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Wickham did not release his first album until 2006; however, he had been actively involved in the industry since 2002. Even more so he had been determinately building his musical talent since the age of 13. Philip is the second of three children and despite his strong Christian upbringing, he felt persuaded to differentiate his faith from that of his family, independently evaluating what Christianity meant to him. He achieved this by leading worship for his youth group.
Wickham’s family not only had a strong influence on his faith, but also greatly impacted his path as a musician. His father, John Wickham was both a highly respected worship leader as well as a member of the Christian band Parable alongside his wife (Philip’s mother). Philip’s brother is also a musician, and along with his parents acted as a source of encouragement for Philip’s musical journey.
Wickham hit his career as a musician head on and started touring around California, eventually putting out his self-titled debut in 2006. The record was received with enthusiasm amongst critics. Comparisons to U2, Coldplay, and John Mayer were constantly being thrown around. The album was also credited for not sounding overtly preachy and was lauded for delving into stylistically edgy territories, honing in on some of the guitar layering tactics frequently heard from Radiohead. His voice, while unique in its own right was often compared to the wildly talented late Jeff Buckley. This influence at times seems very obvious (after all the opening song on Wickman’s debut shares the title of Buckley’s only studio album “Grace”).
Wickham’s next album “Cannons” sought inspiration outside the realms of music. A good portion of the lyrical content consulted C.S. Lewis’ book “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader”. A year later Wickham issued a live album “Singalong”, which was released for free and resultantly accumulated a total of 8,000 downloads within 1 week. This release created a resurgence in his career and helped boost the sales of his debut album, which went on to reach No. 25 on the Top Christian Albums chart.
The follow up to “Singalong”, “Heaven & Earth” was released in late 2009. It was a turning point in Wickham’s career, seeing him break into the Hot Christian Album’s chart at No. 4 and the Billboard 200 at No. 55. Though his next studio album “Response” did not fair as well, it’s 2013 follow up “The Ascension”, broke a new record for Wickham, launching him to No. 39 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart and No. 2 on the Top Christian Albums chart.
After experiencing a grounded childhood in his church and family, Phil Wickham decided to spread his message through his talent as a singer/songwriter. As well as being an extremely talented singer and composer, Wickham has fantastic skills on the guitar, and watching him play his melodies flawlessly on his electric guitar is something awesome to experience.
His dedication to the lyrics is evident in his performance through his facial expressions and body language, and he interacts well with the audience by getting everyone to sing along to his tunes. Although the venue was seated, I don’t think anyone was sat down for the entire performance. Wickham’s captivating voice was begging for the audience to join in, and the beautiful harmonies from his band massively added to the sound. He played predominantly from his album The Ascension, which had everyone jumping up and down with their arms in the air.
As well as being a musician, he is also a public speaker, so his interaction with the audience was spot on, with the perfect balance of comedy and sincerity. The finale was played acoustically, and showcased the raw talent of his voice, something you can’t hear on studio recordings, that really made the event even more magical.
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