Thursday, December 22, 2011

Today's featured singer/songwriter Anna Johnson

Once in a while I click on a link from facebook and listen to some music of a fellow songwriter. Most of the time I listen to few bars and move along to the next song. If I am bored in the first 30 seconds...I move along. Not so with Singer/songwriter Anna Johnson!!

This week I had the pleasure to click on Anna Johnson's Reverbnation link from facebook. I hit play on the first song and was spellbound through the entire playlist. I was especially moved by a song she sang, Damaged & bruised. I HIGHLY recommend you taking the time to go listen to her music.

You won't be disappointed.

Peace, love and Merry Christmas!!!

Phil

Monday, December 12, 2011

Buck Johnson is incredible!

Friday night we got invited to go see Buck Johnson at Hotel Indigo. I had met Buck once before but had never heard him sing. From the first song he proceeded to blow my mind. With just a guitar and a dobro player to accompany him, he impressed me with his songs, vocals and talent.

Now I have lived in Nashville for almost 10 years and I must say that Buck is one of the very best entertainers I have had the pleasure to hear. If you EVER get the chance to go see him and his band...do it!!!

Until then, drop by his music pages and listen to his latest music. I know you will enjoy.

Peace and joy,

Phil

Monday, November 21, 2011

Perseverance...

per·se·ver·ance   /pɜrsəˈvɪərəns/ noun

1. steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc., especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement.

I had to look this word up to make sure I was spelling it right...thank God for the internet.

It has been an incredibly hard month for our family, so my creative juices dried up about a 3 weeks ago. Family drama usually equals me not writing or playing my guitar until the drama goes away. But sometimes it is nice to take a break from the constant stream of lyrics and melodies running through my head. At least there has been some peace in my thoughts; almost like somebody turned the radio station off in my head.

Life is good and some wonderful things are happening in spite of the drama that was thrust upon us. My songplugger is getting two of my songs into some very famous hands. Hopefully this will lead to a cut in early 2012.

Just gotta keep going and keep trying. Don't use family drama or crisis as an excuse to stay where you are. Whatever obstacles come your way...sidestep them and keep going. Persevere!!!

Peace and joy,

Phil

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Singer/songwriter Nicole Johnson is awesome!

I first met Nicole a few years ago at a friend's house. Since then she has done some incredible things. I sit back and watch as she moves up and up and up the ladder. I cannot wait to see what she does next.

Take the time to check her out live or visit one of her music pages. You won't be disappointed at all. Keep up the good work Nicole!!

Peace,

Phil

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Do it for the little ones...

Say hello to John Allen Fisher. This is the latest addition to our family and he is the cutest little guy. His Dad Rusty Fisher is the Navy and is currently in Afghanistan. Rusty is coming back to the States in January.

As for little John Allen, he inspires me. Because when I have negative thoughts or wonder why things aren't going my way, I remember little John Allen. At the very least I can tell him all the stories of how long it took me to get a song cut or all the stories of paying my dues in the crappy dive bars. I got a million tales of what I have been through simply because I had a dream to follow. I would rather follow my dream down an uncertain, rocky, unknown path than anything else in the world.

Live every second of this life so you can inspire the little ones to follow their dreams. Do it for them!!

Peace and love,

Phil

Thursday, October 20, 2011

October is the best!

I have to take a break from songwriting stories to give some love to my St. Louis Cardinals. I have been a fan since I was old enough to listen to my Grandma's AM radio.

I love this time of year...especially when my Cardinals are in the playoffs.

Peace to all,

Phil

Friday, October 7, 2011

You will know Brad Long's name very soon.

Just a brief post today. I came across an artist that you might enjoy. His name is Brad Long. Brad Long is an up and coming Country Music Recording artist with tons of talent. Check out bradlong.net to read what this guy has been up to and where he is headed.

That's it for now. Have a blessed weekend!

Phil

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Joel Shewmake sings "Family Man" on youtube.


I was doing my weekly search to find out what my favorite songwriters were up to, when I found a few youtube videos of Joel Shewmake singings his songs. It was great to hear him sing "Family Man", which was cowritten with Craig Campbell and Jon Henderson.

Give it a watch and a listen. Good job Joel!!

Peace,

Phil

Monday, September 5, 2011

Martina Mcbride sings "Somewhere over the rainbow" at the 2011 MDA Telethon


She never ceases to amaze me! she can deliver a song and move me like few others can. This was Martina singing for the 2011 MDA Telethon last night. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Love, joy and peace to all,

Phil

Monday, August 29, 2011

The Daily Bread Adventure...

