A REFUGE FOR POETS WHO WRITE IN THE LYRIC TRADITION,
WITH RHYME AND METER, WITH OR WITHOUT MUSIC
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CONCERT REVIEW: Excerpts from Adirondack Daily Enterprise, 1996,
“Songwriter chased by bear and lives to sing about it,” by Shir Filler:
LAKE PLACID – On a recent Saturday at the Great American Bagel Factory
here, Richard Hayes Phillips looked positively elfin behind his guitar
in his green forest ranger hat and wire-rimmed glasses. Playing and
singing valiantly despite the hordes of tourists pushing past for their
cappuccinos, Phillips did manage to capture an audience that listened
and applauded as he played. … Phillips has just published a book of his
song lyrics, titled “Lyric Poetry.” “I find a lot of people don’t catch
the lyrics when I’m playing,” he said. Lyrics are an important element
of his songs, which are often politically, environmentally and socially
conscious, even when they are love songs. … “All my songs are true,”
says Phillips. He considers himself a wandering minstrel, plying his
trade with guitar, mandolin, kalimba (an African instrument made of wood
and strips of metal that are plucked with the thumb) and harmonica in
restaurants and coffeehouses wherever he goes. … He loves the
Adirondacks. He says he’s been all over the country, and these
mountains are the most beautiful he’s seen. But, he says, to live here
you either have to be wealthy or work for the wealthy. He had always
shunned tourists, but while in Taos, he says, he finally realized how
the game worked. With this new knowledge, he’s been able to work and
make a living in the Adirondacks where so many before him have failed.
NOTICE: from Adirondack Life, 2002 Annual Guide, page 69:
We blundered through several trail junctions, following hunches, and,
to our astonishment, emerged on the Camp Solitude lawn. ... Over coffee
we were treated to a concert of original folksongs by guest Richard
Phillips, who accompanied himself on an African thumb piano. One of
the songs was unforgettably poignant -- an ode to a bag of abandoned
books. http://www.campsolitude.com.
NOTICE: from The Rake, Minneapolis, Minnesota, April 2004:
He faced down the giants at BMI and lived to tell the tale (see The Rake's
November 2003 issue), so acoustic troubador and self-described "throwback"
Richard Hayes Phillips is once again out on the concert trail. With a
guitar, a 1917 mandolin, and an alto kalimba strapped to his back, he's
headed our way with a fistful of ballads. There's no excuse to miss
the man's true, pure tenor, as he's making seven appearances at local
coffeehouses this month. http://www.rakemag.com.
OPINION: from Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro to Ohio Supreme Court,
December 2004:
He seems to be better known as a poet and a lyricist.
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