Singer-songwriter Phil Zoellner's new disc is all gospel

Singing his soul

by: MATT ELLIOTT World Scene Writer
8/24/2007

Singer-songwriter Phil Zoellner's new disc is all gospel

Phil Zoellner's first track off his new album, "Ride Into the Sky," struts with some Beatles sunshine. He calls, it "Love."

It's a got a horn section, even a tambourine. The first line is delivered in harmony: "Love is patient/Love is kind/You're unconditional/Love is fine." It could be about God -- which is the main subject of this Tulsa alt country impresario's opus -- or it could be about his 2-year-old daughter, who even at 2, can speak Spanish as well as English.

Zoellner, formerly of the band Marshallcity and interviewed over Mexican food in the noisy cafe, Las Americas, added that he likes to keep his personal and his musical lives separated.

"I really was nervous about being a father for a long time. I had a lot of anxiety coming up to it," Zoellner said, sunglasses hiding his eyes. "When I look at my child, I am absolutely astounded at how much I love her, and I had no idea that it would fill a hole in my heart that I didn't know existed."

Then there's his faith, a strong belief in God since he can remember. Add to that the Great Divide album, "Dirt and Spirit," which featured a lot of acoustic guitar and visits from the band's friends, who ranged from Cross Canadian Ragweed to Tom Skinner.

Now you've got "Ride Into the Sky." It's a gospel album featuring a who's who of Red Dirt musicians: The Divide's Mike McClure, Steve Rice from No Justice, Brad Rice and Roger Ray of Jason Boland & the Stragglers, Travis Kidd and others. He even got David Lon to co-produce it.

Zoellner started writing this album after about 15 years of never writing material that addressed his faith. That's because a friend of his growing up dissed one of his songs that professed it. It was too subtle, the friend told him.

Now, the 32-year-old has an album of alt country pop that humbles with its stripped down piano ("Monday") and soars with hope and optimism on "You're My Best Friend."

At times on this record, Zoellner sounds eerily like a cross between Bono and Coldplay's Chris Martin.

He admits, between bites of carne asada, that he doesn't know what to do with the CD.

"It's like giving birth to a chimpanzee or something. It's like you've gotta feed it, but then you don't know if you need to take it on a walk or take it to school," he said.

So, he put it up for downloading on his Web site, www.tulsaworld.com/philipzoellner. What else was he gonna do with it?

"Maybe the people who've downloaded it for free, because a lot of people have, if they really dig it, maybe they'll go back and buy it or something. It seemed to work out for Wilco pretty well."

McClure sings on "Between Two Thieves," a souped-up version of a song from his first solo album. The powerful song, without a trace of melodrama, depicts the Crucifixion while a wurlitzer and mellotron sound in the background.

Don't start lumping Zoellner into the Christian artists' wilderness of contemporary elevator music. He doesn't know any of those bands and doesn't find them interesting.

His music is subtle enough that it appeals to people who don't necessarily believe.

And the fact that he plays bars might turn off the bibles and brimstone crowd.

"The truth of the matter is, it's not about me," he said. "It's about what Christ did."