Phil Hilborne

Phil Hilborne has established himself as one of the most respected and versatile guitarists of the past twenty years. His contributions to the British music scene have ranged from; fronting his own 'Phil Hilborne Band', session musician, producer, teacher, music editor and much more.

History

Initially Phil studied classical guitar and theory with Trinity College Professor - Prof. William Grandison and Harpsichordist David Galbraith. Even though Phil has a strong 'classical' background his name is far better known within the 'Rock' scene. As a self taught electric guitarist his achievements are simply phenomenal. Since 1986 he has toured extensively with the 'Phil Hilborne Band', throughout the U.K., Europe and the U.S.A. He has also been a long-time member of Iron Maiden drummer, Nicko McBrain's touring clinic band, and has done many successful gigs/tours including the Rhythms of the Beast and Return of the Beast. More recently they completed a 3 times a day weeklong stint at the Frankfurt Music Messe (March 2003) and also headlined the 2003 London Guitar Show at Wembley. Also, in 2002 Phil played guitar with Keith Emerson and the Nice at their EMI showcase re-union gig at the 100 club in London – It was the first time in 30 years that the band had performed live! As well as touring with Nicko McBrain and his own band, Since Summer 2002 Phil has also been a part of the Queen/ Ben Elton musical We Will Rock You at the Dominion Theatre London and to date has performed in over 80 shows. Despite a hectic touring schedule Phil has found time to contribute, either as a guitarist or producer, to a wide variety of CD's, music books and sessions (including work for TV and radio). His input can be found on anything from Adrian Leggs 2002 'Guitar Bones' CD, Eric Roche's 'Perculator' and 'Spin' CD's, Dave Kilminsters and Fraser T.Smiths 'Playing With Fire' CD to Phil Classic Best-Selling compilation of solos entitled 'Solo' plus music books on Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin and an instructional video 'Rock Basics' for Warner Brothers. From 1985 to 1995 Phil was music editor and contributor to Guitarist magazine and since 1994 has been an integral part of the Guitar Techniques team, working as music editor and producing over a hundred CD's for GT alone. During this time he has also worked writing/recording music with other well known guitarists such as Zakk Wylde, Ritchie Kotzen, Steve Morse, Vinnie Moore and Ty Tabor. Additionally he regularly records CDs which accompany Sanctuary and Mel Bay Instructional books and to date has completed over 10 of these including 'The Martin Taylor Guitar Method', David Meads 'Guitar Workout', '100 tips for Blues Guitar', 'Chords And Scales For Guitarists', '100 Acoustic Guitar Tips', '100 Guitar tips', Pete Riley's '100 Tips For Drums', Guthrie Govan's 'Creative Guitar part 1 and 2' books and Roger Kains 'Vocal Workout' (2 CDs) etc……currently he is working with Ace (ex-Skunk Anansie) on a book on using effects.

Phil has also made his name as a top guitar tutor, teaching literally hundreds of guitarists. Ex-pupils have found themselves working with Bands such as Slade, The Wildhearts, It Bites and Ronnie James Dio and InMe amongst others. He has been a member of the teaching faculty at the Guitar Institute in Acton, MI London, The Brighton Institute of Modern Music and the Bath International Guitar Festival. As a demonstrator / clinician he has been involved with Marshall, Gibson, Cornford, Washburn, Fender and many, many more.

Now

Phil Hilborne continues to be one of the hardest working musicians on the circuit. As well as producing CDs, touring and his regular teaching post at the Brighton Institute Of Modern Music, Phil can be caught up with at the IGF in Bath between 26th of July and the 1st of August. He will also be teaching in Newcastle (sat 26th September) and London (sun 12th October) as part of the IGF Guitar Circus.

Phil's website is at :- www.philhilborne.com