and Joe Clark, and you know, it's just an an awesome opportunity to just play something live, you know, recorded one take. Uh let's do it. >> I love that. I love that. >> So, uh when you're in the UK, Phillip, let's let's uh let's do it. Let's grab a Guinness and let's uh >> 100% >> go out go out to the woods. That sounds weird. Grab a Guinness and go out to the woods. But there trust me. Trust me. No, I I listen. I'm uh I'm I'm so down. >> I would love that. >> So, I've got a few more questions, mate. Um you know, um >> we've we we're big advocates of mental health uh on the show. Um we always think, you know, people are struggling. I think it's more prevalent. You I mentioned right at the start of the show, this is an escapism. I think, you know, to talk about music and things we love, get away from the [ __ ] of politics and stuff like that. It's just so noisy at the minute. And I think for musicians as well, especially when I I speak to a lot of you guys that being out on the road, being away from your family, you know, having low points and >> how do you deal with, you know, your own mental health and, you know, keeping things positive? >> That's man, that's I'm I'm very passionate about that. And I I think that um [gasps] [sighs] like I said, I I I have never been one that is um great at talking about really hard things when they happen. But the reason I love music so much is because I feel like it is just such a truly wonderful a form of expression and therapy when you're going through it like you know um and so on like the family side of my life I feel like there's there's so much power in just communicating with those around you like if you if you are struggling if you're having a hard time to like not keep it in I think especially as men we are notorious for that like you know I'll just I'll just you know absorb that and keep it inside and fix it and And I think um you know I think the first time I really experienced what like very heavy depression like what that song Blue is water is about. I I did not think that I was capable of feeling like not being around. I really didn't think I would I didn't think that I was capable of ever being that low. And um I'm so thankful that I got some help for that. And I'm so thankful that I had uh music has been an outlet. And you know, there's nothing that makes me feel anything more than when people after this shows will tell me like, "Oh man, like, well, thank you for this song because of X, Y, or Z. It got me through this, you know, this thing." And so, I think it's so important to have routines that, you know, can help you when you are feeling whether it's just particularly low or boxed out or, you know, like every city I go to, I'm trying to find a great place to just take a walk. You know, little routine things. What's a great coffee shop I can just go sit at and be take a breath? you know, having like communication rituals with your family, like guys, like come no matter what happens today, like we're going to FaceTime so I can like at least see, you know, having these like set routines where you don't let yourself drown, like you reach out for help is the main the main uh the main black and white of it. And I think that it's um man it's it's it's difficult for anybody that travels in any industry, but like for musicians it's a diff it is a it is an interesting kind of burden that you begin to feel because you're doing like your favorite thing that you want to do that you work so hard for. But you miss out on you you sacrifice a lot as well of of your life to be doing that. And it's always kind of weighing that balance of like what's really important and what what is giving you the satisfaction versus like what is just a job, you know? Yeah. >> So, it's uh man, it's a that's a it's a it is a really heavy subject and I I um I never mind being asked about that because I feel like it's such a it's obviously it's a critically important thing. You know, these politicians don't care about you as a person. All these other things that are happening out in the world, they don't care about you. What what matters is the people that are around you. Yeah. >> And um what you hold dear, you know. >> I appreciate you sharing that, mate. I I think we're we're very similar. I I struggle to talk. Um, Ronnie's great at this question because that this this is, you know, he's been working in mental health for a long time and he's fantastic. He he asked me right at the beginning when we we kind of started asking these questions, what do I do? And I was like, you know what, I don't bloody know. Um, I'm not very good at talking, you know, but you find these weird outlets and when you start thinking about, oh, that's how I cope with it. you know, sometimes it's not particularly healthy the kind of avenues that you do take, but >> yeah, I you know, >> it's it's um like that song uh five drugs on on this record was about like that that l that song is literally about my whole journey from like going from you know