Music Journal
The Stories Behind the Songs
Original compositions, travel-shaped melodies.
Singer, Songwriter, Performer
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Featured Singles and Works in Progress
I’m a trained 1st tenor and have sung in many choirs around the world. I also play guitar and keyboard. I’m under the artist name Dr Phil T – to keep it consistent with my work and my book writing.
Listen to compositions in progress, finished songs, remixed songs, and instrumental sketches that trace my journeys across cities, seasons, and borders, each track paired with a brief note on how travel, writing, and sound wove together.
My goal isn’t fame. It’s simply to share the stories, memories, and journeys that have shaped my life in more than 160 countries around the world, and to leave behind a collection of songs that my family, friends, and perhaps my fellow travellers will enjoy long after I’m gone.
Disclaimer: I don’t have a professional studio or a band, so I’ve embraced AI-assisted production to bring my old songs to a spotify distribution level. Every lyric, melody, and arrangement is entirely my own, with careful documentation and original recordings preserved. AI simply provides the instrumentation I could never otherwise afford.
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The Stories Behind the Songs
“A Journey in Sound: Original compositions, travel-shaped melodies. Follow along for new songs, works in progress, and reflections from the road.”
Pick a Random Topic
Lyrics: Phil Tanner & Kriti Tanner. Music and arrangement by Phil Tanner. Mix and production by Phil Tanner.
Although Pick a Random Topic was my first release, it was actually written much later. It celebrates something my wife and I have shared for years: long conversations on the road, where every topic leads to another and every journey ends with a map spread across the table, wondering where to go next. It almost carried the title “Map in My Back Pocket,” but in the end, the conversations themselves became the heart of the song. It was also an attempt to communicate in Nepali to my wife’s family – a language that I truly struggle to speak.
Disclaimer: The song has AI tracks in it, which was my first attempt to navigate this new music production tool. Mixing and arrangement was done by me on a DAW.
Camina Con Me
Lyrics: Phil Tanner. Music and arrangement by Phil Tanner. Mix and production by Phil Tanner.
Camina Con Me (Walk With Me) holds a special place in my heart. I originally wrote it in 2016 as a wedding gift for my niece. It also marks my first classical crossover release, showcasing my tenor voice in a style that blends classical and contemporary influences. Every note was created at home – I performed and recorded the instrumental accompaniment on my Yamaha Clavinova, then recorded the vocals on my Zoom multitrack recorder, and did the mixing on it. I used a Rode microphone to capture the vocals. What began as a deeply personal gift has now become one of my favourite recordings.
No AI was used.
The Day She Came
Lyrics: Phil Tanner. Music and arrangement by Phil Tanner. Mix and production by Phil Tanner.
The Day She Came is a song about that unforgettable moment when one person quietly changes the course of your life. Blending heartfelt lyrics with a warm, melodic style, it reflects on love, hope, and the unexpected joy of finding someone who makes everything feel different. Like many of my songs, it draws on real emotions and life experiences, inviting listeners to remember the day their own story changed forever.
Disclaimer: The song has AI tracks in it, although all arrangement and mixing was done on a DAW by me.
Just the Same (Hola Cabarate!)
Lyrics: Phil Tanner. Music and arrangement by Phil Tanner. Mix and production by Phil Tanner.
Just the Same was inspired by our time in Cabarete, Dominican Republic. One evening, at a beachside karaoke party, I looked around and saw people from every imaginable walk of life – locals and visitors, young and old, speaking different languages and coming from different cultures. Yet, for those few hours, none of that seemed to matter. Everyone was united by the music, the laughter, and the easygoing spirit of the Caribbean. The song is a reminder that, despite our differences, the things that matter most, like friendship, kindness, joy, and a shared love of music, remain “just the same.”
Disclaimer: The song has AI tracks in it, although all arrangement and mixing was done on a DAW by me.
Maureen
Lyrics and music: Phil Tanner. Co-vocalist – my sister, Mar O.
Maureen was my first professionally recorded song, recorded in 1997 during a visit to my sister in Connecticut. We spent a morning at a private recording studio with a group of studio musicians—great guys whose names, unfortunately, I never thought to write down and whose whereabouts I have no idea about today. We recorded three songs that morning, with Maureen being the first.
The song tells the story of a woman running away from her life and my chance encounter with her at a railway station, where I try to convince her that there are people who care about what she is going through.
There was even a tantalizing glimpse of what might have been. One of the producers at Columbia Records was the brother of my sister’s friend, and he heard the songs over dinner. After listening, he told my sister, “If they were recorded in the ’70s, I would have put them on the air.”
