Bruce Duncan "Utah" Phillips died Friday, May 23, at age 73. He was at home with his wife in Nevada City, Calif. A highly overlooked folk singer in the Woody Guthrie/Pete Seeger tradition, Phillips finally enjoyed semi-mainstream acclaim in the 1990s when he came out of retirement to make a couple albums with Ani DiFranco, with one of them resulting in a Grammy nomination. Phillips' songs have been covered by the likes of Tom Waits, Waylon Jennings, Emmylou Harris and Joe Ely. Pasted below is the official obit issued by his family. There's a clip of Phillips telling a tale/reciting a poem/performing the traditional "Hallelujah, I'm a Bum" at a festival in 2007 after the jump.
"Folksinger, Storyteller, Railroad Tramp Utah Phillips Dead at 73"
Nevada City, California:
Utah Phillips, a seminal figure in American folk music who performed extensively and tirelessly for audiences on two continents for 38 years, died Friday of congestive heart failure in Nevada City, California a small town in the Sierra Nevada mountains where he lived for the last 21 years with his wife, Joanna Robinson, a freelance editor.
This article appears in May 21-27, 2008.