corporate America doing a thing I did not want to do that was not fulfilling to all of a sudden finding myself doing everything I wanted to do but then dealing with it and me like my first my first year or so in this industry was very difficult for me in terms of like handling that change of like what's available to you all the time, healthy habits, how are you coping with bad things in your life? And so, um, yeah, man, I'm with you on that. Like I I think like you whether you like to talk about it or not, you are dealing with it that it's that it's go you you are having an outlet in some way and um if it's not healthy, it can really add on very fast. It can really add on very fast to where you don't recognize yourself, you know. >> Absolutely. But I think the main message is speak up, you know, even contact us at the Rugged Revival if you're struggling, just want to talk to somebody, you know, just just shout up, you know, we're all here for you. >> So, thank you for sharing that, Phil. You're never alone, mate. You're never alone. in terms of so you know continuing the soundtrack to your life and I I think keeping on this subject a little bit so you you talked about your your track with Charles Wizard Godwin but in terms of tracks that aren't yours per se you know have you >> listened to a song that that's kind of helped you through a tough time or a difficult period and what was that >> yeah oh man that's a great question I um I think that that there are certain songs that like allow you to uh like escape from yourself or just feel like or or or feel something in a in a different way. And I think that the music go there's a great writer named uh Randy Newman who has written a lot for like TV and whatever else. But he I feel he's so good at like songs that are a little bit heavier and but simple enough to where you can just sit down and like sit and process. I also like I also really vibe with some instrumental stuff like from like Mark Oconor and artists like that who I really enjoy or like Mike Cleveland. And a lot of times like hearing people express themselves through music um helps me out. I still love uh um u Norah Jones first record is I listen to that record all the time to this day like Come Away with Me and all these different songs on that record. the way that she voices through the piano and then herself. I could just sit there and like be swaddled on it and it really is helpful to me um to just hear her do her thing. And I and I love man I love listening to my like my artist friends. I love seeing them do shows because I love seeing people in their element and that really helps me out a lot. But I um if I have an artist friend that puts out a record, I always try my best to like give it a really thorough listen. And I think it's uh it's a it's a really cool thing to be able to like get the focus off of yourself because in my job [laughter] in my in my job, you can find yourself thinking and talking about yourself literally all the time. That's you know between the content and the shows and >> Yeah. Yeah. >> It's it's healthy to put the your your focus elsewhere. That's for sure. >> No, that's cool, mate. And um yeah, I mean suppose talking about you know people and watching them in their element uh we always find it fascinating you know as artists going up on stage playing to crowds and our question normally is what why why do you want to play to crowds? what what kind of gives you that urge or what what do you get from it >> that they they made me change they asked me like a very similar question when I was doing America's Got Talent and NBC made me change the wording of this answer but I feel like like that the feeling of like somebody when when when you're singing a song that you have written and you can see people emoting through it or you can hear them singing words that you wrote like that's the drug that is the drug of what you do because you really work so hard on this stuff to tell a meaningful story and there has to be a science to this, but you can at least for me I can physically feel when I'm in a room full of people performing and I get them on my side like that they're with me. You can feel it and you you you're like going on this journey together. There's this like like this connection. They're riding with you in your hands and like that is the true power of music and what can be so fulfilling with it. If you're playing a sad song and people are crying or if you're playing a happy song and people are vibing with you, there is nothing like that in the whole universe. There's just not. Uh so I that I'm very like it like gets me excited just thinking about it because you know that's the diff that that's what if you uh know you're like born to do this. If you get up there and you're like okay like I've done this once I can't do nothing else. like and that's how I felt once I started doing this for my job and then these real life shows even if it was like 10 people I was like oh this is like this is it man this is definitely