Phil's musical style originated in folk and country, later moving into folk-rock and pop, and more recently into blues with a little soul.
He lists his biggest songwriting influences as being Chris de Burgh, Ralph McTell, Joni Mitchell and Justin Hayward, with vocal influences from Nat King Cole, the Walker Brothers, Simon and Garfunkel, Neil Diamond, Chris de Burgh again and Will Young, along with Karen Carpenter, Andrea Corr and Katie Melua.
The following is a fairly extensive list of influences from childhood to the present day on his musical taste, songwriting, vocal style, dress sense, presentation, professionalism and performance. Not all have influenced all these areas - for instance Dolly Parton has not influenced his dress sense, nor the Chipmunks his vocals, but the breadth of his musical exploration over the years is nevertheless surprisingly broad.
ABBA
Adam Faith
Alison Moyet
Allan Taylor
Amy MacDonald
Andy Williams
Annie Lennox
Barry Manilow
Bonnie Tyler
Carly Simon
Carole King
Cat Stevens
Celine Dion
Chris de Burgh
Cyndi Lauper
Cliff Richard
Coldplay
Daniel Merriweather
Danny Kaye
Dave Lee Travis
David Essex
David Gray
Dido
Dire Straits
Dolly Parton
Don Maclean
Donovan
Dusty Springfield
Elton John
Elvis Presley
Enya
Evita
Fame
Frankie Miller
Garth Brooks
Glen Campbell
Gretchen Peters
James Blunt
James Morrison
James Taylor
John Denver
Johnny Cash
Joni Mitchell
Kate Rusby
Katie Melua
Keith Urban
Kelly Clarkson
Kenny Rogers
KT Tunstall
Leann Rimes
Leonard Cohen
Lionel Ritchie
Magna Carta
Mamas and the Papas
Meatloaf
Melanie Safka
Miley Cyrus
Nat King Cole
Neil Diamond
Neil Young
Noel Edmonds
Norah Jones
Olivia Newton-John
Perry Como
Peter Gabriel
Phil Collins
Pinky and Perky
Queen
Ralph McTell
Riverdance
Rod Stewart
Rolf Harris
Ronan Keating
Roy Orbison
Ruth Notman
Sheryl Crow
Simon Bates
Simon & Garfunkel
Sinead O'Connor
Steeleye Span
Steve Wright
Sting
The Bachelors
The Beatles
The BeeGees
The Carpenters
The Chipmunks
The Corrs
The Moody Blues
The New Seekers
The Proclaimers
The Seekers
The (UK) Spinners
The Travelling Wilberries
The Walker Brothers
Take That
Taylor Swift
Tommy Steele
Tom Paxton
Tony Blackburn
Tony Hatch
Will Young
Woody Guthrie
Sounds Like
Phil has a deep baritone voice and he looks to Nat King Cole, Scott Walker, Karen Carpenter and Andrea Corr as mentors for a rich, smooth vocal.
His style draws on the presentation of Neil Diamond and Chris de Burgh, and he has developed a bluesy-soul tone that could have come from Annie Lennox, Alison Moyet, Lionel Ritchie or anywhere. Add to this Celtic influences from Enya and Riverdance, and that will probably totally confuse you.
Songs will be uploaded eventually, but please be patient, he is recovering from extended illness and is retraining his voice.
Phil is a singer-songwriter from a small village between Huddersfield, Wakefield and Barnsley in the Yorkshire Pennines.
He has had a keen interest in music since he was very young, taking piano lessons as a child and later learning to play the trombone at school. He was part of the school choir, singing in, amongst others, Vaughan Williams' Toward the Unknown Region.
He began playing the guitar as a teenager at the school folk club, then in the late seventies he formed the acoustic group Manuscript, which performed at various venues around West Yorkshire, and had a complete programme devoted to them on local radio. Along with one other member of the group, he also secured a contract to record two songs for children’s radio.
Phil began songwriting as a teenager, and has continued until the present, though until recently few of his songs were performed, submitted to publishers or entered into competitions. His first three submissions to the UK Songwriting Contest 2009: Another Man, Mr Incomplete and Ted the Gardener all reached the semi-finals in his first year of submitting.
He has been unable to sing in public for over a decade because of a severe reaction to asthma medicines, but is currently re-training his voice with a view to taking on new commitments in 2010.
When he puts down his microphone, Phil operates as a web-designer working with traditional html sites, Joomla! content-managed sites and Adobe Flash templated sites.
Hello Phil, Thanks for add and Just wanted to say well done in the UKSC and I really wish you good luck with your music! It was a nice comment that you left on the UKSC site too, best wishes to you! Mary X
