Phil started his musical career playing local acoustic clubs in his native Hertfordshire, writing his first songs and honing his stage skills at a very early age. Playing since he was 8 years old he started with banjo, ukulele and finally found the guitar – he ate, slept and breathed music. And he practiced daily such was his drive to be a special guitarist. After years sitting watching and learning from great and iconic players he quickly gained a reputation as a fine player and live performer with his own original songs. Soon he was performing at music clubs across the UK and then he got a lucky break playing at a Johnny Cash concert (the guy who was supposed to appear was sick!) As Phil says you can be good at your job but being lucky helps a lot. He later went on to join the legendary Heart and Soul Studios music collective in East London. The studio became the breeding ground for some of the biggest names in the business at the time as well as a ‘nursery’ for new performers. And then he really hit the studio circuit and then the road. The live performance being his natural stamping ground.
Over the next few years he became in demand as a performer and session guitarist and a singer with a few musical luminaries, until he started touring across Europe performing his own original songs as himself! He toured the USA, Scandinavia and Europe. His next big break came when he was asked to become lead singer for the reformation of iconic band The Animals and soon he found himself playing to a 100,000 strong crowd in Red Square Moscow. He went on to found London’s iconic 12 Bar Club and more festival work followed (his first album project Storm Warning specifically being sold at European Festivals) He formed The Phil Ryan Band and played at various venues and festivals across Germany including the world renowned Schlachthof in Munich and the Bardentreffen Festival in Nuremberg. He’s regularly delighted audiences in London with his stage show entitled ‘An Evening with Phil Ryan’ a night of stories and songs for a number of years. Go see him play you won’t regret it.
Unhappily a combination of Brexit issues and then the Covid crisis stopped his career in its tracks, however in late 2026 he will be finally returning with a new incarnation of the legendary Phil Ryan Band (with a full brand new line up) plus currently (in 2026) he has a new album of songs called Lucky Seven available on all major streaming platforms. He will be announcing upcoming and future tour dates on his Spotify Artists page and here on this website. Feel free to join him on Spotify and Facebook and Instagram at Phil Ryan Music. In 2024 he created a Campaign for The Big Issue magazine as part of a nationwide campaign (The Big Issues Venue Watch with Laura Kelly and Phil Ryan) in conjunction with The Music Venues Trust to save the UK’s grassroots music venues. And after a few months it scored a few successes in helping keep some small venues open. In late 2025 he signed part of his musical catalogue to Phoenix International publishing in the hope they would promote his songs by achieving sync licences in TV and Film (but sadly their promises never materialised) So he’s trying his best now, in a new world of no fees being paid to smaller artists for streaming and now very limited paid opportunities for professional musicians. But still he soldiers on! Happily from 2026 July onwards he’s making a few appearances, and typical of him they’re in London, Norwich, Nuremberg and and Luneberg in Germany, him slowly returning to his old globe trotting ways. For a fully comprehensive and more in depth look at the rest of Phil’s rather extraordinary life please go to the following link.
Look him up. He will surprise you.
