Yes, Phil Madeira is from Rhode Island. Phil grew up in Barrington, near Providence, where his musical life started as a drummer. The veteran songwriter (Alison Krauss, Garth Brooks, Keb’ Mo’) and Emmylou Harris sideman retreated to the studio in 2023 with his longtime friends, bassist Chris Donohue and drummer Bryan Owings (both members of Emmylou’s Red Dirt Boys) and produced a reverent and revelatory record, “Funky Covers.” Phil’s appearance at The Met is the official Record Release Party. Debuting the record in Rhode Island follows on the sold out RI Release Party for “Providence. Phil is thrilled to bring this event back home.

Madeira came to Nashville in the 80s to be an artist, but wound up writing songs and playing all manner of instruments on the records of other artists, and still enjoys serving the art of others. That tribe includes a diverse group of artists including Mavis Staples, Keb’ Mo, Taj Mahal, Emmylou Harris, Vanessa Williams, Buddy Miller, Solomon Burke, and dozens more. He’s contributed as a songwriter or musician to the music of Garth Brooks, Alison Krauss, The Civil Wars, Sixpence None The Richer, Little Big Town, Amy Grant, Tommy Sims, Matraca Berg and many more.

After producing two critically acclaimed multi-artist projects called “Mercyland: Hymns For The Rest Of Us”, Madeira realized it was now or never, and in 2014 released “PM”, his first record since 1996. But it was 2018’s “Providence”, a piano-driven tour de force, that garnered exceptional reviews and visibility as a songwriter’s songwriter. It It marked his return to piano, and continues the trend. He’s quick to associate himself with Randy Newman’s funky but cerebral influence, but we also hear notes of Elvis Costello, Bruce Hornsby and Dr. John. Madeira’s music is generally laid back in its rhythmic ease and its southern sense of soul, but there’s a fine point on his wit and his intolerance for societal and political BS. The social, the personal and the theological mingle and inform one another.His albums took on an autobiographical mantle that has continued with “Open Heart”, “Hornet’s Nest”, “Bliss” and, “Funky Covers.

Madeira continues to tour with Emmylou Harris & Her Red Dirt Boys, while touring as a trio, and as The Red Dirt Boys sans Ms. Harris.

He’s “played Newport,” the iconic Newport Folk Festival and the Newport Jazz Festival. That’s a rare feat, but Madeira is a rare cat. The man Broadway World called a “Nashville mainstay” is an artist, a singer, a songwriter, a composer, a producer and a musician’s musician who specializes in piano, organ and accordion. Since launching his professional career in the mid 1970s, he’s been a trusted contributor in the studio and on stage, in the writer’s room and on the road. . The solo records build on a career that’s quietly accumulated important industry accolades, including an ASCAP Humanitarian Award and a Dove Award for his songwriting, as well as induction into the Rhode Island Music Hall of Fame.