Nathan Phillips profile picture

Nathan Phillips

About Me

Instrumentalists across the generations have proved that music does not need vocals to convey a powerful sense of emotion - nor does it need more than one performer, as many recently guitar soloists have shown, and Nathan Phillips is no exception. As a solo acoustic guitarist, he crafts delicate musical architectures which range from flash-bang percussive to soulful, abstract, and introspective. Nathan's music allows a single acoustic guitar to project the sounds of an entire orchestra through both tasteful technicality and electronic looping devices. He will often incorporate a looping breakdown to build a song into a frenzy of rhythm and percussion, which is used as a springboard to let fly over top.
"I should have known something was up," says Nathan, "when the only toys I wanted when I was little were musical instruments. I got a guitar eventually, but couldn't figure out what a fret was, and refused to take lessons. I was 5." At 18, he is making up for lost time with marathon practice sessions that often end in the early morning. "I was in my junior year of high school when my band director brought in a Michael Hedges cd for us to listen to. I was a trumpet player and developing bassist at the time and could hardly fathom Hedges' music - so I decided to learn how it worked. I thought he was 6 guitar players, but he was only one. All I knew was I wanted to be able to do the same." The rest is, as they say, history. Many of Nathan's classmates can attest to his lightning-quick development on the instrument after playing bass guitar for two years previously. In his two short years of experience on acoustic guitar, he has learned and performed works by such legends as Michael Hedges, Andy Mckee, and Don Ross.
In October 2007, Nathan's skills were put to their first true test as he competed in the Acousti-Classic guitar competition at Jamie's Restaurant in Dormont, Pennsylvania. After two rigorous rounds of competition, Nathan's unique playing style triumphed over nearly 30 other competitors, winning him the guitar he now composes .. the competition I got tired of playing other people's music as much," Nathan muses. Each following performance sees less and less covers, allowing Nathan's originality to shine through. He currently has 10 originals in various stages of progress, many of which will be recorded in June 2008 for Nathan's first studio-produced demo. After that, he plans to play shows around the Pittsburgh area over the summer before returning to Duquesne University for his second year as a digital media major and to finish composing his first complete studio album.
Nathan aims to change the world - but he harbors no dreams of stardom. "I've always said that if my music impacts one person, then I've done my job," he clarifies. "I believe I've helped a few out here and there already...but that just makes me want to do more." His music chronicles this continuing saga, and gives every listener a clear view into his heart.

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 01/09/2007
Band Website: www.nathanphillips.net
Band Members: Nathan:
Acoustic Guitar

Influences: Pierre Bensusan
Michael Hedges
Don Ross
Andy Mckee
Antoine Dufour
Billy McLaughlin
Steve Reich
Ed Gerhard
Laurence Juber
Alex de Grassi

Sounds Like: THIS.

Record Label: Unsigned
Type of Label: Major

My Blog

Blog headed to new website - www.nathanphillips.net

I've been meaning to post this for a few days now, but with plenty of school madness going on I haven't quite had the time.  Now that I have a few minutes break -My blog will be moving to my bran...
Posted by on Wed, 29 Oct 2008 11:32:00 GMT

What do you like in an acoustic guitar soloists sound?

I've been in another writing phase recently, rehashing some of my old incomplete tunes and starting a couple new ones from scratch.  All of them have different styles and many of them lean toward...
Posted by on Tue, 16 Sep 2008 14:05:00 GMT

FREE new song available for download at ReverbNation!

As everybody's probably seen in my recent bulletins, I've put up my newest composition, "Serenade to a Pink Sky," up for free download to fans on my Reverbnation site.  It's a song to sleep to fo...
Posted by on Fri, 06 Jun 2008 15:25:00 GMT

Your opinions needed! Concerning my next songs...

As I listen to less and less guitar music, and more and more pop - I’ve been thinking up all these stupid little arrangements of all the cheesy songs on the radio recently, or from my younger ye...
Posted by on Mon, 31 Mar 2008 12:48:00 GMT

Looking for new music.

Hello and happy Easter everyone!I’ve just had a thought today.  I’m listening less and less to guitar-oriented music and more to, well, everything else - from funk to instrumental pia...
Posted by on Sun, 23 Mar 2008 12:40:00 GMT