Phil was born and raised in Ruffin, NC. and in 1980 he went to work for Ball Corp. Over the years he tried various instruments but settled on the guitar. When he was younger his mom made Phil take piano lessons but that didn’t last very long. From ‘82-’89 he took lessons from Scott Manring in Greensboro, taking breaks through out to absorb everything he taught him.
It was during this time that Scott exposed Phil to some musicians that were to become very great influences. Some of these influences were Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Paige, Lenny Breau, Joe Pass, Ted Green, Robert Johnson, George Van Epps, Skip James, and latter international musicians like Yamadau Costa. Most of these artists were rather unknown in the region.
During the years before and after the lessons with Scott, Phil played in few bands but realized he was missing something. He prefers spontaneity, to let an emotion or thought take the music where it wants to go. He still will play a cover tune if asked; it’s just not where his heart and soul is. Phil’s love is Jazz and Brazilian guitar but enjoys playing blues, country, and some bluegrass.
For Phil its all music, “music is a conversation” he says and it doesn’t matter what kind of music it is. In a conversation with Phil you quickly realize he is a very intellectual person who is easy to talk with. He has been doing a lot of composing lately and his music is also intellectual. Music, like life, its just one long tune, one song leads to another, you never stop learning, refining or evolving. “As an artist I write music to convey a thought or emotion to communicate through music what I feel at a given moment in time”.
Phil tells me when he plays in public “I just play, I don’t think about where I am or whether any body will like what I play because I play what I am feeling at that moment”. If you want to know who Phil Sparks is, just listen to his music, he’s there.
