Brett Phillips
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Youthful Guitarist With A Nice Touch
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It's rare that a CD shows up from a guitarist who is 17, 18 or 19 years old that doesn't feature 5000 notes per minute, as the desire to impress overwhelms all common sense and musical sensibility. North Carolina guitarist Brett Phillips' new self-titled CD, Brett Phillips, showcases instead a maturity in playing and deftness of touch that one might not expect from someone his age. Set to pursue a degree in Music Performance at East Carolina University, Phillips has a great calling card with his ten-track instrumental CD, which features rock, progressive and even a bit of country playing. The production may not bowl you over, but it is serviceable, and doesn't get in the way of enjoying the tunes. Phillips even includes a cover of the Mason Williams tune "Classical Gas", played at a somewhat slower tempo than some of the covers done recently by other artists, but in keeping with his CD's overall vibe. A fine job.
Brett is 18 years old, and has been playing music all his life. His two main instruments are guitar and piano, and he composes as well. Brett is educated and experienced in the fields of music that he plays, and he has a firm knowledge of music theory. He has been involved in several music projects the last few years and has played outside North Carolina on a number of different occasions. For example, in 2003, he played for the 2003 Teen Talent Guitar division in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Brett's musical influences come from a vast number of genres. He enjoys the guitar stylings of Eric Johnson and fingerstyle players such as Tommy Emmanuel and Chet Atkins. His main piano influences are David Benoit and Jordan Rudess. Brett enjoys every type of music and loves to play jazz, progressive rock, country, and classical. Recently he has ventured far into the world of VSTi instruments and synth, which have opened a huge door for him musically in both his playing and composing.
Phillips would love to some make a career out of playing guitar, as perhaps a studio musician or touring guitarist. He plans to continue to play, express himself and share his playing with others.
MP3 Songs
Crying
In The Beginning
Contact Information
Brett Phillips
416 Shawcroft Road
Fayetteville, NC 28311
United States
Web site:
www.brettphillipsmusic.com
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Rich Newport
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2006: Riffs And Excursions
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Do you remember Michael Schenker's album "2001: Dreams And Expressions"? Basically snippets of unfinished instrumental songs, riffs and solos strung together to form a different kind of musical expression. England's Rich Newport has submitted the shred/eclectic/demo version of that on his CD-R, Potions, Notions, Spells & Miracles. While most of Schenker's tracks were done with a full band, Newport has opted to record most of his pieces with just guitar; just a few tracks feature a percussion accompaniment. 17 tracks in all, many under one minute, all but one under two minutes - you have shred, jazz, blues, country, reggae, a short vocal track, metal, hard rock and ambient represented. The longest track is a jazz version of the classic "Over The Rainbow", checking in at almost 5 minutes. He doesn't really detail what he is going for with the demo, so it probably would serve as a musical statement that he is a guitarist looking for a better opportunity somewhere. Good player though.
Rich began playing guitar at the age of 13, moving to electric at 15. Initially, influenced by Jake E. Lee, Yngwie Malmsteen and Paul Gilbert, he started his first band at age 17, Ambition, playing local clubs and pubs. Later, Rich attended GIT in Hollywood, graduating in 1994, while also teaching his own students, and playing in local bands. In 1996 he moved to Italy and spent the next 8 years teaching in almost every music school in Milan. Rich was also involved with a number of bands at the time, including Tyndale (hard rock), Problem Child (AC/DC tribute band), Proto Cosmos (fusion) and Wildside (hard rock). Rich has recently moved back to England is currently teaching at the Harrogate school of music. In December of 2005, he toured with Blaze Bailey as a stand in and session guitarist on his latest Blood and Belief European tour.
Newport's future goals are to work as an international session guitarist, to continue to work towards an AOR/hard rock major or independent label recording contract, and hopefully to be part of the world's guitar scene.
MP3 Songs
Miracles
Rich's Blues
Contact Information
Rich Newport
6 Coppice Close
Harrogate
North Yorkshire HG12 DW
United Kingdom
E-mail:
Rich Newport
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