Phil Stacey

Phil was born in Harlan County, Kentucky and grew up singing in his father’s church in Fairfield, Ohio. He studied vocal performance at Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee where he was a member of the exclusive choir, Lee Singers. Growing up in a pastor's home, most of the music the family listened to at home was Southern and Contemporary Gospel. "The exception," Phil says, "was when my parents would bring in a country record and it would usually be a heritage thing, playing something by artists like Hank Williams Sr." The combination gave Phil an early, lifelong love of country and Gospel that would be supplemented later by the pop and rock influences he picked up later in life. He wrote his first songs at age 6 and continued to cultivate his passion for writing and performing music throughout childhood. In 2003, Phil enlisted in the United States Navy where he served as a Musician Third Class at Navy Band Southeast in Jacksonville, Florida. Later, in 2006, he served as the music minister for First Coast Christian Center in Jacksonville, Florida. Phil still serves in the Navy Reserves. It wasn’t until 2007 that Phil came to national attention when he performed for millions of viewers each week during his competition on the sixth season of American Idol. His renditions of the country hits “Where The Blacktop Ends,” “The Change” and “I Need You” were among his most praised performances of the season. Phil finished 6th on American Idol. Following his time on American Idol, Phil toured with his fellow contestants over the summer on a 55 city tour before moving to Nashville with wife Kendra and their two children (McKayla and Chloe) to pursue a career in country music. Phil's debut single, _If You Didn't Love Me_ is climbing the American country charts. The track is produced by Wayne Kirkpatrick and co-written by Rascal Flatts' Gary Levox. Other songwriters contributiong to the project include Karen Fairchild, Connie Harrington, John Waller and many more. Features a stellar cast of studio musicians including Jimmie Lee Sloas, Blair Masters, Chris McHugh and others.