Phil Wickham

Even though singer/songwriter Phil Wickham grew up in a Christian home, there came a point early in his life when he knew his faith needed to become his own...not that of his parents'.

He wanted something real: a personal friendship with Jesus.

Songwriting Leads to First Recording
And that crucial realization, combined with moving to a new city, paved the way for Phil to pick up a guitar and start writing songs about his growing faith.

Once he picked up that guitar, it wasn’t long before his junior high youth pastor took notice and asked him if he wanted to lead worship. A little reluctant at first, Phil accepted his pastor's invitation.

"When I started leading worship when I was 12, the Lord just really started blessing it with the junior high group," Phil says. "Kids were singing, and I found that I really loved doing it."

Phil soon began writing his own songs. Before long, people who’d heard Phil play asked him when he planned to release a CD. "I was like, 'Are you kidding me? No way,'" Phil recalls. "Then the Lord just brought different people in my life to show me what it means to to lead worship.... There were awesome lessons that I was going to use the rest of my life. "

Phil recorded his first independent disc, Give You My World, in a small home studio. After a great response to the disc, Phil says, "I knew this just had to be the Lord. So I started playing a lot more places in California.

"And I kept writing, kept on playing—going to school, and eventually to college. I didn’t even know at the time that this was what I wanted to do with my life. I was open to anything."

Seeking God's Direction
But after a period of time when he was "desperate" to hear from the Lord, he finally began to feel peace about his future.

"I felt like I needed to be in a place where I could just wait on Him, and He could just show me what to do," Phil says. "And it took some searching to get to that place—I pretty much spent a whole night on my knees because there were just so many things involved."

Phil Signs with Record Label
And it wasn’t long after that when his life’s direction became clear. With his music skills attracting the attention of several record labels, Phil signed with Simple Records, the boutique label that MercyMe frontman Bart Millard and producer Pete Kipley started together.

"After Bart and I first heard Phil’s music, we knew right away that he would be perfect for what we are trying to accomplish as a label," Pete says. "The depth and the beauty of his songs are equally matched with a voice you can never forget."

Phil’s music shimmers with pop/rock sensibility, innovative melodies and a heart for worship, the very place where it all began And that captivating voice expresses a wide spectrum of emotions on all of his albums, particularly his newest release, Heaven and Earth.

Newest Release
Heaven and Earth introduces us to an artist that has not only grown in his songwriting, but who has also truly found his voice. While significant strides were made from an artistic standpoint by Wickham between his debut album and the critically acclaimed follow-up Cannons, there is a confidence in the recording that comes only with maturity and the living of life.

You have never heard Wickham’s voice stronger or bolder in the singing of his always artful lyrics because for the first time Wickham feels that he has a story to tell. From start to finish this album, is meant to remind the Church what and who we are created for.

 
Official Website 


Phil Wickham will join Joyce in...
St. Paul, MN
July 8-10, 2010

Sacramento, CA
September 30 - October 2, 2010