Phillip Sandifer

Phillip Sandifer
Phillip Sandifer photo from Simple Hymns cover shoot
Background information
Born	1959 (age 57–58) Baltimore, Maryland, United States
Genres	Contemporary Christian
Occupation(s)	Musician, music producer, writer

Phillip Sandifer is an American writer, recording artist and music producer. His music is primarily known within the Contemporary Christian music field.

Phillip Sandifer was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1959 but moved to Dallas, Texas as a youth. He attended Highland Park High School, Auburn University (Auburn, Alabama) and the University of Texas at Austin where he received a degree in History. He holds Masters degrees from Clemson University (Clemson, South Carolina) and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (South Hamilton, MA) and a Doctor of Ministry degree from Covenant Theological Seminary (St. Louis, MO). He has been married to Rene Burchard Sandifer since 1984. They have four children.

Sandifer began his music career in 1981, when he created an album on a minimal budget. He has authored and performed 22 top 40 Adult Contemporary songs and six #1 inspirational songs (as noted in CCM Magazine and The Christian Research Report) in the Christian Music field. Sandifer acknowledges that while financial gain may elude those choosing the route of the independent label there is a great deal of satisfaction in creating largely on one's own terms. While not as visible as many artists, maintaining artistic control over his music has allowed for a career described as "constant" and music described as "consistent". His releases have been distributed on Urgent Records (Austin, TX) through Sparrow Records (now known as EMI Christian Music) followed by Benson Music Group (now known as Provident-Integrity Distribution) and Wider Sky through IODA (Sony Music Entertainment).

Sandifer has recorded with such artists as Jennifer Warnes, Wendy Foy (Sierra), Billy Crockett, Bob Bennett and Michele Wagner and written music for Glen Campbell,Fernando Ortega, Bob Bennett, Kim Hill, Cheri Keaggy, Rob Frazier, Dawn Smith Jordan (Miss South Carolina), Gary Powell and others. He has participated on recordings distributed by EMI, Disney, BMG Music and Warner Music Group although most of his solo recordings have been released on Urgent Records (Austin, TX), an independent label founded by Sandifer in 1984, Selfless Music and more recently Wider Sky Music.