A Mountain Man Never Forgotten

Biography

         Coye Phillips was born September 25th, 1945 in Campbell County, Tennessee to a long line of East Tennessee mountain dwellers.  Raised along with his four brothers and two sisters, they lived in a small house without electricity on a mountain ridge where only a few other close family members lived nearby.  All of them attended the small Red Oak one-room schoolhouse where the Sunday church services were also held.  His father, like many in the mountains of East Tennessee including Phillips and some of his brothers, worked in a coal mine, specifically the local mine situated on the same ridge operated by the Clinchmore Coal Company.  Due to the difficulty of descending of the mountain, his family often would often remain on their mountain ridge for often a month at a time.  This frequent isolation and exposure to local music traditions of gospel, folk and the emerging bluegrass style all contributed to Phillips’ musical schema. 

         In 1957, his family moved off the mountain into the valley to the small town of New River where he attended Rosedale Elementary School.  As many did in those days Phillips dropped out of school in the 8th grade but later earned his GED in his forties after finishing a 20-year stint as a coalminer.  In his teens, Philips ventured to Florida and Michigan in search of employment and met his daughter’s mother in the Detroit area in the late 1960s.  This same daughter found her father and appeared on his doorstep in October 2008 as Coye had left the Detroit area to return to Tennessee.  Philips claimed he did not know of his daughter or her relinquishment by her mother and subsequent adoption by the DeVries family in Kent City, Michigan.  Phillips married and had two sons with his wife Clara after returning to Tennessee.  His brother Elmer Phillips was one of the founding members of the Bluegrass band, “The Mystery Mountain Boys,” and made several albums throughout the years.  Philips was given an opportunity to join them from their onset but declined as he was really somewhat shy about performing for an audience or on stage as they frequently did.  The Mystery Mountain Boys’ last album recording in 2007 was completed within a few weeks before the passing of Coye’s brother Elmer from cancer.  This loss of his brother affected him greatly. 

After meeting his daughter Yvonne in 2008, Philips was reintroduced to guitar and banjo playing as he hadn’t done so in many years and through the encouragement of his grandson and daughter began playing again after 30 years.  As of 2016, Coye Phillips resides in West Michigan near the town of Ravenna with his daughter and two grandchildren.  He continues to practice his music on a regular basis often playing with his grandson who accompanies him on string bass, guitar or voice.  The making of this album bears much significance as it was recorded during Coye’s battle and treatment of Stage 3(b) lung cancer and has proven quite an achievement for these circumstances.

         On January 3rd, 2020, in Fremont, Michigan, Coye Philips died due to cardiopulmonary complications caused by lung cancer.  

Synopsis

The intent in recording this album was to preserve Coye Phillips’ voice, performance and his musical traditions reflecting his upbringing in the mountains of East Tennessee.  All songs were chosen by Phillips and reflect a wide range of country, folk, bluegrass and gospel music familiar to him and representing his life and legacy.  All tracks were recorded with consideration to clearly exhibit his voice and guitar performance.  All additional instruments and their roles were both dictated and chosen by Phillips.  Minimal audio editing was done to each track including some leveling and frequency equalization.  As a result, some additional extraneous sounds including some finger tapping on the guitar body were left in the mix as it contributes to Phillips’ guitar methods and the authenticity of his performance. 

Track List

"Intro Part I" - Coye Phillips (1945-2020)

"Intro Part II" - Coye Phillips (1945-2020)

"Lonely Tomb" - Hank Williams Sr. (1923-1953)

"Jesus Pilot Me" - Edward Hopper (1818-1888)

"House of Gold" - Hank Williams Sr. (1923-1953)

"Purple Robe" - David G. Wilson (b. 1940)

"Purple Robe (F# Version)" - David G. Wilson (b. 1940)

"I’ll Fly Away" - Albert E. Brumley (1905-1977)

"How Beautiful Heaven Must Be" - George Jones (1931-2013)

"Mother’s Not Dead" - Charlie Monroe (1903-1975)

"Old Country Church" - John D. Sumner (1924-1998)

"Cabin on the Hill" - Lester Flatt (1914-1979), Earl Scruggs (1924-2012)

"Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain" - Fred Rose (1897-1954)

"Your Cheatin’ Heart" - Hank Williams Sr. (1923-1953)

"Lonesome Road Blues" - Nathaniel Shilkret (1889-1982), Gene Austin (1900-1972)

"Will the Circle Be Unbroken?" - A. Habershon (1861-1918), C. Gabriel (1856-1932)

"Bonus Track One" - Coye Phillips (1945-2020)

"Bonus Track Two" - Coye Phillips (1945-2020)

Credits

Lead Vocals and Guitar performed by Coye Phillips;

Double Bass, Acoustic Bass Guitar and Bass Vocals performed by Weston M-A Bernath;

Mezzo-Soprano Vocals performed by Yvonne Bernath;

Cover Art Photo taken by Yvonne Bernath;

Recording assistance provided by Yvonne Bernath;

All songs recorded, edited, mixed and compiled by Weston M-A Bernath.