K Phillips – Keep It Safe
K Phillips Debut
American Girls Out March 27, 2012
On K Phillips debut American Girls out March 27, the West Texan champions the desperate, the sleazy and the broken, with small-town murals that glimpse into the jealousy of a sheriff, lovers that freeze to death and a crude lothario that misquotes dead poets. He prefers bygone rock sounds, leading his band on resonator, mouth harp, banjo, guitar, Hammond B3 and Piano, the latter being his primary tool. “The piano playing came out of necessity. I wanted to write country ballads, Motown grooves and gospel music and it’s not the same on the guitar,” the 27 year-old said, drawing from southern soul and rock as well — his heroes garnered from classic rock radio’s key kings like Leon Russell, Billy Preston and Gregg Allman.
Here is a new video “Lincoln City, OR (Keep it Safe) — it’s a stripped down version of the song and one of the few that Phillips opts for guitar over keys to back the song.
The young startup label, Rancho Azul, approached Phillips to make an album, and Phillips handpicked dream team of Texas musicians, including Bobby Keys of The Rolling Stones, Rick Richards of Joe Walsh and Jimmy Pettit of The Flatlanders — cutting the album live in 4 days