Today we’d like to introduce you to Phillip Russo.
Hi Phillip, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers?
Although my performance & teaching career started in 2014, I really do have to go back to the beginning because that is really where the music journey all started! I had been born into the world of dance & music at Performing Arts Centre in St. Charles, MO.
It is my family’s dance studio that I spent 60% of my time at from ages 3-18. I was in Tap, Ballet, Pas de Deux & more, 2-3 nights a week & basically all day Saturday with competitions on weekends sporadically throughout the year.
In addition to dance training, at a young age, I took piano & singing from Mary Cantwell for many years as a youngster & even was in the Muny once! After a brief stint with lessons, I continued teaching myself guitar & piano. After high school, I went to Lindenwood & received a BA in Music performance & a minor in music composition. I explored many instruments & was in the marching band on alto sax & choir. I have fond memories of my time there & learned so much from the professors and from my peers.
I dove in hard to music theory, composition/analysis & composed both classical & jazz pieces. Throughout college, I worked as a behavioral health tech at Preferred Family Healthcare where I ran group education & group counseling sessions regarding substance abuse & change behavior for adolescent teens. I eventually became an associate counselor there & received training & credentials up to my CRADC. I really enjoyed that career & still contemplate returning to it someday.
After I graduated in 2014, I sought performance opportunities while still working at PFH. I wound up supporting a local brewery off Washington Ave, Alpha Brewing co & my friend had me open up for their first-anniversary party. I saw a flyer for an open mic & started attending. Soon after, I began hosting the open mic! It gave me the weekly practice of setting up live sound, being an emcee, improvising & learning to entertain better. In 2015, I quit my job at PFH, revisited the dance world & joined Tap Dogs as a swing with my brothers, Anthony & Richie.
Although I struggled, it was a great way to close the chapter of my dance background. I returned to St. Louis after the tour & hit the ground running. I ran into a friend from college who managed the School of Rock in Kirkwood at the time & I started out as a sub & eventually became part of the teaching & show director staff. I met Matt Hitchcock at Alpha’s open mic on a happenstance & we played some Oasis together and it has been a joyride ever since. We started an acoustic trio with my uncle, Tom Conway, called Hitchcock & the Hitmen. I also started to gig with my brother as The Russo Brothers. Tom introduced me to Amy Armstrong – she & I played “My Funny Valentine” in his living room and she took me under her wing as her accompanist.
I learned countless lessons from her: How to be professional, how to take a hit, how to sing better & one of the most important ones; how to be myself & own it. She took me to Mexico, LA’s Catalina Jazz Club, Maine & we had a residency at Chase Park Plaza in St. Louis. We almost started the cruise ship game but, Covid. I had reunited with a PAC teacher, Maria Majors, who started Mostly Tap (now STL Rhythm Collaborative) and sought to bring music & tap dance to live performances around St. Louis; so I started Mostly Jazz. Together we produced a few shows & live jams. Our highlight was a couple of sold-out shows at The Monocle & one raging Holiday special! As I stepped up for School of Rock, I had to step down elsewhere & Maria went on to produce “In Due Time”. Although we’ve talked about teaming up again in the future.
Now that brings us to about 2018 when I established Russo Music Works… I was juggling my own projects while playing with Mostly Tap & The Highway Saints and at that time I was only teaching and gigging to make a living! The folks at Alpha moved locations to Tower Grove & wanted to do begin hosting live music and asked me if I wanted to run the books. I started with their big anniversary party & then we started booking to host various STL bands. I even started to book for a second bar for a short while. It was with all these streams of revenue that I found it time to create a business umbrella that covered everything I do; Booking & Promotions, Producing shows, Sponsoring bands & events, performing as myself, or a duo, trio, full band, or jazz band, & Recording. RMW functions as the central HUB for all my musical projects as well as a resource for bands/acts in STL who are looking for opportunities to perform their music!
In 2019, I became the Music Director for the School of Rock Kirkwood managing curriculum and programming. Navigating the school through Covid, online learning & all of those challenges was an interesting way to break into the new role – but I was able to hone a lot of different skills during the quarantine that I am now very thankful for. in 2020 my songwriting cohort, Matt Hitchcock & I established Side Car. Although we function as a guitar/keyboard duo, we are predominantly a four-piece folk/rag/blues band featuring Scotti Iman on drums & Simon Chervitz on Bass. You can find the band on Spotify & wherever you get music by searching for Side Car STL.
Bouncing back from the pandemic, 2021 was a great year… Alpha’s live music is in full swing – 5 nights a week & my photoshop skills have improved! I produced a music festival with Alpha called the Morganford Music Mile & it was a success! We are planning more for the year to come. School of Rock’s performance program is starting a new season on Jan. 17th featuring 12 show themes and we just returned to 2-hour rehearsals. SideCar recorded two Christmas songs with David Torretta & filmed a music video. More music to come in 2022.
