Phil Maybury
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Phil Maybury

Rugby, England, United Kingdom | Established. Jan 01, 2009 | SELF

Rugby, England, United Kingdom | SELF
Established on Jan, 2009
Solo Folk Singer/Songwriter

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"Triple success for singer-songwriter with 30 year-old songs"

Three songs which singer-songwriter Phil Maybury from Clayton West near Huddersfield, entered in the UK Songwriting Contest 2009 - in his first year of entering - all made it to the semi-finals, putting him in the top 23% of the 6,000 entries.

Three songs more than 30 years old have all been a songwriting success for 54 year-old singer-songwriter Phil Maybury. All three were awarded a semi-finalist certificate in the Folk/Country and Adult Contemporary categories of the 2009 UK Songwriting Contest, the results of which have recently been announced. Phil, who lives at Clayton West between Huddersfield, Wakefield and Barnsley wrote the songs when he was living in Leeds during the late 1970s. They remained hidden in a box of old documents for many years, and only recently came to light when Phil began de-cluttering after extended ill-health.

Im thrilled Phil exclaimed. It proves to me that the types of songs I write retain their appeal over time. They tell me its unusual for anyone to get three songs into the semi-finals particularly when its the first time theyve entered! These three songs were in the top 23% of the 6,000 entries and I was only one step away from being a finalist. Ive written other songs more recently, but I entered these three because I wanted to see how well my earlier compositions would stand up under scrutiny. Next year it will be my newer, better songs and Im aiming at the finals!

Ancient demos already existed for two of the songs, Mr Incomplete (Adult Contemporary) and Another Man (Folk/Country), having been included decades ago on a privately- distributed album which also included songs by Phils former acoustic group Manuscript. They were atrocious demos really! Phil explained, They were remastered from a 30-year-old tape cassette! But the Contest guarantees that they only judge the song itself and the songwriting ability of the writer. The recording quality, performance, vocals and production are not judged. It was perhaps just as well considering what I had to send at that time!

Phil took a new direction with the demo for Ted the Gardener (Folk/Country), creating it using computer software and recording the vocals himself. Ive now been working with computers for almost 25 years, and for many years it was too costly and too unpredictable to create music demos digitally. Today things are very different, and you can achieve reasonable demos at relatively low cost. He is currently working to create demos of his other songs using the same techniques.

This success has convinced me to explore my musical capabilities further. Perhaps Ill find a commercial opening either for my songs, or for me myself - as a singer - Ive already started retraining my voice and hope to be back in top shape soon. Perhaps a publisher may be interested in my songs, or I may be able to sing at local venues.

Phils musical style originated in folk and country, later moving into folk-rock and pop, and more recently into blues. He lists his biggest musical influences as being Ralph McTell, Chris de Burgh, Neil Diamond, the Moody Blues, Elton John and Will Young as well as female artistes such as Joni Mitchell, Katie Melua and Norah Jones.

He has always had a keen interest in contemporary music. He began playing the guitar as a teenager at the folk club at school in Leeds, then in the late seventies he formed the acoustic group Manuscript, which performed at various venues around West Yorkshire, which had a complete programme devoted to them on local radio. Along with another member of the group, he secured a contract to record two songs for childrens radio at the time.
His music had to take second place to his career when he gained an honours degree at what is now Leeds Metropolitan University, subsequent to which he edited and wrote for national magazines. He then worked in publicity and web-design, before allergies and a severe reaction to his asthma inhalers all but destroyed his singing voice. Its taken almost ten years to get back on top, he explained, and it was only at the end of 2008 that I began singing again. I struggled to get my voice under control at first. But by the time I discovered the UK Songwriting Contest in July this year, my voice was just good enough to put together a final demo and to submit the songs before the deadline. The hard work was obviously worth it.

Phil can be contacted through his website at philmaybury.co.uk which includes the latest news, a short biography, photos and samples of his music. He welcomes any expressions of interest from the music industry and local venues. - PR Fire > Music


Discography

The three songs that were semi-finalists in the UK Songwriting Contest 2009 were:
Mr Incomplete
Talks about the pain of rejected love, and the struggle of trying to maintain a friendship when it can’t grow any further. It ends: “I wait at home and hope perhaps you’ll pass my way – but then I know I’ll never cope - be lost for what to say. I know his love must be impossible to beat, but without your love just call me Mr Incomplete.”
© Phil Maybury 1979-2009.

Another Man
Shows strength out of emotional adversity. Out of confusion and apparently random lifechanging events comes hope and the determination to take control. “On ahead, the dark night scatters as the morning breaks. Is the past what really matters, all our failures getting at us? I’m gonna be another man – give me your lovin’ all you can. I wanna know which way to go in my life.”
© Phil Maybury 1977-2009.

Ted the Gardener
An epic story-song about an ageing gardener who returns to the same garden every year to rake up the leaves in Autumn. “Even the birds had no song to be heard, and the trees bowed their heads on that cold autumn day. Then the wind struck first blow and discarded below all the pages of summer Ted knew had to go – he went sweeping and raking the leaves…”
© Phil Maybury 1979-2009.

Photos

Bio

Phil Maybury is a singer-songwriter from a small village in the Yorkshire Pennines, England, United Kingdom who performs live as Phil Oakwood.

His musical style originated in folk and country, later moving into folk-rock and pop, and more recently into country and soul. He lists his biggest musical influences as being Ralph McTell, Chris de Burgh, Neil Diamond, Garth Brooks and the Moody Blues, as well as female artistes such as Joni Mitchell, Melanie Safka, Gretchen Peters and Joss Stone.

He has always had a keen interest in both folk and contemporary music. He began playing the guitar as a teenager, then in the late seventies he formed the acoustic group Manuscript, which performed at various venues around West Yorkshire, which had a complete programme devoted to them on local radio. Along with another member of the group, he secured a contract to record songs for childrenâ₏™s radio.

Phil, who has worked during the daytime in publicity, jornalism and web design, began songwriting as a teenager, and has continued until the present, though until recently most of his songs were never performed, submitted to publishers or entered into competitions. So far his entries into the UK Songwriting Contest have resulted in 19 semi-finalists and 36 commendations, and in 2011 he entered every category and was a semi-finalist or recieved a commendation for every song.