He is frequently listed as one of the top fingerstyle guitarists by Guitar Player Magazine readers' polls, but he is equally at home on electric guitar. Keaggy is noted for crowd-pleasing solo live performances where he makes extensive use of recording live layers of loops to accompany himself. To do this he uses only an acoustic guitar but is able to create electric sounds.
Keaggy began performing professionally in the late 60s with drummer John Sferra. The two friends, with the addition of bassist Dan Pecchio, formed Glass Harp in 1968.
A major turning point for the trio was winning an Ohio area's "Battle of the Bands." One of event's judges happened to be an associate of the celebrated producer Lewis Merenstein, who was alerted about the hot young threesome. At the time, Merenstein was fresh from producing albums for many successful artists including The Spencer Davis Group, Turley Richards and Van Morrison's Moondance (Merenstein produced Astral Weeks as well) and had just been voted Producer of the Year by Rolling Stone. Merenstein was persuaded to fly down from New York to see what the fuss was all about.
Upon hearing the band perform, Merenstein was so inspired that Decca Records signed Glass Harp to a multi-record deal. A short time later, the band found itself in New York's Greenwich Village recording its first album at Jimi Hendrix' Electric Ladyland Studio with Lewis Merenstein as producer.
As a Decca Records artist, the band began to open for such artists as Iron Butterfly, Yes, Traffic, and Chicago.[1] At one point, future James Gang guitarist Joe Walsh was being considered to join New Hudson Exit (the band Phil Keaggy was in prior to the formation of Glass Harp) but the other members of the band felt Walsh's style was too dynamic.
Years later, Amboy Dukes guitar player Ted Nugent was quoted as saying "I don't know what happened to that Phil Keaggy, he could have saved the world with his guitar" in Guitar Player Magazine.
On Valentine's Day in 1970, Keaggy's mother was involved in a fatal car accident. He was heavily involved in drugs at the time, and that same day was badly hurt by an LSD trip. In the midst of this tragedy his sister Ellen took the time to tell him about finding peace in Jesus, and he converted to Christianity.
Keaggy left Glass Harp in 1972 and released his first solo album the following year entitled What a Day. Keaggy married his wife Bernadette the following summer. He then took a brief vacation from recording on his own and only toured in support of other artists like Love Song, 2nd Chapter of Acts, Paul Clark, and Nancy Honeytree. Keaggy returned to the studio in 1976 with Love Broke Thru which included his version of the Randy Stonehill/Keith Green/Todd Fishkind classic song of the same name, which at Keith Green's insistence was the first released recording of the song. During the summer of 1977 Keaggy went on an eighteen-city tour of the western United States with 2nd Chapter of Acts and "a band called David". This was captured in the live triple album How the West Was One. The only release of the Phil Keaggy Band also occurred in 1977, Emerging. The Phil Keaggy Band consisted of Keaggy, Lynn Nichols, Phil Madeira, Dan Cunningham and Terry Andersen. In 1978, Keaggy released his first critically acclaimed instrumental album entitled The Master and the Musician.
The Keaggy family then moved to Leawood, Kansas in August,1979. Their first daughter, Alicia, was born there in March, 1980. The Keaggys left Leawood in 1983 and settled in Costa Mesa, California. Their second daughter, Olivia, was born on Valentine's Day, 1984, and their son, Ian, was born in 1987.
Keaggy was signed to the Contemporary Christian music label Sparrow Records in the 1980s, where he released a string of albums including Town to Town, Ph'lip Side, and Play Thru Me. In 1988, Keaggy would team up with Stonehill, drummer Joe English (who had previously played with Paul McCartney and Wings) , singer Margaret Becker, and others for the Compassion All Star Band's album One by One.
In 1988, Keaggy won his first Dove Award for his second instrumental project, The Wind and the Wheat. Keaggy's second Dove Award came in 1992 for his Celtic-influenced Beyond Nature. From 1998 to 2001, Keaggy dominated the "Instrumental Record" category in the Dove Awards winning awards for Invention, Acoustic Sketches, Majesty and Wonder, and Lights of Madrid.
