Durban music purists are in for a treat when internationally-acclaimed American singer-songwriter Shawn Phillips performs at The Barnyard Theatre at Gateway for one night only on Tuesday, 9 February. Phillips has worked with industry greats like The Beatles, Donovan, Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood and Michael Kamen over the past 40 years, and will be performing a solo guitar show at the popular mall venue. Besides these affiliations, the fact that Phillips was a musician as much as a singer and songwriter made him stand out and helped him attract a dedicated following. His refusal to shape his music – which crosses between folk-rock, jazz, progressive, pop, and classical - to anyone else's expectations has allowed him to hold onto a large and dedicated cult following, without ever achieving the stardom that his talent seems to merit. Shawn Phillips was born in 1943 in Fort Worth, Texas, the son of best-selling spy novelist Philip Atlee, who moved the family around the world at various times, including the South Pacific. After hearing Malaguena at the piano, he took up the guitar at age seven, and by the time he was 12, he was playing the chords to Carl Perkins songs. Phillips' musical experience transcended rock ‘n roll, however - in the course of his family's travels, he got to live in almost every corner of the globe, including Tahiti – as he absorbed the music that surrounded him wherever he was living. He returned to Texas in his teens, with some training in classical music but a love for performers like Jimmy Reed and Ike & Tina Turner, among other blues and R&B performers. He did a stint in the Navy, and then went back to Texas before retreating to California, where he played around the early-'60s folk circuit. Phillips never achieved major stardom, despite his critical accolades. He never courted an obvious commercial sound, preferring to write songs that, as he put it, "make you feel different from the way you felt before you started listening," primarily love songs and sonic landscapes. With 21 albums behind him since the mid-1960s, Phillips has a following in America, Europe, and Japan, and he has performed at different world music festivals. He is a cult figure whose peers include Van Dyke Parks and, perhaps, Leonard Cohen (though Cohen's public profile is enhanced by his following, as an established poet and author, in the literary community), and he remains an enigmatic figure on the music landscape. Dubbed “the best kept secret in the music business” by the late rock musician Bill Graham, Phillips remains an inspiration to those searching for something deeper and more meaningful in the world of “popular music.” Don’t miss the opportunity to see this legend live! Tickets are R150 per person, and seating will be as for normal shows, with no standing room. For bookings and enquiries, phone The Barnyard Theatre on 031 – 566 3045 or visit www.barnyard.durban. For further information e-mail gateway@barnyardtheatres.co.za or visit www.facebook.com/gatewaybarnyard.