Phil Madeira

Phil Madeira (born 1952) is an American songwriter, producer, musician and singer from Nashville, Tennessee. He was raised in Barrington, Rhode Island and attended Taylor University, which he graduated from in 1975.

In 2008, Emmylou Harris invited Phil to join her band "The Red Dirt Boys", bringing him into a fraternity of musicians that Harris is noted for bringing together. This group of players includes James Burton, Buddy Miller, Ricky Skaggs, Sam Bush, Tony Brown, Al Perkins, and many others.

His songs have been recorded by The Civil Wars, Buddy Miller, Alison Krauss, Toby Keith, Ricky Skaggs, Bruce Hornsby, Keb' Mo', Garth Brooks, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Cindy Morgan, Shawn Mullins, The North Mississippi Allstars,and other high profile artists. His co-writing partners include Matraca Berg, Kim Carnes, Leslie Satcher, Merrill Farnsworth, Cindy Morgan, Wayne Kirkpatrick, Gordon Kennedy, Jimmie Lee Sloas, Mindy Smith, and The Warren Brothers.

Known for his work with acclaimed Buddy Miller, Madeira has appeared with Solomon Burke, Elvis Costello, Emmylou Harris, Dave Matthews, Vince Gill, Boz Skaggs, and Patty Griffin.

He has recorded 3 solo albums of material, all critically acclaimed. Well respected in Nashville's inner sanctum of musicians and songwriters, Madeira received the Nashville Music Award (Nammy) for Best Keyboardist in 2000. He also received a Humanitarian award from ASCAP in 1986 for his raising consciousness and money for the Ethiopian hunger crisis. In 2009, Phil received the Dove Award for "Recorded Country Song of the Year" from the Gospel Music Association, for his song "I Wish", co-written with Cindy Morgan.

Madeira is a multi-instrumentalist, playing Hammond B-3 organ, harmonica, guitar, lap steel guitar, accordion, Dobro, percussion and other instruments on projects by artists like Garth Brooks, Amy Grant, Toby Keith, Buddy Miller, Julie Miller, The Neville Brothers, Sixpence None the Richer, Mavis Staples, Vanessa Williams, Emmylou Harris, Solomon Burke, and Keb' Mo'.

From 1976 to 1978, Madeira was a member of the Phil Keaggy Band, with Lynn Nichols, Terry Andersen and Dan Cunningham. The band released one album together, entitled Emerging. This season led to a long-term friendship with Keaggy, and an eventual production relationship with Lynn Nichols. Madeira/Nichols have produced Kimberly Perry (aka The Band Perry) and Charity Von.

In 2012, Madeira provided the musical backdrop for Merrill Farnsworth's theatrical piece "Jezebel's Got The Blues... and Other Works of Imagination", in which the guitar serves as part of the dramatic conversation. This piece has been performed in Nashville and New York City, where Madeira cohort David Mansfield filled his role.

In 2012, Phil produced a collection of Americana Musicians covering Paul McCartney songs on "Let Us In: Americana", a benefit for The Women and Cancer Fund. The roster of this stellar project is Buddy Miller, Teddy Thompson, Sam Bush, Lee Ann Womack, Ollabelle, Ed Snodderly, Holly Williams, Matraca Berg, The Wood Brothers, Will Hoge, Steve Earle and Allison Moorer, Jim Lauderdale, Ketch Secor, and The McCrary Sisters.

In early 2012, Madeira completed production on "Mercyland: Hymns For The Rest Of Us" which features Emmylou Harris, The Civil Wars, Mat Kearney, Dan Tyminski, Cindy Morgan, John Scofield, the Carolina Chocolate Drops, Buddy Miller, and Shawn Mullins, North Mississippi Allstars, Amy Stroup,and Phil Madeira. Receiving rave reviews across the board, "Mercyland" represents Madeira's most important work to date.