The biography
From the sketchbook to the song
James Connaughton, known creatively as thefatherphil and Father Phil, and to friends as JayAre or JR, is an Oklahoma City artist, songwriter, guitarist, and author. His work connects original paintings and drawings with music, surreal fiction, and character films. Oklahoma life, friendship, humor, and an appetite for unusual stories run through the different parts of his studio practice.
Connaughton has belonged to The Killer Next Door art collective since 1999 at the University of Oklahoma. Pallas and Doug started its punk band, with Pallas bringing in her friends from the Snotrockits to back them. He remembers tagging along at a few practices, and the art collective grew out of that musical beginning. His brief music-group participation was in 2003, until he realized he should stick to acoustic guitar, pencils, and painting instead of punk rock. Towne Thoughts played bass with Father Phil at many shows in the early 2000s and recorded backing vocals on “I Found God” from Taken By Fables, Given To Wine. His musical history also includes The Local Martyrs, his collaboration with drummer Vanessa Scholle. The duo blends folk, outlaw music, and satire. His album Taken By Fables, Given To Wine brings together 17 recordings, including It's Your Right, War Is Not Friendship, Devil Lives In The Radio, Oklahellmouth, and When The Cows Come Home. The Bandcamp edition lists a December 1, 2011 release and March 2010 recording sessions; studio records identify Brad Fielder as its recording engineer and producer.
Public listings place Father Phil on the bill for the second Lonesome Troubadour Festival at The Hidden Castle in Norman in March 2012. The Local Martyrs also appear in a January 2012 Norman Weekender notice for Othello's and on Reggies Chicago's January 28, 2015 bill with Scotch Hollow and Mikey Classic & His Lonesome Spur. These surviving listings offer a glimpse of his involvement in independent roots music and the Oklahoma songwriting community.
Alongside music, Connaughton creates portraits, paintings, drawings, and commissioned pieces. His public artist archive records painting and drawing projects over many years, including a September 2015 post titled Art Show at The Brass Bell Studio, later commission work, and recent oil paintings. His visual work and writing often meet: characters and images move between the page, the studio, and the screen.
Writing as Rehtafeht Lihp, he is the author of books including When the Cows Come Home, Como Hice Mi Primer Millon de Dolares, I'd Rather Be Playing Guitar, and Make Me Smarter. His Oklahellmouth stories mix strange adventures, satire, and imaginative characters, while music remains part of the same creative world. When the Cows Come Home exists as both a song and a book, illustrating how one idea can develop across several forms.
Today, thefatherphil is expanding that work through an independent animation and creative-production studio. Original guitar recordings, book artwork, and recurring characters such as Panda, Cowboy, and the one-eyed ici star appear in short films and book promotions. Recent projects include Oklahoma is Okay and the Wetter Water venture with his friend Lenny Vanhorn. He uses digital and AI-assisted production tools alongside his own writing, artwork, performances, and creative review to bring new stories to audiences. His work can be explored at thefatherphil.com.