Rod Phillips is a singer/songwriter who has thirteen albums to his credit, seven of which are in the acoustic songwriter style. His career spans folk, country, classical, jazz, and musicals, all of these styles reflected in his songs.
He played piano and a myriad of other instruments with folk and country big-time stars Michael Martin Murphey, The New Christy Minstrels, and Jim Stafford, which contributed to his professional stage poise—that and 3,500 performances at Presley’s Country music in Branson the past 14 years.
“Hearing Rod’s songs make you think of the old minstrel singer… there is a story and a history, a tale of life and love and things worth living for. There is a striving and a hope for the better, a longing for the things of value. Certainly, there are songs of family, stories of unusual people met, but also of love lost and nostalgia for the things of the past. He is a musician’s musician (he plays thirteen instruments, all of which you hear in his recordings) and the songs and arrangements are innovative and a sonic delight. His voice is in tune and smooth, and he delivers the subject matter with warmth and clarity.”
Rod’s ancestors are from the Ozarks, a place of historic interest and color in the frontier push of America’s conquering the wilderness. In fact, his great-grandfather and mother were both born in Taney County, the heart of the Ozarks, and the rural flavor is at the heart of his writing. The music has its roots in the folk tradition, but is colored with odd meters and chord structure in some places. Other songs are strictly traditional, and the story is carried out with simplicity and profoundness.