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Singer/songwriter Bret Phillips is not your typical Northwest musician.
If you see him on the street and he has a beard, it is because he hasn’t shaved.
If he is wearing flannel, it is because it keeps him warm. He follows no trends.
The first impression you get when meeting Bret is that he is definitely not the typical Seattle musician. Bret is all about the music. He always has been and he always will be. Although extremely personable, he doesn’t cling to the typical
indie artist persona. He is not going to fawn all over his fans, he will not send out
facebook updates for his show, as a matter of fact, there are some things he
should do, but the true artist in him, just won’t allow it.
That’s also why people love his music so much. It is not typical and it resonates.
Originally from Anchorage Alaska, Bret’s upbringing and remote environment certainly shaped his musical direction. “When I became a teenager and started to grow an interest in art(of all forms), I started to hate it there, but it also got me to actually seek out, albums, films etc that were hard to come by up there and appreciate things all the more.” This attitude developed even further when Bret moved to Seattle from Bellingham WA in early 2001. Bret moved there with there with the intent on “being in a band and making it big.” However, that quickly became, “boring really quickly, so I dove into writing/creating whole words and characters within a song or an album.”
And that is where Bret Alain Phillips came into his own as a writer and musician.
From this point, Bret became a true artist, a creator and the style he embodies is lush and magnificent.
When asked to describe Bret’s music, it is a real challenge. It is complicated.
He is described as a perfect amalgamation of Jeff Tweedy (Wilco) and Tom Waits. But his music can jump from style to style depending upon the LP you are listening to at the time. Bret is a gifted multi-instrumentalist. His main weapons of choice
are the guitar (acoustic and electric) and the piano of course. However Bret’s love
of music and melody has seen him mastering a dozen instruments from the trumpet to the cello to the drums. Bret plays them all with subtlety and intense passion.
Bret has put out three studio LP’s under the Bret Alain Phillips name.
They are: ‘All Season Portfolio’ (2005), ‘Fairest Eden’ (2009) and ‘The Grand Façade’ (2013). Under the moniker, “Old Man Winter” Bret has released two LP’s titled, ‘An ARTic Circle’ (2008) and ‘Summer Ups and Downs’ (2010).