Utah Phillips

"The golden voice of the great American Southwest", Bruce "U. Utah" Phillips is not one to take retirement sitting down. "Officially" retired from touring since 1996, the politically-conscious, Nevada City, California-based, singer and storyteller has maintained a constant flow of new recordings and reissues. An album of his stories and between-song patter set to music by Ani Difranco, The Past Didn't Go Anywhere, introduced his anarchistic persona to a young audience, while Loafer's Glory, a collection of stories, poems and songs set to the accompaniment of Woody Guthrie-influenced guitarist Mark Ross, showed his long-time audience that he still had something of importance to say. In addition to two of his earlier albums -- El Capitan and All Used Up -- being released as The Telling Takes Me Home, Phillips' songs were honored with an album-length celebration of his songs by bluegrass duo, Jody Stecher and Kate Brislin, Heart Songs: The Old Time Country Songs of Utah Phillips, that receive a Grammy nomination as "best traditional folk album of 1997".

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