it so that's why that's why >> thanks man I I always find it fascinating the different answers that we get uh from different people but uh yeah what did they make you change just out of interest you know >> oh like when I said I told them I said man like that's performing I mean that like feeling people with you like that's the drug they didn't like that I said that that was the drug cuz I was like that's the drug right here like that's [laughter] like and like you can't say that on TV. I was like, what? Like, it's true. So, I forget what they made me say. Like they I they're like, "No, you can't say that." I was like, "Well, that's I mean that that's what gets you though." And I like it's for me it's never been about listen, I don't need to be like a millionaire living in whatever neighborhood in Nashville. Like, if if I can provide for my family playing music and people are resonating with the stories that I'm telling, like that's that is it's so I'm serious. Like even like a listen I I love playing listening room type shows like even if they're very small because you can tell your stories and then people are there for the words and you can like connect with them in a very unique way. You know it's the best. It's why people like music so much. It's the best. >> It is. Yeah. You're absolutely bang on there, Philip. It's uh it's why we do it, you know. It's why we started the podcast. We we felt that there was so many artists that weren't getting the exposure that we felt they deserved and particularly with UK audiences. let's share it with UK and you know I suppose that leads on to my next question you know we this is our drug this is our enthusiasm and and what we love to do and >> you know we want to provide this platform for for you know emerging and independent artists so >> yes >> would you be able to kind of share with us maybe a couple of names in terms of perhaps who we should be looking at you know maybe they've got a smallish following or they deserve more exposure you know people that we should check out you know who who might that be mate Well, yeah. And I I really love that approach because I feel like my whole career has been a series of people above me on the ladder like reaching down and pulling me up or like putting me forward for one thing or mentioning my stuff somewhere on a on a podcast or a interview or whatever. So, I love that. And I um okay so for example in this uh this spring I'm doing some touring uh throughout Appalachia and um not to make it all about this one family but Emily Jamerson Nick's sister is opening up for me for a couple of these shows and I found her through some just music friends I found her music that is and I was like I thought this would be such a great fit. I I really think she has her very own unique way of telling stories. So I love Emily's stuff. I've been listening to a lot of this this band from West Virginia uh called Kindred Valley. I really enjoy their music. >> They're great. And I like we had a chance to work together on like a a commercial. Um I did a lot of uh sync work last year for the state of West Virginia for their tourism commercials and like we did some composition work with them. Anyways, they're just they're so great. They're so great. I really enjoy their music. Um another guy who I really like who's also opening for me in this spring is Jordan Lee King. I think Jordan is so talented. Um and um maybe see um an artist who is uh like a female artist that I really love her writing and style. Like there's a um I have not met her yet in person, but I've been listening to her a lot. It's Clover County. I think she's very talented. >> Okay. >> Um and there's another artist from my neck of the wood named Maggie Anton who she's done some really cool things the past couple years. And Maggie's from Virginia. And then um yeah, I don't know. There's there's I when I do these I'm like always so scared of like leaving [laughter] somebody out that I love. But but you're it always blows my mind when I'm like out there doing the thing. Like how many people are out there just writing incredible music and like at whatever level doing the thing and I I am I'm a huge advocate for that cuz so many people have been that for me to help me out. So those are those are a few that you could that are definitely worth checking out that I think are just doing some wonderful things right now. You're a legend, mate. Yeah, definitely. I I would love to have Emily on the podcast, so I think we'll probably reach out at some point. And uh >> you should. Yeah, you should. >> We want to talk to her. Yeah, we we had a great conversation with her brother. Um but yeah, we we want more female artists on the show. Um we we've had some amazing guests, you know, um you know, Kindred Valley in the past as well. And um but but recently, you know, with um Maggie Noel, with uh Magnolia Boulevard, there's just so many good bands >> like uh literally this weekend I'm playing an event in West Virginia. It's called Harmonies