Phil has been playing the violin since the age of seven. His first lessons were in Northumberland and by the age of 12, he had been invited for private tuition with Marion Hillier of the Northern Sinfonia.

In Phils’ teens he led the Northumberland County String and Symphony Orchestras for three succesive years, and moved on to join the Young Sinfonia where he took up the prestigous position of principal 2nd violin, under the now world renowned conductor Ilan Volkov.

Phil studied music and computer science at Lancaster University and whilst there became leader of the Lancaster University Symphony & Chamber Orchestras. In his final year at Lancaster Phil had the honour of performing Vaughan William’s Lark Ascending accompanied by the University Chamber Orchestra in the famous Great Hall in Lancaster – one of his most memorable performances to date.

Phil has had the privilege of performing at venues such as London’s Royal Fesitval Hall, The Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Newcastle Civic Hall, The ‘Duomo’ in Florence and in the open air of Sunderland FC’s Stadium of Light in front of an audience of 40,000 people.

He has also had the pleasure of touring much of Europe and has performed at locations in Hungary, the Czech Republic, France, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, Germany and Holland.

Highlights of Phil’s musical experiences inlcude masterclasses with Bradley Cheswick of the Northern Sinfonia, with the legendary late American violinist Isaac Stern, and a performance of Holst’s ‘The Planets’ in an open air concert with Northern Sinfonia.

Phil was always interested in folk music and throughout his teens whilst concentrating on his classical training, performed in ceilidh bands. After moving to Scotland in 2006, Phil formed his own ceilidh band, the Canny Clamjamphries, and along with Fraser has performed regular gigs with the band for the past 2 years. He then had the pleasure of meeting the members of Shoestring when he was asked to play with them for a number of gigs. After meeting Ronnie and Craig it didn’t take long to see the potential, and so “Best Before Midnight” was born.

Favourite Bands/Influences: Alasdair Fraser, Paul Machlis, Skydance, Bellevue Rendezvous, Jenna Reid

Phil plays a Circa:1860 Violin made at the Francois Caussin School in Vosges, France Headway – EDB1 Sheer Acoustic Pre-Amp & DI | Headway – The Band Violin Pickup.

Phil also plays piano and has a Roland Phantom S-88 Sequencer/Synthesiser in the house he likes to compose and generally tinker about on.