A Brief Biography

Phil Stinson lives in the North Carolina "High Country" Appalachian mountains. He is a professional musician, music teacher, trout fisherman, and unknown writer. Phil studied creative writing and poetry with William Walker, James Dickey, and Allen Ginsberg.

Phil started playing professionally with rock and blues bands at the age of 16. After moving to North Carolina in 1976 and graduating from Appalachian State University in 1979, he spent the next decade performing mostly as a solo act and as a studio musician for Merle Watson before Merle's death. During this time Stinson was an opening act for such performers as Doc Watson, The Amazing Rhythm Aces, Lightnin' Hopkins, and others.

Since 1988, Phil has been making the daily trip "down off the mountain" to teach music classes. He continues to play professionally as a solo musician on weekends and in his summer breaks from school. In addition to his solo act, for the past 10 years he has frequently played keyboards with the "King Bees" blues band in concerts and on their CD's. During this time he has also played and recorded with blues and early rock legends Neil Pattman, Chicago Bob Nelson, Chuck Berry, and Bo Diddley.