Twenty three year old Phil King, who was born and raised in Turlock, will be releasing his new CD under record label SoulStride/ EMI CMG this month on August 28th. He will also be holding a release show on August 28th at 7pm at New Life Christian Center, as well as the following evening at Thrive Church, in Elk Grove, at 7pm.
Growing up, Phil attended Northview Christian School, where he was enrolled until the sixth grade, after which he attended Dutcher Middle School, followed by Pitman High School. After graduating, Phil attended California State University Stanislaus for 3 years to become a teacher to work with mild to moderately disabled students.
While living in Turlock, Phil sang the National Anthem numerous times for the Pitman High School sporting events, as well as playing concerts at the War Memorial and House of Java.
At the age of 21, however, Phil moved to Phoenix, Arizona, where he lived for a year before signing a record deal and moving to Nashville, Tennessee.
“When I moved to Phoenix I was just coming out of some real-life stuff that wasn’t very easy to walk through,” shared Phil. “When I got there I just started watching God work on me, and this birthed something in me that really changed the way I write my songs.”
“I thought to myself ‘I really need to send these songs to somebody legit,’ so I did,” he continued. “Next day my phone started blowing up and the rest is history. It’s something I wasn’t expecting or looking for at all.”
Phil began singing at the age of 4 in front of people at church, and started making up song ideas at the age of 9. He would find himself humming melodies and making up words while doing other things, and stated, “it couldn’t help itself from coming out.”
“I really didn’t get comfortable with singing in front of audiences until about 13 or 14,” he shared.
Now, at the age of 23, Phil is not only being heard singing in front of large audiences, but also on the radio by thousands of people.
Phil King’s single, “How Much You Love” was released and available on iTunes since April 27th.
“[The] first time I heard me being announced on the radio, and then my song start playing was very surreal,” he shared. “I was kind of embarrassed honestly, not that it sounded awful, but I was like ‘OH MY GOODNESS…There’s actually other people hearing this right now…I better do good!”
Phil describes his music as a blend of soulful down home blues, with pop influences, and deep lyrics. “If you like Johnny Lang, Stevie Wonder, Michael McDonald, One Republic, and guys like that, you’ll probably like what I’m doing,” he shared.
He also describes his lyrics as being about worship.
“I’m pretty upfront about that,” shared Phil. “I could have chosen to go other routes with my song-writing, but any good songwriter will tell you that the most powerful songs are the ones that are about the things which are most alive and real to us, and for me that’s Jesus.”
“My inspirations are definitely drawn from life experience and my love for both people and Jesus. No one tells their own story better than they can, so I always try to write and be inspired this way, telling about what’s real to me, so that night after night I am singing truth.”
Phil also shared that although there have been many exciting aspects with his success in the music industry, including meeting various wonderful artists and creating friendships with other singers/songwriters, he believes that meeting and ministering to people has been one of the best highlights of it all.
“It’s an honor the open door that this music thing gives me to speak into peoples lives and encourage them,” he stated. “Part of how I got to where I’m at today is because people did that to me, and eventually I listened.”
“I just want to be as real as possible to everyone I meet.”
For more information about Phil King, please visit www.philkingmusic.com or visit his facebook page at www.facebook.com/philkingmusic.
Also, to see Phil King play live in Turlock, his CD-Release Show will be held at New Life Christian Center, located at 2918 W. Tuolumne Road, on August 28th at 7pm.
