Our Story
Phillips & Banks is a progressive southern gospel quartet from the beautiful mountains of East Tennessee. Married couples, Jacob and Carmen Phillips and Caleb and Autumn Banks bring a collectively distinctive and smooth sound to their music that sets them apart. In October of 2017, the two couples forged the quartet with common backgrounds in worship leading and ministry performance arts. They strive to communicate the hope and forgiveness that can be found through a relationship with Jesus as well as encourage and spur on fellow believers to live for Him. The Lord has truly opened up many doors of opportunity over the almost five years of the group’s existence to bring the hope of Christ to churches across their region. Phillips & Banks strives to minister with authentic and transparent testimonies and music that speaks from each of their personal relationships with the Lord. The group wrote many of the songs that are on their first self-titled project and continue to write as the Lord inspires. Through their performance of an original song, “Stuck in the Wilderness”, the Lord provided them a Daywind Studios recording package at the Bowling Fest Talent Competition in London, KY in May 2018. The album they won entitled, “A Few of our Favorites”, was released at the end of October 2018. In May of 2019, the group participated in Gospel Music FanFair in Somerset, KY, and an anonymous person in attendance set up and paid for the group to record an album at Counterpoint Recording Studios in Atlanta, GA. Through that person’s generosity, their album, “A Thrill of Hope: A Christmas Collection” was released in October of 2019. Phillips & Banks' last original project, "This Is Your Day", was released in mid 2020 and produced by Matthew Browder. The group feels this project contains songs that reflect both their heart and their musical styles and includes two songs written by Autumn. Their latest project, "Sing Them Again", is a collection of hymns and old songs along with a new song written by Jacob and Carmen's daughter, Olivia! The Lord has been more than faithful to them, and they know with such favor comes great responsibility! Wherever the Lord takes them, the one thing they hope will always ring true of their ministry is that, “in every endeavor, may we be found worthy to bear the name of Jesus, but by His righteousness alone. To God be the glory!”
Our History
Jacob and Carmen Phillips live in Bristol, TN with their 8-year-old daughter, Olivia. They met and began dating in high school and both graduated from Carson-Newman University in Jefferson City, TN. While at C-N, the couple helped to lead a campus ministry in which the Lord sparked their desire and love for leading in worship through music. They were married in July of 2009, and shortly thereafter, the couple felt a call to full time ministry. In 2010, they began working full-time for a local live Christian theatre. After seven years of serving through performing, leading in worship, and serving as managers in theatre production, they felt the call of the Lord to move on. It was also through that ministry that they met Caleb and Autumn Banks.
Caleb Banks, a native of Kingsport, TN, grew up with a heritage of music and ministry with his family’s group, The Banks Family. After running from the Lord as a teenager, Caleb was saved and delivered from alcohol and prescription drug addiction in 2010. He started volunteering at the local Christian theatre a few years after his salvation and met his now wife, Autumn Banks. Autumn graduated from Gate City High School in Virginia in 2013. She had been volunteering at the same theatre ministry since 2009, and she participated in its Summer Internship program after graduation. During this time, she stayed in Jacob and Carmen’s home and became like family over the next four years in ministry with them. Autumn and Caleb were married in February of 2017. They also worked alongside Jacob and Carmen leading worship, participating in productions, and managing different aspects of the theatre's ministry. They knew when they married that the Lord was calling them to be in full time music ministry and have since seen the Lord open so many doors to minister. Both couples of Phillips & Banks are enjoying the journey the Lord has given to them and look forward to each opportunity He will put in their path!
Autumn Banks
Autumn is the youngest of the 4 of us, and loves to remind everyone of that. She grew up in Gate City, VA, but also lived in Wynnewood, OK for a few years during childhood. Today, she resides in Blountville, TN with Caleb. When she’s not traveling, Autumn loves spending time with her two cats, Lilo and Stitch, crocheting, listening to podcasts, reading, and cooking. Something many people don’t know about Autumn is that she struggles with Social Anxiety and Panic Disorder. The Lord has helped her be able to continuously overcome those obstacles on a daily basis. She is very open about her struggles with her own mental health, and hopes her story can bring awareness to the epidemic of people in the church who struggle with things like anxiety, depression, and other mental health disorders that are too afraid to reach out for help.
Caleb Banks
Caleb is our bass singer, but he also sings tenor? We don’t get it either, but we love the flexibility. Caleb grew up singing bluegrass Gospel music with his family in northeast Tennessee. During his younger years, he found himself wrapped up in the throes of addiction and alcoholism. Nearly 13 years ago, he gave his heart over to the Lord, and has been clean and sober ever since! Today, Caleb lives in Blountville, TN and enjoys good food, playing guitar, mowing his yard (not a joke), and making people laugh. When we’re not on the road, he works with Jacob at a mortuary as a transport driver. Caleb hopes that through traveling with Phillips and Banks that his testimony of God’s grace will impact the lives of believers and non-believers alike.
Jacob Phillips
Jacob handles all the bookings for P&B and sings lead/tenor. He is also our “PK” (preacher’s kid) in the group so look out for him! He grew up in Blountville, TN and now resides in Bristol, TN with Carmen and Olivia. Jacob gave his life to Jesus after many years of struggling with his salvation. His testimony centers around the difference between religion and a relationship with Christ. Jacob attended Carson-Newman University and received a BA in Music Education with an emphasis in voice. After college, Jacob felt a call into ministry instead of pursuing a career in teaching, but he feels that his college experience helped train him musically and prepare him for ministry. When he isn’t on the road with Phillips & Banks, Jacob enjoys watching Tennessee Football, tending his garden, and spending time with friends and family! One cool fact about Jacob that lots of folks don’t know is that he proposed to Carmen on the banks of the Jordan River in the Holy Land! He said that he figured if the engagement story was that dramatic, she couldn’t say no!
Carmen Phillips
Carmen is the “mama” of the group. She was raised in a singing family and has spent most of her life in some sort of musical avenue. From singing with family, at church, in school, in college to teaching elementary music and directing music for a Christian theatre, music has always been a part of her life. She came to Christ at 14, then felt a call into ministry when in college. She is thankful that the Lord has used her passion for Him and love of music to serve Him over the years! Now she spends most of her days homeschooling her daughter, Olivia. She enjoys graphic design, organization, and helping Jacob with their little garden (although she's too picky to eat anything from it!) Carmen feels that what she gets to do with Phillips & Banks is a calling, and she feels so blessed that she gets to fulfill that with her husband, daughter, and friends that are like family!