Stephanie Phillips – Blindside
ARTIST NAME: Stephanie Phillips
SONG TITLE: Blindside
ALBUM TITLE: What Have I Lost?
RELEASE DATE: February 2020
GENRE: Indie Folk/Singer-Songwriter
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Stephanie Phillips has been singing, playing guitar, and writing music from an early age. She has performed all over the United States, including many clubs in New York City such as the Speakeasy and the Village Gate. A highlight of her career was opening for Emmylou Harris in the 1990’s.
Stephanie describes her music as “progressive folk”, taking her inspiration from giants such as Billy Joel, James Taylor, and Dan Fogelberg. Her latest CD, entitled What Have I Lost? was released in February of 2020.
LYRICS:
VERSE 1:
You woke up one morning
Decided to leave me
And I still don’t know what to do
You told me that morning you had to release me
And it wasn’t me,
It was you
But I’ll never know what is true…
CHORUS:
‘Cause it was nothing but a blindside, baby
You hit me in the face
And it came on like a landslide, baby
I had no time to brace
‘Cause it was nothing but a blindside
VERSE 2:
I woke up one morning the weekend
Before that and thought
I saw love in your eyes
You held me that morning
And I could’ve sworn
That I’d never hear you say goodbye
And then there was Monday’s surprise….
REPEAT CHORUS.
BRIDGE:
What were you thinking and when did you know
That we weren’t working
And I had to go?
Your face never told me
So how could you hold me so close….
Knowing what you would expose?
VERSE 3:
You woke up that morning
Decided to leave me
And gave me the news on the phone
You told me that morning
You hadn’t deceived me
That we’d just be better alone
But how could I never have known?
REPEAT CHORUS
FINAL CHORUS
‘Cause it was nothing but a blindside, baby
You broke my heart in two
And it came on like a high tide, baby
I had no time to choose
‘Cause it was nothing but a blindside….
Creating a Song: My process usually involves writing lyrics and melody simultaneously. Most of the time, I have some ideas as to the theme of the song, if not a couple of lines written down or in my head when sitting down to formally write. I keep notes for song ideas in a little journal on my desk. Sometimes, an entire verse will come to me, and sometimes it’s just a line or a phrase. But, I generally write lyrics and melody together and my songs take anywhere between two and four hours to write.
Theme: My songs run the gamut of love and loss to social and political statements.
Musical Works: I’m proud of all my four albums, but the last one included both my daughters on it in some capacity, so I’d have to say that’s my greatest one.
Music Team: I assume this means the people in my life who have been behind many of my songs. That would be the loves in my life, my family, and my daughters.
Future Goals: My future goals include sync licensing, cutting more albums, and performing in new venues. I will accomplish those the same way I do everything else — through persistence and consistency. I am in the process of trying to find a new local producer for my next album and also working on uploading my music to platforms which can assist me in the sync licensing process.
Changes: I think much has changed in the industry. On the positive side, the independent musician has more opportunity than ever before and no longer has to rely upon a record deal to get their music heard. The downside is that the indie artist has to do virtually everything themselves and the process is often confusing and overwhelming. There are people preying on musicians and taking advantage of their desire to be “discovered” or have a large following. The constant social media “noise” is also a source of frustration, and one that didn’t exist even a decade or so ago.
Mistake: As far as I’m concerned, the only real mistake in writing a song is to NOT be authentic. People innately sense inauthenticity, so as long as an artist can connect with their audience in a genuine and heartfelt way, there can’t be any mistakes.
Structure: The structure of “Blindside” is a classic Verse/Chorus/Verse/Chorus/Bridge/Verse/Chorus. I tend to write in that format most of the time because it creates a sense of order and people are used to hearing that structure or something very similar.
Instruments: For me, it’s mostly about acoustic guitar. But when I can have my daughter adding keyboard that makes it really come alive. For “Blindside”, I asked my good friend Chris to add bass, which gave the song another layer of depth and richness.
Musical Skills: I am proficient at the acoustic guitar, and I can play piano at a basic level. I’ve never had formal vocal training, but have had many compliments on my voice.
Cherished Artists: My biggest influences have been James Taylor, Dan Fogelberg, Cat Stevens, Billy Joel, and the Indigo Girls. More recently, Cheryl Wheeler has had a profound impact on me, personally and musically.
Inspiration: Like many artists, my inspiration comes from almost anywhere — a news article, a discussion with a friend, a line from a movie or TV show (like one of my most recent songs), or just the way I’m feeling at any given moment about life.
Song: Blindside was written after a man I had dated for nearly a year (and had fallen in love with) broke up with me over the phone. I was especially vulnerable then as it came on the heels of my divorce.
Artist’s Name and the Title of the Album: My artist’s name is simply my given name. The album title, “What Have I Lost?” comes from its title song. It made sense to use it for the title song as there had been many losses in my life during the time that album was being written and produced.