My daughter Cagney and her husband Alex have taken off on an adventure. It is really very inspiring. They sold the majority of their possessions, rented out their house and headed out to help as many people as they could.

The first leg of their journey was to Tennessee, but I am sure it won't be the only leg of their journey. Go to their blog and keep track of their adventure.

Peace and joy,

Phil

Thursday, August 11, 2011

The mountains are calling...

In the Smokey Mountains you can find peace, solitude and beauty. The air is cleaner and smells fresh. You can see for miles and miles which helps me to find perspective. Gratitude must be in the mountains because I am more grateful when I am there. Hope must live there as well. Maybe even happiness, but I manage to keep that with me most the time. I know there is music in the mountains because I always come back with a new song in my head.

When my daughter told me they were going to the mountains, I said, "Tell God I said Hello." I know he lives there too.

Peace and love,

Phil

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

"When I dream" by Phil Bennett

Good afternoon and happy 4th of July! I was able to record a few demos this past weekend and wanted to share them with you. I hope you enjoy listening to them as much as I enjoyed making them.

Have a blessed week,

Phil

www.ourstage.com


www.ourstage.com

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Life is good in Biloxi, Mississippi!

Just back from vacation to the beautiful gulf coast area. It was so peaceful and HOT!! The food was awesome and the beaches were perfect. I wish I had won a few bucks at the casino, but we had a blast either way.

Biloxi, MS is a great place to get away if you don't want all the hassle of a Florida beach. From a songwriter's perspective...you could find a spot on a Biloxi beach where you could have privacy, write some tunes and drink a couple and not have to worry about being stampeded by a tribe of ghost-white suburbanite vacationers. Biloxi truly has an "Artist" vibe. I highly recommend this place. Check out downtown Ocean Springs too, specifically Government Street Grocery. The food and staff were amazing.

Until next time...peace!

Phil

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Stay the course...


Be grateful, ignore doubt, love the moment you are in, visualize your dream and by all means...stay the course you have chosen.


Be blessed,


Phil

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Happy Birthday Jeff!



This is a repost from a couple years back. Today is Jeff Allwood's Birthday and I just wanted to share my story of how we met. He was such a wonderful guy.


Let me tell you how I had the pleasure of meeting Jeff Allwood.

I met Joe Allwood on the first day of kindergarten waiting for the bus. We were best friends all through school and graduated together. Joe's little brother Jeff was always there with us after school and on the lucky weekends when I got to stay the night at their house. Jeff, Joe, Johnny Warren and I sang in a barbershop quartet in high school. Their Mother Judy Allwood was my music teacher starting in third grade until I graduated. Their Dad was our high school principal. They were truly my extended family.

Jeff, Joe and I were like the three stooges at times. We would laugh and joke until we ran out of laughter, take a break and do it all over again. When I was 17, we started a country band and Jeff played lead guitar. We played several gigs together, including one for the entire Clopton High School where I graduated.

Jeff taught himself to play guitar, piano and eventually any instrument with strings. He was probably the most talented musician I have had the privilege to share a stage with, an event that happened way too infrequently. But I cherish every second I spent with the other two stooges.

Miss Judy was our biggest fan. She said our harmony was like that family harmony that is so rare. I have not sang with the Allwood brothers since the late 90's I guess. I always thought we would do a reunion show at our old high school when we were old, gray and wildly successful.

That show will have to be in some other place and time because Jeff passed away March 20th, 2009. He was an inspiration to us all by always pursuing his dream of playing music for a living, which is all he ever did.

I am going to miss my friend. Life is short folks, don't waste a second.

Peace and love to all,

Phil

Sunday, May 22, 2011

You can do it!!


I once read an article that said it takes an average of 8 years to be successful as an artist or songwriter in Nashville. I don't read that magazine anymore.

Like I said in an earlier post, our job is to believe. Look, I didn't dream about being a songwriter all my life, preparing my move to Nashville, landing the job that got me here, packing all my stuff to head south, writing more songs, honing my craft and doing all the things to be successful, just to have someone tell me I haven't been here long enough.

To me it is a simple list: write it, record it, sing the hell out of it. If I focus on these three things...the rest will work itself out. A song will find its artist just like two soul mates.

I believe, I believe, I believe.

Peace and keep the faith,

Phil

Monday, May 9, 2011

A story from Songwriter Chuck Cannon

Several months ago, I read some quotes on Facebook that were attributed to songwriter Chuck Cannon. I really wanted to use them in a blog post, but I needed permission from Chuck and I also wanted to get the story behind the quotes. So I dropped him a line and asked his permission to post the quotes on my blog. I asked him what the actual quotes were and where did they come from. He was kind enough to email me back with the story of where these wonderful quotes came from.

