Phil Heywood

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Phil Heywood is a fingerstyle guitarist with a bluesy swing and a bucketful of whatever it is that helps a performer turn an instrumental piece into an arresting lyrical narrative. His lucid playing encompasses the down-home rhythmic groove of a Mississippi John Hurt or Leadbelly, and the sheer fluidity and flair of Leo Kottke.

The internationally renowned Kottke, in fact, once handpicked Phil Heywood to tour and perform duets with him. A soul-grabbing instrumentalist, Phil draws listeners in with his voice as well, singing in a warm, plainspoken style that blends smoothly with his rock-solid guitar work.

Heywood has been based in Minneapolis-St. Paul since the mid-eighties, performing locally and regionally while also establishing himself in the greater guitar and acoustic music world. He is the 1986 National Fingerpicking Champion, and the winner of the 1987 American Fingerstyle Guitar Festival Competition, an event judged by some of the top players in this field. In addition to his performances with Leo Kottke, Phil has played with Chet Atkins on NPR's A Prairie Home Companion, performed with fellow acoustic guitar luminaries Peter Lang, Pat Donohue, and Tim Sparks, and opened shows for such artists as Norman Blake, Greg Brown, John Renbourn, and Robin and Linda Williams.

Local Joe Counting seven Heywood compositions among its fifteen tracks, Local Joe includes songs penned by Taj Mahal and Huddie Ledbetter. A mix of vocal and instrumental, traditional and original, Local Joe should serve to establish Phil Heywood as an acoustic guitar master, and not just another, um ... local joe. CD Price: $14.97

Banks of the River Banks of the River is in many ways a companion piece, a continuing excursion tapping into and branching out from the roots of American fingerstyle guitar music. Both in his original pieces and in his choice of covers, there is an increasing sense of an overview and of homage to a lineage of inspiring players who have sprung from native soil. CD Price: $14.97

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