Vancouver Island Musician Coming to Fanshawe

Vancouver Island multi-instrumentalist Shane Philip is heading to Fanshawe for two shows in early October. His style of music is simultaneously "without borders" and "west coast island rhythms" but by no means "isolated in a sea of genres."

What does this all mean, you ask? Combining folk, reggae and electronic, Philip is a one-man phenomenon who blends the sounds of Hawaiian lap-slide guitars and the vibrations of didgeridoo and drums, creating a unique sound and the energy of a full band. He explains: "I have no limitations and this is what keeps it really exciting for me because I get bored easily staying in one style of music - and anything in life, really. I have a collaboration of global fusion within my set and with the gear I use."

The self-taught musician lives on Quadra Island, just off Vancouver Island. He plays seven instruments, usually at the same time, including the Australian didgeridoo, African djembe and Hawaiian Weissenborn guitar. He often makes his own instruments from salvaged wood he finds near his home; he has even created his own version of the didgeridoo.

"I go hunting in the woods with my little saw and look for dead trees that have been downed but are still hanging in the air so they've dried out," Philip explains. "I cut them and hollow them out and turn them into didgeridoos." According to Philip, his version is more authentic and more Canadian.

Philip's third and most recent album, In the Moment, captures the spirit of his culturally- and artistically-diverse style. "When people are moving [to my music] I watch them and they influence me to make certain sounds with the way they are moving," Philip explains. "It's like a dance we're doing back and forth … there's a bonding, a sharing of energy."

Philip plays Fanshawe's Forwell Hall on October 2, 2008, at 12:00 noon and the London Music Club at 9:00 p.m. the same day. Then on October 3 he'll be at Fanshawe's Out Back Shack at 11:00 p.m. For more info and a list of tour dates, please visit www.shanephilip.com.

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Photo courtesy David Seath