There’s a bumper sticker that suggests the meaning of life is to live it. Obvious, perhaps, but how often are we really fully engaged; reveling in the highs, crying out through lows, and daring to ask questions or speak our true feelings amidst wonder, fear, and mystery?

Young but uniquely experienced, Phillip LaRue has an admirable grip on how to live, and the proof is written all over his debut solo album, Let the Road Pave Itself. An organic set of songs for the digital age, it was tracked live in the studio to an old fashioned two-inch tape reel, warmly capturing the sound of Phillip and his friends playing real time rock that’s only ever concerned with life’s deepest matters of love and faith. An honest, freewheeling spirit that instantly sets it apart from the big machine. Let the Road Pave Itself is catchy without trying to sound commercial, Phillip writes stay-in-your-head songs from the heart; real life musical stories about open-book faith, his closest loved ones, and struggling friends who don’t always believe as he does.

Phillip’s path began in California. An athlete until sixteen, he picked up the guitar after getting sidelined by mononucleosis. Without premeditation, his new interest turned into a duo with his sister, Natalie, and they scored a record deal in Nashville where the family was about to relocate from Arizona. Three albums and four years of touring followed.

LaRue, as the group was known, charted several pop hits and called it a day after Natalie wed. Phillip moved to Florida and produced notable indie acts like Over the Rhine and Dave Barnes for a worship project based on the Psalms. Now back in Music City, he has recently written and produced rising band Tenth Avenue North and penned a hit for Brandon Heath while pondering his own return to upfront artistry. - EMI-CMG

Song List
1. Chasing The Daylight
2. Home
3. Don't Be Deceived
4. Why
5. All I Want
6. Sleeping Beauty
7. Running So Long
8. Erase And Rewind
9. Before The Sun Goes Down
10. Deeper Side Of You
11. Black And Blue
12. Mountains High Valleys Low

To listen to an audio clip, click on the Windows Media or RealPlayer symbol next to the song.