Phil Laeger is a songwriter and pianist whose life has been shaped by movement—across countries, churches, seasons, and songs.

He grew up in The Salvation Army, the son of pastors, moving often and learning early what it feels like to live on the edges of things. Music was the constant. He began piano lessons at five, trailing behind older siblings at the keyboard and picking out their songs by ear. Summers were spent at Salvation Army music camps and conservatories, and before long he was accompanying hymns and offering offertories in church. Music became the way he processed joy, confusion, disappointment, faith, and calling. It still is.

Phil studied songwriting at Berklee College of Music and biblical studies at Toccoa Falls College—two formative environments that humbled and stretched him. Berklee taught him how much he didn’t know about craft; Toccoa Falls taught him how much he didn’t know about leading worship. Somewhere between practice rooms and chapel services, his desire clarified: to write honest songs that serve something larger than himself.

In the early 2000s, he helped form the band Quarter Past 3, a scrappy collective of friends learning how to write, record, and lead worship together. That season eventually gave way to his first solo album, All I Held Onto, and to a deeper involvement in music ministry. From there, he and longtime friend Marty Mikles launched transMission—a project centered on reimagining historic Salvation Army songs alongside new worship writing. What began as an experiment grew into a resource that continues today under new leadership, with Phil still contributing songs.

In 2005, Phil won the National Day of Prayer songwriting contest, and his song “America” was recorded by Rebecca St. James. The experience affirmed his love for shaping songs in collaboration and reminded him that music often takes on a life beyond its writer.

Over the years, Phil has served The Salvation Army in a wide range of roles—from camp dishwasher to maintenance worker, from music specialist in the U.S. Southern Territory to Contemporary Worship Consultant in Australia. Living and working in Australia for several years became a defining chapter for his family and faith. He has also led worship in local churches, worked behind the Genius Bar at Apple, and learned (with humor) that empathy sometimes slows you down but deepens connection.

After a season in New York and the formation of the collective Outside Worship, Phil and his family relocated to Lebanon, Tennessee, just outside Nashville. There, he built EQV Studio with the help of his wife and friends and returned to what has always been at the center: the piano. His recent instrumental “River” recordings reflect that return—wood, strings, felt, and prayer.

His solo work ranges from intimate projects like the kohelet EP to his ambitious Return album, which saw contributions from string orchestra, gospel choir, mandolin and ukulele, formed around Phil’s grounded piano and vocals. Songs written for his wife , his children, and other close relationships, carry a deeply personal thread through his catalog. Whether writing alone or collaboratively, his aim remains the same: honesty before God and usefulness for the Church.

Today, Phil serves as Program Consultant for The Salvation Army’s Children of Grace initiative, helping create songs and resources that remind children they are seen, known, and loved by their Father. For him, music is not an end in itself. It is a tool—a way of telling the truth and inviting others into it.

Phil and his wife Sarah met at camp in 1996—an Australian lifeguard and a skinny nineteen-year-old counselor—and have now been married more than two decades. They have three children and a home filled with music, dinner conversations, movie quotes, prayer, and the ordinary grace of growing together.

At heart, Phil is still what he was at five years old: a pianist searching for truth in melody, trying to offer something real.