An Introduction to the Music of Phil Keaggy

Phil Keaggy is a guitar virtuoso with a long career extending back to the mid-60s. His earliest musical breakthrough was with Glass Harp, a rock band that had progressive and psychedelic influences and a jam band aesthetic for live shows.

In 1972, Phil left that band to venture into a solo career in the Jesus Music movement due to a desire to express his newfound Christian faith more openly and consistently. He married and continued to record consistently through the 1970s and 80s, working alongside groups like 2nd Chapter of Acts and other singer/songwriters like Randy Stonehill and Keith Green. During this time, he continued developing innovative electric guitar techniques. From Wikipedia,

"Time" featured Keaggy's innovative guitar technique of violin-like swelling, found approximately 3:54 and 5:17 in the song. The effect requires picking the string, raising and then lowering the guitar volume knob for each note in a melody.

In 1978, Phil also released his first instrumental album, The Master and the Musician. He experiments with acoustic and electric techniques to produce some truly amazing music, and this album set a precedent for future recordings.

In the 1980s, he continued to record solo and collaborative works, with sound ranging from 60s-influenced rock to new age influenced easy listening instrumentals.

As the 1990s rolled in, the music continued to roll out. Beyond Nature was released with a celtic-influenced acoustic guitar emphasis in 1992, while 1996 saw both Acoustic Sketches and the more electric guitar heavy 220.

He also produced a number of vocal albums. For example, in 1995, he released True Believers. He collaborated with Wes King and Scott Dente to produce an album of both vocal and instrumental tracks in 1997, and he released a self-titled solo vocal album in 1998 that returned to a more stripped-down acoustic sound. The last two are a bit difficult to find as Youtube playlists.

Since then, he has continued to produce instrumental and vocal albums, but I think this intro post is getting a bit too long already, so I will arbitrarily quit here and just suggest taking the opportunity to see him play live if possible. His solo shows make use of looping technology to create an entire band from just his one guitar, and seeing him build pieces to layer them together and play a song is a joy. And of course any of these Youtube links can start a path of exploration there.

Author's note: previously posted on Steemit