Josh Phillips Folk Festival at Boone Saloon September 16

Story by Jason Gilmer

Boone music scene veteran Josh Phillips will return to the High Country on Wednesday, September 16, for a show with his band, Josh Phillips Folk Festival, at Boone Saloon.

It isn’t just the people in the audience that the Josh Phillips Folk Festival is turning onto his funky tunes.

At a recent stop in New York, the club owner, who was doubling as the night’s bartender, charged Phillips $2 for a Coke prior to the show.

After Phillips and his bandmates finished their reggae-tinged session, the owner changed his mind.

“Let me buy you all a beer,” Phillips and the group were told.

There will probably be plenty of people offering that to Phillips when he and his band play the Boone Saloon on Wednesday, September 16. Admission is $6.

Phillips lived in Boone for three years, helped start Yo Mama’s Big Fat Booty Band while here and still has plenty of friends in town.

So the music that Phillips describes as “part folk, part reggae, part funk and even part soul,” already has plenty of Boone-area converts.

The last time Phillips, Elijah Cramer (bass), Casey Cramer (guitar), Nik Hope (drums, vocals), Sean Donnelly (keyboards, vocals) and Rob Russell (guitar, vocals) played in town was New Year’s Eve and the show sold out.

Coming back to town to play—Phillips now lives in Asheville—is a fun experience for Phillips and a chance to reconnect with friends and the town.

“When I first moved to Boone, I moved from Charleston, S.C. It was such a great move. I loved the town and the outdoor theme,” said Phillips. “It helped me get my head together. After three years I got a little antsy and wanted a bigger town.

“For a while, I had no desire to come back to Boone, but after my first trip back there to play, I realized how much I like the town.”

He and the band has just finished a two-week stint of shows up North, opening for Boston, Mass. band Dopapod, which will open for Phillips during a two-week set of shows in the South.

While the name may say “folk,” don’t be surprised that Phillips’ sound isn’t all that folky.

“I think it’s confusing at first,” Phillips said of the name, which “encompasses all kinds of styles. The idea of a folk festival is really far beyond folk [music].”

And that’s what Phillips has done.

“I think it has a lot of hints of folk music in it because [the music] is more based around the song writing,” he said. “That what ties all the different types of music that we play together. The [songwriting] is really the main focus of the song.”

For more information and to listen to a couple of Phillips’ tunes, click to www.myspace.com/joshphillipsfolk.

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