Phoenix Mendoza

About

f 70’s pop got together with funky Motown, and had a bluesy soul child, his name would be Phoenix Mendoza. With a unique guitar playing style and a seductively silk like voice, Phoenix’s mere presence commands your utmost attention. Combine that with his amazing songwriting capabilities, and his patient ear for finding the deepest grooves in anything he hears, and you have all the makings of a superstar. Born in Pasadena California, to a Colombian father and American mother Phoenix was “seduced by music” at an early age. He started playing the trumpet when he was 8, and did musical theater all through his teens. Early in his freshman year of high school, Phoenix discovered the guitar and his world quickly changed. “I found that girls don’t like trumpet players unless you’re Miles Davis, and I was never going to be Miles Davis.” The guitar however, was a much more female-friendly instrument. “I learned that if I went to a party in high school and played the guitar I could get everybody’s attention.” But something unexpected happened, “It didn’t take long for the guitar to pull me in completely. It became my friend, confidant and means of expression”. The hyperactive teenager (“I was always bouncing off the walls,” he says) found a focus for his energy and an outlet for his creativity. Phoenix moved to Nashville in the spring of 2004 to channel that creativity. Playing bars and nightclubs in the southwest for years, Phoenix became the captivating “groove master” that he is today. “I wanted to grow… to step outside myself and try and find the lyrics and melodies that I was raised on.” His mother cultured him and his four siblings on everything from the Jackson 5, James Taylor, Jim Croce, to Neil Diamond, Julio Iglesias and Marvin Gaye. “Music is too important to put limitations on. If you look at the most influential people in the world, Pro Athletes, Movie stars, Scientists and even the President of the United States, they ALL… have a favorite song. That’s how powerful music is to the human heart. It’s our common thread” Talented and wise beyond his years, Phoenix Mendoza has something real to offer. An organic blend of the past and the future residing somewhere in between Michael Jackson and Bozz Skaggs with a dash of Eric Clapton and Al Green and the list can go on. Whether you see him play live, or hear him on your radio. You will be moved.