Article by Gail T. Boatman, correspondent
Burlington County Times
MOUNT LAUREL — Artist, musician and environmentalist, Philip Smith can hardly remember a time when he wasn’t thinking about guitars. He loved to listen to them and play them. But there was something else.
He also liked to look at them. Even as a young boy, Smith found them aesthetically pleasing.
“For me, a guitar was a piece of art,’’ he said.
As a youngster, Smith mowed lawns in his neighborhood to earn enough money to add to his collection of vintage instruments, many purchased for bargain prices at the Columbus Farmers Market.
He was home-schooled for elementary school and later attended Baptist Regional High School in Haddon Heights, Camden County, and Burlington County College, now Rowan College at Burlington County.
“I would get there early before the stores opened and knock on the window to get the owner’s attention,’’ Smith recalled. “I was 12 when I got my first guitar, and I dissected it to see how it worked.’’
That was half a lifetime ago, and now, at 25, his passion for the instrument has not diminished. In his latest project, Smith has woven together his separate loves: art, music and the environment.
In his home workspace, he designed an electric guitar he named the “Goldfinch,’’ a bow to the diminutive, yellow and black state bird and also to his reverence for the beauty of the Pine Barrens, where he hikes once or twice a week, weather permitting.
It’s my shoutout to that area,’’ Smith said.
The instrument is being manufactured in Chicago by DeMont Guitars and will be featured in the holiday issue of Guitar Player magazine, a national publication. It will be included in a review of budget guitars. Three models will be available, priced from $550 to $750.
“It’s affordable,’’ Smith said, adding that he would love every young person to be able to play the guitar.
His instrument is also made of sustainable woods, such as poplar, rock maple and walnut. The type of wood used affects the sound of the guitar, according to Smith. A silhouettelike image of a goldfinch decorates the front.
“It’s an art guitar,’’ Smith said, “playable but also art.’’
The project is the culmination of a dream for the musician, and he is now dedicating his available time to marketing activities, including trips to New York City, where he visits guitar stores to introduce and promote the instrument.
“I would love to be doing this full time,’’ said Smith, the oldest of five children.
Meanwhile, he sells prints at art shows, works on graphics for UPS, and plays as a session musician for a recording studio in Evesham.
A fan of progressive rock from the 1960s and '70s, Smith admires Steve Howe, the guitarist from the English band Yes. For Smith, the band represents a culmination of the music of Les Paul and Chet Atkins.