Evento

LilFest Presents Phil Heywood in Mount Vernon, Iowa

Phil Heywood plays fingerstyle guitar with a bluesy swing and a bucketful of whatever it takes to 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 melodic flair of such contemporaries as Leo Kottke. The internationally renowned Leo Kottke handpicked Heywood to tour and perform duets with him. A soul-satisfying instrumentalist, Phil draws listeners in with his voice as well, singing in a warm, plainspoken baritone that blends smoothly with his rock-solid guitar work.

"Easily a virtuoso, Heywood is not a technician sacrificing content for style. Every movement of finger and string are as essential to the whole design as the smallest brick of a Gothic cathedral."

- The Milwaukee Journal

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. In 1986 he won the National Fingerpicking Championship, and followed up a year later by winning the American Fingerstyle Guitar Festival Competition. Phil has played on NPR's A Prairie Home Companion with guitar legend Chet Atkins, performed with fellow acoustic guitar luminaries Peter Lang, Pat Donohue, Tim Sparks, and Dakota Dave Hull, and opened shows for such artists as Norman Blake, Greg Brown, John Renbourn, Chris Smither, and John Hammond.

He has recorded six CDs: Some Summer Day (1990), Local Joe (1996), Circle Tour (2000), Banks of the River (2003), You Got To Move (2008), and Rollin' On (2014). What one inspired critic wrote of Local Joe applies equally to each of Phil's CDs: "Acoustic guitar fans should consider this recording a must have....Heywood gives us all something to enjoy for a long time." (Music Reviews Quarterly)