So close! But I’m still grateful that we made the recordings – and I’ve included the original live studio run-through of Maureen on the Music page. It’s a little time capsule from 1997 and the beginning of my journey into professionally recorded music.
No AI was used.
I Hope That’s What I’d Do
Lyrics: Phil Tanner. Music and arrangement by Phil Tanner. Mix and production by Phil Tanner.
I wrote I Hope That’s What I’d Do for my friend James’ wedding. He recently joined “The Craft” and became part of an elite group of men travelling from the East. The motto of this organization is to “take good men and make them better.” Naturally, life throws its challenges our way and it’s not always easy to take the road less travelled. However, he is one of those men that gives it his best and emulates the virtues and principles that The Craft espouses. Give it your best shot and when you’re faced with two roads, pick truth – at least I hope that’s what I’d do.
Disclaimer: The song has AI tracks in it, although all lyrics, composition, arrangement, mixing and vocals was done on a DAW by me.
The Lion of Quisqueya
Lyrics: Phil Tanner. Music and arrangement by Phil Tanner. Mix and production by Phil Tanner. Guitar and vocals by Phil Tanner.
I wrote “The Lion of Quisqueya” several years ago after meeting a very interesting man. Lester Lehmann was a humble and quiet person who played guitar in some of the villages on the North Coast of Dominican Republic. He is a Canadian expat, living in Puerto Plata. I knew him because he was kind enough to invite me to his open mic events and his music circles. What I learned later shocked me due to its story of extreme bravery.
On January 31, 2014, two armed men broke into Lester’s apartment complex in Puerto Plata, where he was hosting a humanitarian group of 20 students volunteering at a local orphanage. Hearing the commotion, he immediately rushed to defend the teenagers. Armed with only a machete and a baseball bat, he fought off the attackers. Despite being shot 10 times at point-blank range and severely beaten, Lester refused to back down. His fierce resistance forced the intruders to flee the scene, and not a single student was harmed. I needed to write a song about him – and so I did – “The Lion of Quisqueya.” It was first performed for Lester in Cabarete, La Chabola Restaurant, in 2025. I saw the emotion, as tears welled up during the song. That was the only thanks I needed. There are only a few real heroes in this word – and Lester is certainly one of them. He received the Star of Courage from Canada’s Governor General – Canada’s second-highest decoration for bravery.
Quisqueya is the poetic name for The Dominican Republic (DR). It means “mother of all lands” or “cradle of life.” It is in the first several lines of the DR national anthem.
Disclaimer: This is an original composition but has has AI tracks in it. Lyrics, vocals, guitar, melody, tempo, composition, arrangement and mixing was done on a DAW by me.
Head and Heart (Produced in 1997)
Lyrics: Phil Tanner. Music and arrangement by Phil Tanner. Mix and production by Phil Tanner. Vocals by Phil Tanner and Mar O.
“Head and Heart” is a reflective song about forbidden love, and the uncertainty of what comes next. I wrote it in 1995 and recorded it in 1997. It explores the tension between what we understand with our minds and what we feel in our hearts, as two people face the possibility of being pulled apart – though they never should have been together in the first place. Beneath the uncertainty is a hope that, someday, they might find a way forward — first with their heads, and secondly with their hearts.
Disclaimer: This is an original composition. No AI was used.
Take My Hand (Coming Soon)
Lyrics: Phil Tanner. Music and arrangement for Choir performance, by Phil Tanner. Mix and production by Phil Tanner. Vocals by Phil Tanner. Special thanks to Anne Faurbo for her confidence in me to introduce this song to the St. Paul’s Kanata Anglican Church in 2005.
In 2006, my daughter, Clara, was born. We were attending St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Kanata, Ottawa at that time. We decided to do a joint baptism for Clara and her older sister Asha, and my wife, Kriti. It was a big event and my whole familiy came to Ottawa to witness it. My dear Mum was also there, just before she passed away 3 months later.
I decided that I would write the music for the baptism and the St. Paul’s choir said they would sing it. Anne Faurbo was the music director and she was a gem, patiently helping me organize the music and arrange it for the choir. I wrote “Take My Hand” as an adult contremporary Christian song. My sister, Marion, came up from the States to sing it with me. A full congregation was in attendance, which made the event even more memorable.
When my Father passed, in 2012, he specifically asked me to sing Take My Hand at his memorial. I couldn’t do the whole performance myself, so I played the live recording from St. Paul’s. After 20 years from it’s composition, (2006-2026), ai finally provided a way to include the instruments and choir that I no longer have access to. This production, however, is a near exact re-creation of the original.
Disclaimer: This is an original composition (lyrics and melody), arranged and composed by Phil Tanner. AI tracks have been used, as well as the choir recreation.