Today, there is a lot to juggle – but every day is filled with music; be it teaching it, performing it, mixing it, recording it, booking it, promoting it. I’m lucky to spend all my hours doing something involving music in both my “real” job and my entrepreneur self.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
“If you are in hell… you don’t stop to look around & smell the flowers” I don’t know who originally said that, but it’s a good reminder not to give up where I am in that moment.
I’d say the biggest challenges are having lost both my grandparents & my father during my college years. I lost my grandfather, Benny, who was more of a father figure just weeks before my junior recital where he was going to see me really play & do the damn thing for the first time! My father, Jerry, had passed untimely just two weeks after I graduated; we were estranged so that took a really long time to process.
My grandmother, Martha, had passed on my brother’s birthday which was also the day the final presentation was due for my first graduate class. It took me to a dark place where I was making poor decisions & not being the best person I could be. I’m lucky that I can say today I am in a good place. Writing & performing helped me heal. Be it rants in a journal, a song for the four corners of the room, or actual songs that made it to the ears of others.
I wasn’t alone though, I spoke with a mental health professional off & on as I processed all these jagged pieces I had left. I also went through portions of “The Artists Way” and that helped the healing process in a unique way. I recommend that book to anyone who needs help finding their voice!
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
As a soloist, I perform on guitar, piano, & harmonica as well as singing. I typically perform with my piano and an acoustic run through a pedal board & ultimately into a loop station. This opens up so many options & can provide a much more full sound being just a soloist. What I’ve often heard from folks in the crowd is that they love the selection of cover tunes.
Spanning from songs like “I Don’t Want to Set the World on Fire” to “Wichita Lineman” to “Sister Golden Hair” then a lounge piano version of “Hit Me Baby One More Time” to “That’s Life” by Sinatra. I like to take requests when I can for the challenge & to pander to the crowd when needed! My secret weapon is the loop station. Although I use it more on a basic level to add a solo here and there, it allows me to switch between my guitar and keyboard with ease. Given my background in being a huge theory nerd, I absolutely LOVE medleys & intermingling songs pieces together to tell other stories.
There’s a quote from a theatre critic, Gary Beck, in Puerto Vallarta, MX that wrote a review on The Russo Brothers show commenting on my arrangement of songs by The Beatles. I also try out rock medleys on School of Rock’s House Band. My favorite is a mashup of Zeppelin’s Achilles Last Stand & Heart’s Barracuda. I have some others but you’ll have to see me play them live – can’t give away all my secrets!
As Side Car, we try to focus more on our original music which blends together bits of jazz & the classic ragtime changes with folk-inspired songwriting & the heart of the blues. We are working on our debut record & will be releasing some singles in 2022. We just recorded an original Christmas song and an arrangement of Silent Night for a holiday album sponsored by Alpha Brewing co. It features St. Louis greats like Ptah Williams, Dave Black, Joe Metzka & was produced by Joe Mancuso.
We just shot a music video for “Please Pass The Eggnog” & have been promoting it during the 2021 holiday season. Most of our originals have to be heard live for now but follow @sidecarstl on Instagram for release dates & shows as well as Spotify for our current singles & holiday EP!
Hitchcock & The Hitmen is a three-piece acoustic group that arranges the 60s & 70s classic folk tunes & arrangements of other popular music as well as stripped-down versions of Side Car songs!
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
I have to start with my two primary professors from Lindenwood: Brian Vaccaro helped me appreciate sitting down & sight-reading a piece, but most importantly he made jazz simple to digest in a way that was related to day 1 information. He introduced me to Pat Martino & Brad Mehldau, forever thankful.
Adam Donohue taught me how to listen to music differently, both from a score & with a pair of headphones in protools. He set a bar that I didn’t think I could achieve & pushed me to get there. It helped me change how I approach music analysis & what chords are what & why. He also knows the answer to literally, everything. I won’t ever forget that he once said one of my assignments reminded him of Charles Mingus.
My mother, Tracy Price for introducing me to The Beatles, for being my dance teacher as well as my mother, and for helping me understand rhythm. I learned discipline, timeliness & how to be a performer over a 15+ year dance career. That translated to the music world. I am forever thankful for you for helping guide me & letting me decide where I wanted my boat to go.
My fiance, Gina Stroer for letting me open the door for you. Thank you for bringing color into my world.
Contact Info:
- Email: russomusicworks@gmail.com
- Website: www.russomusicworks.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/russomusicworks/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RussoMusicWorks/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47F_Clbgps4
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5mb7MIklYvmGaSD3zfMUmg