In 1989, Keaggy teamed up with Randy Stonehill, Russ Taff, Derri Daugherty, Mark Heard, Steve Taylor, Rick Cua and other musicians to create Phil Keaggy and Sunday's Child: a tribute of sorts to 1960s bands like The Beatles. That same year, Keaggy would hit the road with Stonehill for a tour by The Keaggy/Stonehill Band, which included Swirling Eddie David Raven on drums and Daniel Amos bassist Tim Chandler. In the fall of 1989 the Keaggys relocated once again, leaving the sunny shores and crowded freeways of southern California behind and moved to Nashville, Tennessee where they reside currently. A few years later, Keaggy would perform at former Beatle Paul McCartney's sister-in-law's wedding. Keaggy had met Laura Eastman, sister of Linda McCartney, while the former worked at CBN. After the wedding, Keaggy fulfilled a lifelong dream by jamming with McCartney in a bedroom at the Eastman family estate, site of the wedding.
Keaggy followed Sunday's Child in 1990 with all-out rock album Find Me In These Fields and in 1993 with Crimson and Blue, a bluesy rock album that included a cover of Van Morrison's "When Will I Ever Learn to Live in God". That album was also remixed and reissued as Blue, with the added Badfinger cover "Baby Blue". Once again, an impressive list of musicians joined Keaggy for these releases, including Steve Taylor, Rick Cua, Phil Madeira, Charlie Peacock, Sam Bush, John Mark Painter of Fleming and John, Ashley Cleveland, Jimmy Abegg, and fellow 1970s Keaggy Band members Lynn Nichols and Phil Madeira. Keaggy enlisted his old friend John Sferra of Glass Harp for the tour that followed. (The tour also featured Wade Jaynes from Chagall Guevara on bass and Phil Madeira on Hammond B-3 organ.)
In September, Glass Harp found itself in New York's Greenwich Village recording its first album Glass Harp at Jimi Hendrix's Electric Lady Studios with Lewis Merenstein as producer. Years later, a story would circulate widely and persistently concerning Keaggy and Hendrix. It has been said that during an episode of The Tonight Show, Johnny Carson asked Hendrix, "Who is the best guitarist in the world?" Hendrix is said to have answered, "Phil Keaggy." Another version of the story has Hendrix being asked, "Jimi, how does it feel to be the world's greatest guitar player?" To which Hendrix supposedly replied, "I don't know, you'll have to ask Phil Keaggy!" This account is sometimes attributed to a magazine interview in either Rolling Stone or Guitar Player. Occasionally the story has the setting for the question being the Dick Cavett Show. Other versions have the question being posed to Eric Clapton. A more recent variant has Eddie Van Halen being asked the question by either David Letterman or Barbara Walters. Keaggy has long insisted that such stories are completely unfounded, noting that "it was impossible that Jimi Hendrix could ever have heard me...We...recorded our first album at Electric Lady Studios two weeks after his unfortunate death, so I just can’t imagine how he could’ve heard me. I think it’s just a rumor that someone’s kept alive, and it must be titillating enough to keep an interest there...So I don’t think it was said…and that’s it for that!"
Glass Harp reformed around 2001 and released a new album titled "Hourglass" in 2003.
In 2004, Keaggy guest performed with the indie band Dispatch for several songs during The Last Dispatch. It was to be Dispatch's last performance together and became the largest concert in independent music history.[citation needed]
As of 2009, Keaggy continues to record and tour regularly.
in between
Phil Keaggy Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I've been torn often between,
Often caught here in between
Heaven above and the earth beneath,
Draw me up where I may seek
The air I long to breathe,
The air I long to breathe.
The choice is ever within my reach,
A more perfect way or a dead end street.
A brighter path into the light of day,
Or to choose the highway of apathy.
I've been torn often between,
Often caught here in between
Heaven above and the earth beneath,
Draw me up where I may seek
The air I long to breathe,
The air I long to breathe.
