At the age of 16 years Phil bought his first instrument, a 12 string EKO Guitar for the princely sum of £34 and 10 Shillings in 1969, and taught himself to play, thus following in the footsteps of his large musical family. Very quickly he demonstrated a rare gift for playing by ear and a talent for singing and writing songs, and has continued to do so for 40 years now. He has received much acclaim on the Acoustic/Festival scene, and as an Acoustic Club promoter for 7 years, but is still waiting to be discovered and signed!

Phil has written 8 albums worth of material, 6 solo and 2 with band, of which only 7 albums have been recorded so far. His early influences (too many to mention though all legends) can still be heard in some of his songs today, although Phil has always strived to remain truly original in his writing and playing style.

His band "Virtual Biscuit" has consisted of 6 different line-ups, encompassing many different styles of music. Over the years band members have included his daughter Emma Peacock on Vocals, Tracey Simmons on Electric and Acoustic Violins, Steve Harries on Bass, Madge Conacher on Keyboards, Flute, Whistles, Vocals and Bodhran, Steve Ball (Jazz percussionist extraordinaire) and Amy Barnes on Flutes, Saxophones and harmony Vocals, and many others besides.

Phil's songs are sung from the heart and inspired by Love, Life, Dreams, Legends, Spiritual, Supernatural, Social and Environmental Issues, Anti War and Protest songs. He always tries to tailor his vocals to suit the song. Always looking to push back the boundaries of music, he has experimented with many different genres and tuning styles and currently writes using six types of tunings on both six and twelve string guitars. In addition, he even plays a bit of keyboards, though only for orchestration these days.

The latest collaboration with Tracey Simmons is entitled “Dark & Digestible-Urban Folk” and consists of 12 tracks-59 minutes in total written by Phil between 2000 and 2008, which have been brought together as they each contain a dark element…hence the title of the concept album. The album has been performed on 2 twelve string Guitars in two similar open tuning styles, one of which was Phil’s own creation.