Phillip Phillips Comes to UWG

From the stage of American Idol, to the stage of UWG’s Coliseum, Phillip Phillips has been living his dream for the past year.  Known as the raspy voiced, soulful Georgia boy from Leesburg, he has definitely made a name for himself all over the world. He is currently on tour visiting college campuses all around the U.S from Utah to Florida, and made a stop at UWG on Friday, April 19^th.

The 22 year old singer, song writer and guitarist is no rookie to the world of music. When he was 14, his mentor, Benjamin Neil (his brother-in-law), taught him how to play the guitar. Phillips, Neil and Phillips’ sister Lacey went on to form a band together. Once his sister and brother-in-law discovered that Phillips could sing, they encouraged him to do it more often, performing for family members and even their church. During the summer of 2011, Phillips took a break from his summer job with his Family’s local pawn shop and tried out for American idol in Savannah Georgia. Putting his soulful rock star spin on “Very Superstitious” by Stevie Wonder, Phillips wowed judges Jennifer Lopez, Randy Jackson and Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler. Encoring his performance, Phillips then picked up his guitar and performed Michael Jackson’s thriller. Each of the judges expressed their vision of something special in Phillips, and his dream took off from there.

Phillips went on to win season 11’s finale on May 23, 2012, and released his single “Home” the same day. This song was marked the highest debut on the Billboard Digital Songs with 278,000 downloads sold. The song has been featured as the U.S women’s gymnastics “Fab Five” team’s unofficial song, on Clint Eastwood’s 2012 movie “Trouble with the Curve’s” soundtrack and you can even recognize the catchy tune in the background of The American Family Insurance commercials. “It’s always weird to hear my music on television but, nonetheless, it’s a blessing,” said Phillips.

Phillips began recording his first album with Interscope Records entitled “The World from the Side of the Moon”. This album was released Nov. 9, 2012. Phillips was nominated for the 2013 World Best Song in the World Music Awards. Phillips is also on Tour with John Mayer this year and is scheduled to perform in Rio De Janeiro late this summer with Mayer and Bruce Springsteen.

“It’s a good feeling to know that people actually care about the music that I write and want to listen to it and sing along,” said Phillips. “Whether it’s small children or the 60 year old woman I saw dancing in the front row of my last concert.” His fan base has a very wide ranged considering the content of his music. “I just talk about what’s real, even if it’s something someone doesn’t want to hear, but others could hear my song and relate to it. I like to tell my story,” Phillips said. “From performing at the World Series to performing for the Dali Llama, I’ve gotten to meet some really great people,” Phillip concludes.

Traveling all over the nation, this rapidly progressing superstar has made his way to the Coliseum of UWG here in Carrollton Georgia.  Phillips performed with groups Neon Trees and Twenty One Pilots.

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