Phil Madeira

Phil Madeira

Madeira in concert, 2008
Background information
Born 1952 (age 63–64)

Phil Madeira (born 1952) is an American songwriter, producer, musician and singer. He was raised in Barrington, Rhode Island and attended Taylor University, which he graduated from in 1975.[1] His songs have been recorded by The Civil Wars, Buddy Miller, Alison Krauss, Toby Keith, Ricky Skaggs, Bruce Hornsby, Keb' Mo', Garth Brooks, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Cindy Morgan, Shawn Mullins, The North Mississippi Allstars,and other high-profile artists. His co-writing partners include Matraca Berg, Kim Carnes, Leslie Satcher, Merrill Farnsworth, Cindy Morgan, Wayne Kirkpatrick, Gordon Kennedy, Jimmie Lee Sloas, Mindy Smith, and The Warren Brothers. He is from Nashville, Tennessee.

Known for his work with acclaimed Buddy Miller, Madeira has appeared with Solomon Burke, Elvis Costello, Emmylou Harris, Dave Matthews, Vince Gill, Boz Scaggs, and Patty Griffin. He has recorded three solo albums of material, all critically acclaimed. Madeira received the Nashville Music Award (Nammy) for Best Keyboardist in 2000. He also received a Humanitarian award from ASCAP in 1986 for his raising consciousness and money for the Ethiopian hunger crisis. In 2009, Phil received the Dove Award for "Recorded Country Song of the Year" from the Gospel Music Association, for his song "I Wish", co-written with Cindy Morgan.

Life and career

Madeira is a multi-instrumentalist, playing electric guitar, Hammond B-3 organ, drums, guitar, lap steel guitar, accordion, Dobro, percussion and other instruments on projects by artists like Garth Brooks, Amy Grant, Toby Keith, Buddy Miller, Julie Miller, The Neville Brothers, Sixpence None the Richer, Mavis Staples, Vanessa Williams, Emmylou Harris, Solomon Burke, and Keb' Mo'.

From 1976 to 1978, Madeira was a member of the Phil Keaggy Band, with Lynn Nichols, Terry Andersen and Dan Cunningham. The band released one album together, entitled Emerging. This season led to a long-term friendship with Keaggy, and an eventual production relationship with Lynn Nichols. Madeira/Nichols have produced Kimberly Perry (aka The Band Perry) and Charity Von.

In 2008, Emmylou Harris invited Phil to join her band "The Red Dirt Boys", bringing him into a fraternity of musicians that Harris is noted for bringing together. This group of players includes James Burton, Buddy Miller, Ricky Skaggs, Sam Bush, Tony Brown, Al Perkins, and many others.

In 2012, Madeira provided the musical backdrop for Merrill Farnsworth's theatrical piece "Jezebel's Got The Blues... and Other Works of Imagination", in which the guitar serves as part of the dramatic conversation. This piece has been performed in Nashville and New York City, where Madeira cohort David Mansfield filled his role.

In 2012, Phil produced a collection of Americana Musicians covering Paul McCartney songs on "Let Us In: Americana", a benefit for The Women and Cancer Fund. The roster of this stellar project is Buddy Miller, Teddy Thompson, Sam Bush, Lee Ann Womack, Ollabelle, Ed Snodderly, Holly Williams, Matraca Berg, The Wood Brothers, Will Hoge, Steve Earle and Allison Moorer, Jim Lauderdale, Ketch Secor, and The McCrary Sisters.

In early 2012, Madeira completed production on "Mercyland: Hymns For The Rest Of Us" which features Emmylou Harris, The Civil Wars, Mat Kearney, Dan Tyminski, Cindy Morgan, John Scofield, the Carolina Chocolate Drops, Buddy Miller, and Shawn Mullins, North Mississippi Allstars, Amy Stroup,and Phil Madeira. Receiving rave reviews across the board, "Mercyland" represents Madeira's most important work to date.

Mid 2013, Phil released his first solo CD in 15 years- "PM", featuring songs written with Matraca Berg, Gordon Kennedy, Merrill Farnsworth, and others, and including musicians David Mansfield (fiddle, mandolin), Byron House (bass), Bryan Owings and Brady Blade (drums), and Jim Hoke (steel).

Jericho Books released Phil's first book, "God on the Rocks: Distilling Religion, Savoring Faith" in June 2013.

Late summer 2013, Phil and producer partner Lynn Nichols produced the major label debut of Pawnshop Kings, a brother duo from Southern California. Collectively known as Madeira*Nichols, the pair discovered and produced The Band Perry.

Fall of 2013, Madeira appeared with Neil Young, Sheryl Crow, Leon Russell, and Jack White on Willie Nelson's 80th Birthday Party, hosted by CMT network. Phil played his beautiful 1953 Gibson Southern Jumbo.

2014 marked the release of Humming People's "City of Lost Men", produced in Norway by Phil Madeira, and scheduled for US release later in 2014. Madeira's song "From This Valley" (written with and recorded by The Civil Wars) won the Grammy for Best Country Performance by a Duo in 2014.

Summer 2014, Madeira and Nichols produced Rachael Davis's "Bandbox Jubilee".

Madeira commenced work on a followup to his Mercyland project in Summer 2014; the project "Mercyland: Hymns For The Rest Of Us, Vol II" is scheduled for release in January 2016. It features Emmylou Harris, The Lone Bellow, Humming People, John Scofield, The McCrary Sisters, Sugar & The Hi Lows, The Wood Brothers, and several other artists.

In late 2015, Madeira finished two solo projects, "Motorcycle" and "Soul Of A Man". "Motorcycle" features the singer songwriter side of Phil, whereas "Soul Of A Man" reveals his blues roots. The projects feature guests including Emmylou Harris, Buddy Miller, Michael Roe, Phil Keaggy, Christy Sutherland, David Mansfield, and Al Perkins.

In 2016, Phil produced his second record with the highly acclaimed Humming People in Oslo, Norway. He also began a production relationship with [Forlorn Strangers]] by producing their first full length record. Other projects in 2016 include the highly anticipated record by The Red Dirt Boys, Emmylou's backing band, of which he is a member; protest folkie Pete Kronowit, and another multi artist project based on the songs of Mark Heard, and featuring Red Dirt Boys, Rodney Crowell, Buddy Miller]], The North Mississippi Allstars]], Amy Speace, Willie Sugarcapps, and many more, totally 18 tracks, for release in 2017.

His appearances at WIld Goose Festival, Sisters Folk Festival, and other music events have been highly acclaimed.

Along with Merrill Farnsworth, Phil conducts The Mercyland Songwriter Workshops semi-annually in the mountains of North Carolina, and on the beach in Florida.

He continues to tour as a sideman and soloist, while working on a forthcoming book.

Phil uses many wonderful instruments, mostly vintage- including Gibson, Martin, Fender Guitars; Ludwig drums, Hohner accordions, Blueridge acoustic guitars, and many more. He also uses Jodi Head guitar straps.

Selected discography

References

  1. ↑ "#273 Taylor University Page 2 of 2". Forbes.com. Retrieved 2013-07-12.
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