SunSp·t is Joe MacPhail’s solo project. SunSp.t is a part of Carrboro, NC label Sleepy Cat Records.

Recent Releases: SunSp.t Live In Durham is out now, at https://joemacphail.bandcamp.com/album/live-in-durham and on streaming

More of Joe original music appears on Oblations’ “Sun Going Down” and Dreamroot’s “Sands”

Joe contributed keys to T Gold’s “Life Is A Wonder and It’s Cruel” and drums to XOXOK’s “Jesus Piece”

Watch: Turnabout Player’s recent set at MagFest 2026

TV: Joe performed on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert with The Mountain Goats, PBS Music at the Museum with XOXOK, Piano/Synth on PBS Music at the Museum with Dreamroot.

Radio: Joe’s Jazz compositions 6858, Caught In A Long Goodbye and Phase Is, have been played regularly on 90.7 WNCU’s Jazz Radio Programming since 2020. As performed by Dreamroot on the album Phases.

Press: “With Charismatic Keyboard Melodies, SunSp.t’s ‘Jofi-1’ Explodes Lofi Textures Into Thrilling Hi-Fi”.

Interviews: "Set, Setting Tunage: SunSp.t: Jofi-2”, Previewing Sleepy Fest ‘24!” and SunSp.t Interview on WXDU

Current Bands

Chatham Rabbits (Indie Folk/Bluegrass/Americana)

Diali Cissokho & Kaira Ba (Senagelese/American Fusion music based around the instrument called the Kora, performed by griot Diali Cissokho. High energy dance band.)

The Back Pocket (70s-inspired Funk/Rock/Americana with a Millennial Twist, also a wedding band.)

Turnabout Players (Video Game Music performed in a Jazz-inspired improvisational format, Joe plays drums. Turnabout Players hosts the Triangle VGM Jams at Hartwell in Raleigh, which also has a chapter in Durham hosted by the New Challengers.)

SunSp.t - Solo project. Keyboard-driven combination of originals and reimagined covers. Millennial Indie, Soul, Americana, Jazz, Funk, with Arabic, African, Latin, Classical, Folk, and Hip Hop influences. A unique and personal sound reflective of the musical landscape of Durham, North Carolina

SunSp.t Trio - A mix of Organ Trio and Singer/Songwriter. Feel-good music for the 21st Century. Inspired by Soulive, Tedeschi Trucks Band, D’Angelo, Sufjan Stevens, The Roots, Simon Shaheen & Qantara

Oblations - Psychedelic Rock two-man band started in 2011. The music is a blend of Joe and guitarist Daniel Fields’s original material. Joe performs keys & drums simultaneously, Daniel Fields uses dual guitar outputs to blend in a sub-octave bass sound on the bottom strings.

DreamRoot - Jazz/Original Improvisational Music. Joe MacPhail, Ittai Korman, and Theous Jones

T. Gold - Folk, Electronic, Alternative, originals by Saman Khoujinian co-produced by Gabe Anderson.

XOXOK - Atmospheric Soul originals by Keenan Jenkins - Recent album “Jesus Piece” - Joe plays drums.

Country Soul Songbook - A platform formed by Kamara Thomas which features and showcases BIPOC and LGBTQ+ voices in modern Country, Rock, and Roots music. Joe performs keyboards with the Country Soul Songbook “Thank You Ma’am Band”. The core of CSSB is Kamara Thomas and Kym Register. CSSB has played with Rissi Palmer, Queen Esther, Charly Lowry, Shirlette Ammons, Emily Musolino, Jeff Holden, Kyshona, Sam Rise, Grace Givertz, and Adia Victoria. This project has lead to Joe performing with Durham, NC based funk/soul vocal quartet group The Lover Boyz, with Meltdown Rodeo, and Kamara Thomas’s solo project.

Joe has worked as a session musician on over 1000 songs across all genres, specializing in vintage piano and keyboard instruments. Joe is also a session drummer, comfortable playing songwriter material and leaving space for mixed acoustic and electric instrumentation.