for Hope. It's like for uh >> uh like Opioid Recovery Center and um it's at the Clay Center in Charleston and like Tommy Prime is on the bill. Uh this band called the Local Honeys. They're they're fantastic, you know, and I'm like I said, I'm I'm just I'm blown away by all the talent um in this business, especially like maybe outside of what you would call like radio country where it's like this Americana folky singer songwriter type stuff. I think there's just so much going on and uh you don't have to look far to find somebody that's doing some really cool stuff. That's for sure. >> You don't, mate. And um I I thought, you know, when when I started doing these podcasts and speaking to to artists from your region, I just assumed that all these guys would be on the radio, that your radio was far better than ours, but um apparently not, you know, and you have the same kind of issues that we do, and you got to dig a little bit deep to find this stuff. It's uh it's a struggle. You >> you do. And it it can be when you're first getting into it, it can be a little bit discouraging because you're almost made to think that unless you're playing 2,000 seat venues every night and higher, unless you're on the radio, that you can't have a great and fulfilling career. And it's just not true. Like I'm really good uh friends with this artist named Gabe Lee, who I enjoy Gabe stuff before I even was doing this. And Gabe has made his whole career out of doing these like amazing listening room type shows, being an amazing supporting app. I love doing like meaningful support act stuff too. And um all that to say, you can make an incredible fulfilling living without ever touching the radio. You know what I mean? Not that not that anybody would that's cool, but like you know now it's almost like there's like a a seven figure bill like just to get on the radio sometimes. And so it's not to belittle any of that, but it's it is true that like in our region like I mean sometimes I'll hear a friend of mine who's doing amazing, how is this person not like on the radio every day? How does everybody not know about this? And I think that uh >> for us it's more about like people come out to these live shows, they take the music home with them and they they listen to them almost regionally or whatever. But it's a it's definitely an interesting time for that. That's for sure. >> Yeah, times are changing, mate. Maybe uh radio is a a finger department. I'm probably showing me age there as well, mate. That's uh >> I mean I'm I don't honestly I don't know the last time I got in my car and turned on the radio of any kind. Like I'm always like either listening to like uh my whatever music streaming app I'm on, you know, and I'm and I have like my curated playlist anyways. So only time I ever listen to the radio is if I'm like in the elevator or something and they've got it planned. It's just it's [laughter] just the way it goes, you know. >> Yeah. Random elevator music. >> Exactly. So, we we you kind of touched upon, you know, future stuff, uh, and the kind of new record, and I I'd seen what you posted today, I believe it was, with the new record coming out soon. >> Um, talk a little bit about that. >> Yeah, of course. Um, I've got some I've got some like fun like folky kind of covers I've been doing at the beginning of this year to try to get me, you know, just to just for some fun projects to do. So, I put out this like CCR cover last month of Have You Ever Seen Rain? I've got a like there's a pretty obscure folk artist named Bara Howard who I've always liked and he has this song called Turns Around the Bottle. So, I covered that that's coming out like depending on when you listen to this. It's coming out uh this Friday, but it's it's in February and then probably do maybe one more cover and then I've got a new project I'm working on of all original stuff. Um I'll do at least an EP this year, maybe the whole album um um that I'm working on with Rachel Bay on the producer side and some really fun stuff happening with that. So, um, in between like just touring where I can and doing shows, um, you know, and just putting out new music, I'm I I do think it'll be like my most like rootsy, folky, Appalachin leaning record. I'm going to try to keep it like pretty much all acoustic and and really just have the stories be the focus of this record and I'm very excited for it. Yeah, we're excited to see what you do, mate. And, um, Ronny's normally the nosier of the two out of us. Uh, and he likes the gossip and the exclusives and stuff. Do you have anything of that kind for Ronnie just to keep him happy cuz he couldn't make it. >> Well, let's see. Okay. Okay. Like I can tell you this because well, I know this I'm going to because this is going to get announced very soon though, but I just found out this is very important to me. One of the very first big things that happened in my career was when I got invited to do this program called Mountain Stage. And Mountain Stage is on NPR music. It's