One evening–I must have been seven or eight years old–I had Dad’s guitar and was just strumming strings, banging on it, really. Dad took my left hand, I think so my banging would sound like something, and said, “Put this finger here and this finger here; now that’s a G.”

From that time on, I’ve played music to bring enjoyment to anyone willing to listen. I’ve played guitar and sung for over 40 years now, but I still get the same satisfaction when I look into the audience and see people tapping their feet and having a good time. That’s the reward of being a performer.

When I moved to Indiana in 2005, I was becoming bored musically. Once I had settled into my Indiana home, though, I met John Matsel, who had won the thumbpicking national championship in Mountain View, Ark., in 1992. John had learned the Merle Travis style from Merle’s brother, John, and he in turn showed it to me. He gave me a thumbpick and said, “See what you can do with this.”

I was like falling in love with my guitar all over again. So for the past few years, drawing inspiration from John, Chet Atkins, Doc Watson and Merle Travis, I’ve been learning the thumbpicking styles that those great players used.

The work has been paying off, and it was a huge thrill to win first place in the thumb-pick guitar competition at the 2010 Indiana State Picking and Fiddling Championships. I was then blessed to travel to Mountain View and claim third place in the 2011 National Thumbpicking Guitar Contest.

My most recent CD release, Give Us a Song (2008), received very positive reviews and international attention.

The picking is of the highest quality, and as for Phelps’ vocals, no words of praise can really depict how sublime they really are. It’s as if the voices of John Denver, Jimmy Buffett and James Taylor had somehow merged together… (Russell Hill, Maverick Magazine)

From cafés and coffee shops to churches and concert stages, I have learned to tailor performances to the environment and to the audience. For booking information, visit the booking page on my website.