How I'm longing to give my all,
Yes and answer to the upward call.
Encumbered by the world's own gravity
Well I lose my grip and I start to fall.
I've been torn often between,
Often caught here in between
Heaven above and the earth beneath,
Draw me up where I may seek
The air I long to breathe,
The air I long to breathe.
Lord give me strength that I will always choose
Your perfect way and to follow You.
I'm praying not my will but Your's be done,
When You know what's best how could I refuse.
The lyrics of Phil Keaggy's song "In Between" are reflective and introspective, as the artist muses on his struggle to balance his desire for heaven with his earthly responsibilities. The singer is "often torn between" the two, and caught in the middle of two worlds, trying to find his place in each. He recognizes that the choice between the two is always within his reach, and he wants to choose the "more perfect way" towards the light, rather than the "highway of apathy" that leads him astray.
Through the song, Keaggy uses a metaphor of air to represent his desire for something more, something he longs to breathe, but has not yet fully experienced. He recognizes that he is "encumbered by the world's own gravity," which keeps him grounded in his earthly struggles, but he seeks to rise above it and answer the "upward call" to something greater. He prays for strength to choose God's perfect way and follow him, recognizing that ultimately, God knows what is best for him and he wants to yield to that.
Overall, "In Between" is a contemplative exploration of the desire for something more, the struggle to balance earthly responsibilities with a longing for heaven, and the recognition that ultimately, the choice is ours to make. Through his reflective lyrics, Keaggy encourages his listeners to seek after the "air" they long to breathe, and to choose the more perfect way towards light and truth.
Line by Line Meaning
I've been torn often between,
I have frequently been conflicted and uncertain,
Often caught here in between
I am frequently stuck in the middle,
Heaven above and the earth beneath,
I am pulled between the spiritual and physical realms,
Draw me up where I may seek
Lift me up to seek what I truly desire,
The air I long to breathe,
The spiritual sustenance I truly crave,
The choice is ever within my reach,
I have the power to make a decision,
A more perfect way or a dead end street.
I can choose the righteous path or a destructive one,
A brighter path into the light of day,
A better and more rewarding journey,
Or to choose the highway of apathy.
Or a state of indifference and lack of care,
How I'm longing to give my all,
I have a deep desire to give my everything,
Yes and answer to the upward call.
And respond to a divine calling,
Encumbered by the world's own gravity
Held down by the weight of the material world,
Well I lose my grip and I start to fall.
And I feel myself slipping and falling,
Lord give me strength that I will always choose
Grant me the power to always make the right choice,
Your perfect way and to follow You.
To follow the path of righteousness and obey You,
I'm praying not my will but Your's be done,
I am asking for Your divine will to be done, not my own,
When You know what's best how could I refuse.
When You know what is best, how can I reject it?
Contributed by Hannah M. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Lavenderrose73
This was my favorite song on that album when my aunt owned it back in my childhood. Then one year, I got it for either Christmas or my birthday and I remember when she pointed at the title of the song on the record that had been given to me. 😊
DJ Reid
A very beatle-esque melodic and beautiful song by Phil Keaggy. This album just keeps getting better by the decade.
Johnny Mac
This should have thousands of "likes". So brilliant. Very Beatle-esque. This whole album is absolutely amazing. I had the cassette years ago, but now I need to go and buy the CD if it's available.
DJ Reid
I feel the same way. The McCartney, Beatlesque songs are genial for sure !!! The lyric is very much Macca also. Great songs from Phil. Never get bored with this album. Must have played 1000 times when released.
Thomas M Alexander Jr
When he hits that high "... where I may seek..." at the 2:02 mark, it's almost like he reaches heaven. I want to sing like that in heaven. 🎤🧔🎸
ekul40831
Reminds me of when I was kid. My pops had all his albums. Such a good jam!
Les Lieb
Such a clean and professional sound.
ep784
Love Phil's guitar work
Avery Bane
Beautiful