Pentwater’s Phil Goldman

Pentwater’s Phil Goldman

Here’s a profile of US Prog band Pentwater’s Phil Goldman. The original guitartist & singer talks about early Pentwater and his life since.

Phil came from a musical family. His father and grandmother were accomplished piano players and his first experience in music was banging at the family piano just about as soon as he could sit up at the keyboard. Piano lessons followed.

At the age of seven his life was permanently altered by seeing the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show. He borrowed his aunt’s cheap classical guitar and began to teach himself how to play. He still has that guitar.

Pentwater's Phil Goldman
Phil with Les Paul Custom

At the age of thirteen, Phil and Mike Konopka discovered they had a common interest in music and began to play together. They formed their first band that year with Ken Kappel who owned a Farfisa organ (so cool) and Ken Zaretsky who, as drummers go, was the “craziest and scariest guy I had ever met.” “The Oceanna County Pioneer’s and Business Man’s Band” was the fetal form of Pentwater. The band improved and began to explore the idea of original material. “Traditionally rock music was about the rhythm and the rebellious nature of the youth who listened to it. I think that progressive music was the attempt of rock musicians to create music that would be taken seriously. In a way progressive rock was a rebellion to the basic forms of rock and roll.”

Pentwater’s Phil Goldman

Phil recalls a favorite moment from the early Pentwater days. “My greatest thrill was hearing Pentwater played on a Chicago radio station (Triad Radio, hosted by Saul Smayzis) for the first time. I just couldn’t believe I was sitting in my living room and listening to us come out of those speakers.”

Pentwater's Phil Goldman
Phil with his Rickenbacker

Phil was the first original member to leave the group. At the age of nineteen he chose to leave the band to pursue a college degree. “Leaving Pentwater was one of the hardest decisions that I had made up to that point in my life, but I knew that for me it was time to move on to other things.” College led to a career as a commodities broker at both the Chicago Board of Trade and The Chicago Mercantile Exchange. During that time he set up a home studio and kept his musical chops up.

Pentwater's Phil Goldman
Phil with a vintage 335

In the early nineties, after having his first child, Phil discovered that he had a knack for photography. His passion eventually led him to pursue a second creative career as a portrait photographer. He and his wife Sherry now live in a Chicago suburb and he owns Phil Goldman Photography. His two daughters keep him on his toes and connected to what’s happening in music today. “I’m pleased to see that there is interest in the music we passionately created, and I hope that a new generation of listeners finds value in the music that defined who we were.”

Pentwater’s Phil Goldman

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