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Bio

Short Bio:

From the Nashville Symphony to Belmont’s “Pop Showcase”, Phil Wolfe is redefining the term, “keyboard warrior”. With over 15 years of piano-playing experience under his belt, Phil combines the influence of classical, jazz, gospel, and pop music to achieve just the sound you’re looking for. As a commercial piano major with an emphasis in music technology, he crafts intriguing patches to play live or to use to produce music, both of which he has done for artists like Dean Marino and many more. Coming out soon is his debut single, “Crashes”, a record that has been described as nostalgic for the pop of the 2010’s.

Long Bio: 

From playing the piano for the Nashville Symphony to Belmont University’s “Pop Showcase”, Phil Wolfe is redefining the term, “keyboard warrior”. A Kansas City native, Phil was classically trained from the age of 5 years old. For ten years prior to his start at Belmont University as a commercial piano major, he studied with a renowned composer, pianist, and choral director, Isaac S. Cates. Cates influenced Phil to have a strong foundation in classical music, and to draw the connections between it and other styles, such as gospel, worship, soul, and pop. Phil Wolfe accordingly draws inspiration from all of these styles and more, allowing him to be a highly adaptable keyboard player for any situation.

As a kid, Phil Wolfe would spend many nights laying in bed, staring at the ceiling, listening to the radio on his mp3 player through earbuds. The production and craftsmanship of the songs he heard not only made him fall in love with music, but fall in love with the reality that music can allow people to feel something. For Phil, music made him feel that it was going to be okay. It reminded him that there was innate beauty in the universe discoverable to mankind through art. It was in that moment that he became obsessed with creating art that could make people feel the way it made him feel; art that people can listen to and think, ‘this song is helping me to express emotions and thoughts I don’t have the words to describe’.

In high school, Phil Wolfe began learning how to record and produce music using various computer software, and even got to take a class at a technical high school that gave him training in audio engineering and the recording of live instruments. Alongside his commercial piano degree, Phil auditioned to have a music tech emphasis at Belmont, in which he continued his study in that area. Phil is able to cultivate a beautiful marriage between the two areas of specialization. He uses his technical skill on the piano to record rich musical content, and he uses computers and keyboards to open infinite possibilities for live performance.

Recently, Phil has used this marriage of skills to assist numerous artists and music groups related to the Belmont community, including but limited to, Dean Marino, Alan Villatoro, Carter Davidson, Holly Jayne, Madeline Ruffin, Jazzmin Pride, and School of Music ensembles Jazz Band II, Company, and Phoenix. For Dean Marino, Phil plays an integral role in his operation, both as his live keyboardist and a member on the production team for his latest album, DeanFM.

Phil Wolfe is also beginning his own solo career with his debut single, “Crashes” coming out soon. It has been described as nostalgic, and reminiscent of the pop of the 2010’s, the same era of music that the kid listening to his mp3 player heard. The song exhibits a radical optimism that even if the world crashes, and we experience material loss, we can lean on our relationships to those around us to keep us afloat. This song is the beginning of a new era for Phil, marking the start of the reciprocity he has desired to share through music to the world.