The following came from Chuck's email to me about a conversation he had with the amazing Janis Ian:

"...it was early on in my career and she was very open and supportive ... we were sitting at a table in the bluebird cafe and someone said, "If you want to write good songs write about what you know". And Janis said, "If you want to write great songs, write what you don't want people to know about you". In an effort to be quick-witted I said, "Well then it would follow that if you want to write awesome songs, write what you don't want to know about yourself". Janis looked at me and said, "You're going to do just fine ..."


I LOVE it!! Thank you Chuck for letting me pass that along to my readers and fellow songwriters.

Peace and love to all,

Phil

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Carrie Underwood with Vince Gill singing "How great thou art"


I don't know if it can get any better than this. I knew this girl was good, but wow...she blew me away. Take the time too watch Carrie sing a classic.

Peace,

Phil

Friday, April 15, 2011

Thank you...again!

The greatest thief of human happiness and abundance is ungratefulness.


Any lack in our lives - whether in money, health, or relationships - is simply the evidence of a lack of gratitude.


If you focus on lack you are not being grateful, and that will bring more lack into your life.


Yet the simple state of radiating gratitude summons everything to you.


From "The Secret" Scrolls.

Monday, March 14, 2011

How many muscles does it take to walk one step?

I have read it takes approximately 200 muscles to take one single step. So with each step, the majority of us take 200 muscles for granted. Just like I took for granted my car would start this past Saturday morning when I hopped in it to run to the store. $500 later, it did start. It's human nature to forget about all the small things that happen in the course of a day.

So each day I will start out by saying "Thank you" 200 times to show my gratitude for just one single step. Then I will calculate how many muscles it takes to make coffee.

Peace and joy to all,

Phil

Friday, March 11, 2011

Today I feel blessed!

Even though we had a flood last year, a tree crushed our porch a couple weeks ago and we can't quite seem to let go of winter...I feel blessed. I am grateful to be living in such a wonderful city. I hope everyone takes 15 seconds today to say "Thank you" to God for such a great life. Send prayers to those less fortunate as well.

Peace and joy today,

Phil

Monday, February 28, 2011

So close...

Some very powerful storms came through our town of Franklin, TN a couple days ago. The winds brought down a very old tree and laid it ever so gently on our house. I swear the hand of God himself spared us from serious injury or death. Yet another reason to be grateful.

I hope all of you take the time today to live in today's precious moment. Life is too short not to.

Peace,

Phil

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Joel Shewmake (my favorite songwriter) update

Since I blogged about my favorite songwriter Joel Shewmake back in July of last year, he has had some serious success. "Family man", written by Joel is Craig Campbell's hit. Last I checked it was at #24. Plus I heard through the facebook grapevine that Brad Paisley just cut his song "Toothbrush".

I wish Joel continued success. He is the real deal!

Peace,

Phil

Monday, February 14, 2011

2011 MDA Muscle Walk

Hi all,

It is official, I am the 2011 MDA Goodwill ambassador for Middle Tennessee and Southern Kentucky. So my first order of business is to raise a bunch of money at the MDA Muscle Walk. It will be held at Bridgestone Arena, March 19th. I have a team and I plan on really raising some cash in the next month.

Drop me a line at songmaker11@gmail.com if you have any questions about the event.

Peace,

Phil

Monday, January 17, 2011

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." Martin Luther King Jr.

Peace and love to all,

Phil

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Battle Ground Brewery Songwriter night with Branan Logan

We went to the Battle Ground Brewery in Franklin, TN last night. Branan Logan was hosting a songwriter night, so we dropped in and had a blast! Branan is a great songwriter, vocalist and a really nice guy. I really enjoyed visiting with him.
One of his special guests was Nichole Johnson. If you have not had the pleasure of hearing this young lady sing, you need to make sure you do. She is an incredible songwriter and vocalist. She has a great career ahead of her.
So if you have been wondering where to go in Franklin, TN during the week to get some awesome food, great beer and hear some amazing songwriters; come to the Battle Ground Brewery 108 Bridge Street Franklin, TN.

See you there,

Phil

My favorite Songwriter Joel Shewmake

Quote of the year...

“Be not the judges of men, but love your brothers and sisters, and find ways to reach out to them in common goals and aspirations. Where there is love in common, the divisions of creed will melt away and reveal the true nature of man’s eternal destiny -- one of unity in purpose, to be perfect as the Father is perfect."

Author Brilliant but Unknown

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