I was open to anything."īut after a period of time where he was "desperate" to hear from the Lord about his next steps career-wise, he finally began to feel peace about his future. I didn't even know at this time that this was what I wanted to do with my life. And I kept writing, kept on playing-going to school, and eventually to college. So I started playing a lot more places in California, a lot of Calvary Chapels out there. After a great response to the disc, Phil says, "I knew this just had to be the Lord. Still a little skeptical on how everything would turn out, Phil recorded his first independent disc, Give You My World in a small home studio. And when I finally had in the neighborhood of 20 songs, my Dad was like 'You should record a CD.'" There were awesome lessons that I was going to use the rest of my life. "Then the Lord just brought different people in my life to show me what it means to minister, what it means to lead worship-just the transparency of self and coming forward in faith and knowing that the Lord is there. "I was like 'Are you kidding me? No way,' Phil recalls. "Kids were singing, and I found that I really loved doing it." Phil's father, a worship leader and veteran of Jesus Movement bands including The Way and Parable, also encouraged his son's emerging talent by challenging him to learn to play hundreds of popular praise songs and to write his own in the meantime.Īnd before long, people who'd heard Phil play his songs asked him when he planned to release a CD.
"When I started leading worship when I was 12, the Lord just really started blessing it with the junior high group," Phil says. "It was a good time of reflecting, writing songs and playing guitar." And once he picked up that guitar, it wasn't long before his junior high youth pastor took notice and asked him if he wanted to lead worship.Ī little reluctant at first, Phil accepted his pastor's invitation. While difficult at times, the transition from Orange County to San Diego proved to be fruitful. Listen to clips from Phil Wickham's self-titled debut album on And that crucial realization, combined with moving to a new city while he was in junior high, paved the way for Phil to pick up a guitar and start writing songs about his growing faith. He wanted something real, that personal friendship with Jesus.
He no longer wanted to coast on his parents' coattails or go to church simply because that's what he was supposed to do. And it's his personal journey of faith expressed in the songs that really makes the difference.Įven though singer/songwriter Phil Wickham grew up in a devout Christian home, there came a point early in his life when he knew his faith needed to become his own. With the multi-faceted sound of a much older soul and shimmering melodies that match the intensity of his heartfelt lyrics, 21-year-old Phil Wickham's self-titled debut can't help but stand out in a crowd of cookie-cutter pop and angst-fueled rock. In a world where swagger usually triumphs over substance, it's refreshing when a young singer/songwriter arrives on the scene with something to say.
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