on like every NPR station in the country. And um it's been happening for over 40 years. It's a very long-standing um public broadcast thing. But the big thing about it is that it doesn't matter who to that. So um you know, it's meaningful as a writer to get invited on this program. So I just thought I'm doing Mountain Stage again in June. It'll be my second time doing it. That's really big for me. I'm very excited to be back. And uh so that that's kind of like a I really haven't said it to anybody yet except for like the person, you know, outside of my family. So, I'm very very excited to be mountain stage again and um I'm hoping to I'm hoping to do some interesting festival things this year. We'll see. I've never I haven't really done too much festival stuff at all, but I don't really have anything like Firm I could say like, you know, that' be a big hot exclusive on that, but I don't know. I'm Yeah, I don't know. I'm just I'm just I'm just grinding away, just chipping away at it, [laughter] man. >> No, I appreciate you showing that and we we're That's exciting, mate. Congratulations. That That sounds like an amazing opportunity and we're excited to see where you get up to. Thank you. I I've got one last question, mate. And I love the fact that you your positivity and your outlook on life and I think that will translate into a song as well. You know, if you can kind of define one song or choose one song to define who you are as a person right now, what might that be, mate? Oh man. I mean, uh, the well, the first song that stopped the the first song that popped in my head when you said that was the song Don't Worry, Be Happy. And I feel like that song's like always in my [laughter] head anyway. Um, because I will say there is so much uncertainty in what I do for a living. It's such a comparative industry. And, you know, maybe the difference between this and a corporate job is a corporate job, you know, you know, you're getting that paycheck like like clockwork. you know, sometimes there's layoffs and things like that, but in music, even if you're like the biggest, you don't always know like what gigs are coming down the road or what your year is going to hold. And so, um, my wife always likes to tell me that this job has made me have to get comfortable with discomfort. And I think that is a great way to say how working in music is, is that like, you know, you can have a really great month and the next month you're like, I don't know what's going on. Maybe we'll see, you know, and but I I've never uh I'm still doing it and so I'm very thankful for that. So, don't worry, be happy. Is a good one for me to listen to by Bobby McFaren when I'm feeling kind of like squirrely with that kind of stuff. Perfect, mate. Perfect. It's [laughter] I love that explanation, mate. It's uh it's perfect. Um but where can we best find you? So, you obviously got your your Tik Tok account, your Instagram, and your website. Um so, if people want to know what's going on or or even to contact you, where where's kind of where you hang out the most? >> Yeah, I mean I mean I'm I'm obviously like I'm on social a lot. like Instagram and Tik Tok are probably my two biggest ones that I'm like active on a lot. But then I mean you know my website is there for all the tour dates and you know my booking agent stuff is there. My website blah blah blah. All that kind of stuff is there. And then if you uh if you haven't if this is your first time hearing about me like go check out the record. It's on Apple or Spotify or however you do your thing. It's it's out there. Give it a spin as they say. You know give it give a couple tracks a listen. I think you'll enjoy it. And hopefully I'll man hopefully I'll be over in your neck of the woods at some point soon and >> yeah shows. Well, we said we need a we need a Guinness and to walk in the woods and do all kind of weird stuff. So, uh yeah, sounds like you're down for that, which is cool. Um but yeah, mate, I honestly I I'm I'm so glad you came on the show. It's been an absolute honor to to speak to you, to get to know you. Um you're you're a good dude, man. Um so, thanks again. I don't know if you got a a drink handy or anything where you can kind of raise. Don't worry if you haven't. This is going to be very American on me, I feel like, because like uh we my my youngest son's birthday was today and so we took him lunch at his kindergarten class and we went to uh you know went to Chick-fil-A. So I'm we have a we have a big sweet tea. [laughter] We have a I mean I'm like you got you got me in my Appalach I'm in I'm drinking a Chick-fil-A sweet tea talking to you brother. >> I never got to uh experience Chick-fil-A. We did uh what a burger in Texas and >> man even the fast food was was better but anyway >> but uh we always end a show mate by just raising a toast to the grit the grind and the revival. Thanks Phillip and thanks everyone for listening. Perfect. >> Yes sir. Thank you so much.
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