Peddler's French
Phillip Henry Christopher ~ Matt Scutchfield ~ JD Williams

Peddler's French is a bit of a misdemeanor, a conspiracy of street-saavy operators,

their larcenies picking the pockets of traditional folk music, burglarizing bluegrass

and blues, stealing swing and western artifacts to produce a completely

original swag bag of new music

For hundreds of years, folk songs have used words and music to explain, question, share, or simply express our human experience. This is what Peddler's French aspires to do. Peddler's French is our humble contribution to hundreds of years of both renowned and anonymous poets and singers sharing their lived experiences as honestly as they can. So, we're focused on developing an audience for our releases and performing for you whenever, wherever we can.

To us, success is reaching people through music, touching hearts and minds, and making real, personal connections with our songs. That's why we travel. We aren't counting miles or minutes in the spotlight. We're not concerned with fame and fortune. We're making connections, one, two, twenty at a time. After all, isn't that what it's always been about?

Peddler's French songs are on streaming services, on the air in a dozen radio markets, and set to be live in 2026 bookings in listening rooms in Ohio, New York and New Jersey, with invitations to play as far out as New Mexico. The next album will be released very soon, followed by the third Peddler's release next winter.

Trail Angels
Songs of huskies, mushers, bush pilots & wild places.

Co-written with veteran dog sled racer, writer and lecturer, Karen Land, Trail Angels takes listeners on an album-length journey into the wild north to experience the lives of mushers, Alaskan huskies, bush pilots, and more.

Peddler's French founders Phillip Henry Christopher and Matt Scutchfield assembled a multi-generational ensemble of acoustic players and singers, gathering artists from throughout the US for a series of studio recording sessions completed over a one-year period.

All songs on the album were inspired by brave and beloved dogs, and real-life mushing adventures in Alaska, Canada, and the Lower 48.

Dramatic cover image by official Iditarod photographer, Jeff Schultz.

Produced by Philadelphia Phil and Matt Scutchfield

All songs written by Phillip Henry Christopher and Karen Land

Photos by Jeff Schultz: SchultzPhoto.com

Art Direction and Design by Bruce Lampe

Peddler's French: philadelphiaphil.com

Karen Land: stringofdogs.com

CD and digital download available at:

https://peddlersfrench.bandcamp.com/album/trail-angels

Chili Beans, Beer & Acoustic Guitars

It all started in the winter of 1975 at Old Lady Faibane's Housekeeping Cottages in the Poconos

Phillip Henry Christopher was a twenty year old Philadelphia scene poet and his acoustic guitar-picking friends went on a getaway to the mountains. A weekend became a week when deep snow closed the roads.

There was homemade chili, cases of Old Latrobe, and many a song to sing. Strumming away for hours, the musicians inspired the young poet. He asked them to show him something on the guitar, learning his first licks on an old Gibson 12-string. A few days later he bought a second-hand acoustic, tossed it in the back of a beat-up '63 VW Beetle, and left for Mardi Gras. When he got back five months later Phil knew a handful of chords and a bunch of Hank Williams tunes. It wasn't long before he was writing songs and singing to folks all around the city.

Since that time he's performed from Key West to Canada, California to New England. It's been a minute since a surprise blizzard and a good friend's guitar got him started, but Phillip Henry Christopher just keeps singing, playing, writing, recording and performing. And like the one-of-a-kind tone of a vintage instrument, his songs just get sweeter and sweeter with each change of season.