PHILIP JOHN BERTHOUD
Phil Berthoud is a self-taught guitarist, fiddle and mandolin player; teacher and author of many Mel Bay titles. He's based in Devon, England
Phil is a regular contributor to Fiddler Magazine and plays fiddle and electric guitar with the Amber Fire Ceilidh Band as well as Confusion (a progressive/experimental rock band).
He started playing the guitar at the age of 14, learning from books and records. From this time on, music was always to play a central role in his life. Through his teens, Phil discovered the music of Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa, King Crimson and Captain Beefheart and developed a love for the stranger side of progressive rock.
In his twenties, a meeting with an Irish Fiddle player took Phil in a different direction. Initially backing the fiddler on guitar, Phil soon wanted to move on from accompaniment to playing the tunes themselves, so he took up the fiddle; an instrument he took to quickly by carefully scrutinising every second of every recording he could lay his hands on. Players like Kevin Burke, Paddy Glackin and Tommy Peoples were particularly inspiring.
A move to London lead to several years on the Irish session circuit, where Phil developed his own style of playing.
Around this time a London based folk music magazine asked Phil to write an article on Irish Fiddle playing. Phil became a regular contributor and reviewer for the magazine and it was just a matter of time before he completed his first book on the subject.
This first book "Irish Fiddle Playing: A Guide for the Serious Player" was published by Mel Bay in 2002, and since then, Mel Bay has published many more of his titles, on fiddle, mandolin and guitar playing.
CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL OF PHIL'S BOOKS