Joe is always available for remote keyboard & drum work, email inquiries at joemacphail@gmail.com

Joe has recorded with producers including Saman Khoujinian (T Gold), Jason Richmond, Jerry Brown, Alex Bingham (Magic Al), Mike Taylor (Hiss Golden Messenger), Joseph Terrell (Mipso), and Tyler Lee (El Scott).

Joe has worked as a Live Sound Engineer, with a preference for Midas M32/X32 and SQ6 mixers. Joe also has experience soundchecking and mixing in analog. Joe has done live sound for festivals including Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival 2025, Hopscotch 2024, and Psychic Hotline Block Party 2022, and at venues including North Star Church Of The Arts, The Pinhook, The Mod, and Transfer Co. Ballroom.

Joe has also done livestream technician & mixing work for The Pinhook and for North Star Church of the Arts.

Joe acted in a commercial for Bandlab made by Torchhouse media. Joe was initially brought in as a piano player, but his knowledge and facility with music technology allowed for essential shots using the unreleased stem separation features that were being advertised.

Joe has performed, composed, and improvised music for multiple visual multi-medium performances.

Joe sat in with Delver at Artsplosure 2026 for two sets. Delver performed an array of modular synthesizers in quadrophonic sound in the middle of Downtown Raleigh, improvising electro-acoustic experiences and transforming a city intersection into an art installation.

Joe has performed piano for Footnotes Tap Ensemble with special guest Josette Wiggan as part of The Theous Jones Quartet at The Rialto in Raleigh, and at Hayti Heritage Center in Durham. Joe has also performed at Tap Dance workshops put on by Relative Rhythms.

Joe performed keyboards for Sangadare Wallace doing Sunday Sermons at North Star Church of the Arts. Joe also performed organ for the choir demos of Sangadore Wallace’s work Transcend.

Joe was Katrina Bond’s sound bath accompanist for the Defaer “Sundown On The Solstice” performance at Downtown Cary Park in June, 2024. This performance was part of Downtown Cary Park’s visual installation “Recurrent Change”. Recurrent Change featured Rhett Hassem’s projection mapped plant art and music by Katrina Bond.

Joe performed keyboards for Kamara Thomas (2022-2024 Princeton Arts Fellow) in Tularosa: An American Dreamtime, a multidisciplinary artistic work that was performed live at Princeton University in April, 2023.

Joe performed keyboards, synthesizer, vocals and percussion for the 2022 Paperhand Puppet Intervention Band. Paperhand Puppet Intervention is a giant puppet show held at The Forrest Theater on UNC’s Campus and at the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh. Joe’s roles included piano performance, composition, and arranging. The show included a wide range of puppetry styles including giant puppets, mask work, “impossible dances”, set pieces, and shadow puppets.

Joe is a 2020 US Musical Ambassador with Violet Bell through American Voices Abroad. American Voices Abroad Bands go through a rigorous 3-round audition process to perform and bring musical education to countries around the world.

Joe live-scored a 20-minute silent movie for O’Circus (The Oberlin College Circus Troupe) called “The First of Mays”.

Joe has performed for Blues Dances with bands including Matt Phillips and Flutocracy.

Joe acts as an unofficial Booking Agent & Curator for high quality live music experiences in the Triangle & Triad, booking shows and curating lineups on the artist side for city events, corporate campuses, festivals, touring act openers, and putting together strong bills at local music venues.

Joe also provides keyboard, synthesizer, and drum backline for music video shoots and live music events in the Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill area. Backline includes a Moog Subsequent 37, Prophet Rev 2, Nord Electro 61D.

Joe works in Durham, Chapel Hill and Raleigh public schools through Arts In Action, performing music for dance classes in a group setting.

Joe also works as a Private Piano Instructor. Joe combines proper technique with a pedagogy that includes Popular, Blues and Jazz music. This leads to an emphasis on tone and phrasing, and of being able to perform the piano with or without sheet music. Joe strives to improve overall musicianship and pianistic facility in an encouraging environment.