Check Out Phillip Vo’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Phillip Vo.

Hi Phillip, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I first started playing music at church and taking piano lessons as a kid- over time, I started writing songs and in high school/early college, I played a few local shows in town. In my Sophomore year of college, I decided to commit and skipped class/drove out on the weekends to play house shows across the southeast while stealing time away from school to write as many songs as I could (I probably wrote between 400-500 songs in college).

My family immigrated from Vietnam before I was even born, and they are exceedingly hardworking and practical, so nobody in my family had ever made music for a living. Early on, most of them were understandably apprehensive while also remaining supportive. However, after making two EPs here during college and traveling back and forth a lot, I decided to make the move to Nashville.

I now work full-time in music as an artist, contracted musician, and writer.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I think some parts of making a living in music have easy and hard in ways I didn’t expect. For example, I didn’t realize that touring, especially early on, can really take a toll on you mentally, physically, and emotionally if you don’t surround yourself with good people/make consistently healthy choices on the road. I also think my expectations overall needed readjustment post-college, mainly shifting my approach to a slow and steady build as opposed to a dead sprint.

However, I’ve been incredibly fortunate to meet some very supportive people, and have even had the chance to work with a few of my heroes. I’ve tried to remain as grateful as possible when I’ve been given help or encouragement because not many people get that. Another thing that’s been easy has been writing the songs- I think I’ll love that no matter how long I do this.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m a singer-songwriter who makes wholesome, acoustic pop music. I’ve played a lot of house shows in living rooms for crowds of 10 or less, and have opened for artists in front of 500-600 people at mid-sized venues as well. I think my hope is to occupy a space in music I want to see more of- love songs that aren’t out of touch, music that celebrates normal life, and excellent music with mostly real instruments.

I’m still figuring out some of what separates me from others, but truth be told that’s one part of being an artist I’m a little uncomfortable with. I don’t love having attention on me all the time, so I’ve tried to lean into that and just be the best version of myself I can. I guess I just want to keep the focus on making the highest quality music I can, and waste as little energy as possible on making myself seem really cool or something.

My hope is I’ll look back on a catalog of music and a collection of tours that uplifted, encouraged, and comforted people – I want to soundtrack the moments of life that we sometimes miss.

Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
I think persistence is the key. If you would have heard me when I was 11 writing my first song, you probably would’ve thought that I should just quit- but that’s how everyone starts, and the truth is that most of the time the people who find sustainable success are the ones who look at failure as a lesson.

Aiming for consistent growth and giving it your best every time around will, in the best case, grow your business exponentially, and, in the worst case, grow you personally.

Contact Info:

• Website: phillipvomusic.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/phillipvomusic/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNmehK0kQdWtbzQeolaZAyQ
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0JAA5Ru4PGTa9oWXsp9DnQ?si=Ww3HPvRwTQ6Uba4mXgp6WQ

Image Credits
Sam Street