About Phil Circle & Guilty
“If the United States has anything to offer to the world stage of music, music like this is it” —In The Mix Magazine
“Modern Jam Heroes” —Chicagogigs.com
Check out the band that The Illinois Entertainer said, “rocks” and called “first rate.” After performing solo for many years, singer/ songwriter/ guitarist Phil Circle founded the trans-genre rock band Guilty in 1995. Today, Guilty is known as the band with multiple personalities.
With special guests frequently joining the group and breaking boundaries at every show, it’s easy to see why nobody has been able to pigeonhole Guilty’s music. Even the band’s most frequently rehearsed set can lead to tangents that travel far from the center because Circle surrounds himself with inventive musicians capable of handling anything he throws at them. Guilty’s regular line-up features Lem Roby from Jack Salamander, Jeff “Doctor” Gilmore of Noonday Darkness, and Inderjeet Sidhu, a member of all three bands. Vince Buoncore, one of the founding members of Guilty, still plays drums with the band from time to time and drummer Tony DiMartino of Ulele regularly joins in as well.
Guilty’s most loyal fans are consistently and pleasantly surprised by new material and glad to hear older songs performed in new ways at each show. And this is what this groundbreaking Chicago-based band counts on. They’ve played every kind of music venue with various line-ups and have enjoyed on-going success and brisk sales of their four prior recordings—which are now available in one compilation. Recordings are also available to download from the web at www.philcircle.com.
The band receives e-mails from fans around the world raving about the originality of the music and virtuosity of the musicians. And, Circle’s solo acoustic work has been winning praise from Guilty fans for years. Countless hours of live recordings from Guilty shows and from his acoustic performances have made it into the public’s hands—and onto the radio. One reviewer declared that Circle’s live solo rendition of The Who’s “Won’t Get Fooled Again” is “A hidden gem.” And, referring to his groundbreaking work as both a performer and as a producer, Redstreak called Phil Circle “gutsy.” The Wednesday Journal/Landmark hailed him as a “visionary,” and In The Mix Magazine offered this praise for his songwriting efforts with Guilty: “Thirteen songs, all from the master class... Can’t name favorites when they’re all this good.”
In addition to playing solo acoustic shows, Phil Circle also works independent of Guilty with Ruby Harris—the violinist and fiddler who has been called “the world’s greatest blues violinist” and “the next Johnny Frigo.” Harris studied composition with John Cage and has performed at the White house and at Lincoln Center. He regularly plays at Chicago’s Redhead Piano Bar and his special guests have included Billy Joel as well as a number of other well-known musicians. Harris and Circle teamed up last April at The Gateway and recorded a live CD. After the show, Harris declared that the two had created a new kind of music.
Guilty, Phil Circle, and Ruby Harris are on the label Guilt By Association Records, and are presented at shows by Grassroots Music & Productions.
Location: AMERICA NORTH: USA: Illinois (IL)
Sound Like: Rock