When I started listening to Contemporary Christian Music in 1988 after committing my life to Christ, my music aficionado and record store-owner husband was not impressed. I played him a few things, and he said that while the lyrics were good, the music didn’t appeal to him.
Then I played a Phil Keaggy song, and he laughed and said, “Now, if you told me you were listening to Phil Keaggy, I would have told you ‘right on’! He’s one of the greatest guitarists of the last 20 years. He played with a band called Glass Harp. You don’t know Phil Keaggy?”
I didn’t, but I soon learned that the world is a better place musically because Phil Keaggy gave his life and his talent to Christ after finding emptiness in playing for the world and commercial success.
How Did Phil Keaggy Become a Christian?
Keaggy was raised Catholic with nine brothers and sisters and a mom who prayed for all of them. In a James Long interview for CCM Magazine, Keagy recounted that he had been playing on tour with Glass Harp in 1970 (a secular rock band he helped found).
One night while the band was on tour, Keaggy was in his hotel room and was suddenly gripped by severe chest pain from a bad LSD trip. At the same time, his mother, with whom he had a close bond, was involved in a head-on traffic collision. She passed away a week later.
In that following week, Phil had much to think about how his life was going and how his mother had always prayed for him to know his Savior. His sister Mary Ellen told him about her faith in Christ, and Phil realized, “It was only in God that I could find something strong enough to replace the love I knew for her.” Then he gave his life to Christ.
When Did Phil Keaggy Start His Christian Music Career?
Keaggy was interested in music from a young age, and as the second to the youngest, he was exposed to many kinds of music at home. He was already a proficient guitarist by 1968 when Glass Harp was formed. When he became a Christian in 1970, he began including Christian lyrics in his songs.
In 1973, Keaggy started playing on tour with the earliest contemporary Christian bands, like 2nd Chapter of Acts. By 1977, he was touring with 2nd Chapter of Acts. A year later, Keaggy released his first instrumental album, The Master and The Musician, to critical acclaim.
Keaggy hasn’t looked back in all these years and hasn’t stopped playing, though the music may differ from album to album. He may choose instrumental (The Master and the Musician), jazz rock (Play Thru Me), soft rock (early work with 2nd Chapter of Acts), or full-on rock (Crimson and Blue).
He has won Album of the Year seven times at the Dove Awards and has twice been nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Gospel Album. Guitar Player Magazine readers have frequently listed Keaggy as one of the world’s top two “finger-style” and finger-picking style guitarists.
Who Are Some of Phil Keaggy’s Christian Music Collaborators?
In the earliest days, Phil worked with 2nd Chapter of Acts, recording on their albums and playing soft pop Christian music on tour. Keaggy was perfectly poised “for such a time as this,” interacting with pioneers of the Contemporary Christian Music scene like Randy Stonehill and Larry Norman.
Stonehill worked with what he called “the usual suspects,” including Keaggy, Norman, Keith Green, Barry McGuire, Noel Paul Stookey, Russ Taff, Michael Card, and Phil Madeira. In his summaries of each of these collaborators, Stonehill highlights how “Keaggy’s talent has been recognized worldwide by writers, musicians.”
The Keaggy and Stonehill duet “Who Will Save The Children” was a Christian radio hit, raising awareness of the plight of the poor and how followers of Jesus should step in and realize their need to follow Jesus’ example and help the poor.
10 Phil Keaggy Quotes about Faith and Music
1. “I’ve been feeling led to focus more on the Word of God these days. . . It is the primary source of our walk and our inspiration, in conjunction with the Holy Spirit’s presence in our lives. Getting back to the most essential words of comfort, encouragement, exhortation, rebuke—whatever you need—helps to understand the heart of Jesus and live the Christian life.” — Christian Musician interview with Bruce Adolph
2. “One time a guy said to me back in 1974 or 1975, He said “Phil, just from a musical, educational point of view, from a technical point of view, what you are doing is wrong, but it’s beautiful.” — Jazz Blues News interview with Simon Sargsyan
3. “I know that entertainment is entertainment and Christian music is Christian music, but Christian music doesn’t save souls. It can encourage a heart and be a signpost pointing someone in the right direction….” — Crosswalk.com interview by Michael Turner
4. “I think about the audiences that were going to Christian concerts in the ’70’s many of them very conservative. . . [they] must have had the thought ‘how can I really enjoy this and the Lord?’. . . they saw we were all so very sincere about our faith in sharing our love for Jesus that it kind of softened, took the edge off of what was rock and roll you know.” — Interview posted on 2nd Chapter of Acts website
5 “I think the best way to sum up artistic creativity by Christians is as Bach would say, ‘To the glory of God.’ And Scripture says, whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might and unto the Lord.” — Matthew Turner interview, part 2
6. “The presence of Christ within encompasses more than the space [we’re] physically taking up. The best thing we can do is not quench the spirit with doubt and pride, because pride will quench the spirit in a very serious way. [It] is taking your eyes off Jesus and putting it on yourself.” — Religious Broadcasting interview with Keaggy and Card by Sarah E. Smith and Christine L. Pryor
7. “The Bible talks about how God wants to give us the mantle of praise instead of the spirit of heaviness. That’s why the song Heavy Heart contains the message, ‘Children whatever you go through, remember I’m with you’ and those kinds of things, and, ‘I’ll always love you.’” — Matthew Turner interview
8. “There’s a thread that’s been woven throughout all the years, a melodic thread, and I think it comes from the same heart and spirit I have. It’s like it says even though our outer man decays, our inner man is renewed day by day. Jesus never gets old.” — Christian Broadcasting Network interview by Scott Ross
9. “I feel after almost 5 decades of following and believing in Jesus, that my faith in him is sure and solid! Not that I haven’t had my struggles and my weaknesses, but my confidence in Him is a reality in my life.” — Jubileecast interview by Timothy Yap
10 “I tried to create something that would encourage people and realize that suffering is not completely pointless, God can use it in our lives.” — Matthew Turner interview
10 Best Albums by Phil Keaggy
According to Billboard.com charts, here are the best-selling Phil Keaggy albums of all time:
1. Find Me in These Fields (1990)
2. Crimson & Blue (1993)
3. Getting Closer (1986)
4. The Wind & The Wheat (1987)
5. Phil Keaggy and Sunday’s Child (1988)
6. Revelator (1993)
7. Beyond Nature (1991)
8. 220 (1996)
9. True Believer (1995)
10. Way Back Home (1994)
Keaggy has released more than 55 albums and contributed to many more.
Keaggy often plays “Love Broke Thru” in concert, a Keith Green song that Keaggy included on his second album. Green’s rendition is called “Your Love Broke Through.” The song is about someone whose life went astray until God changed things, capturing their heart’s attention. No wonder it was a favorite of Keaggy’s.
Further Reading:
How Did the Jesus Movement Change American Christianity?
10 Keith Green Quotes to Ponder Today
Is It Okay for Christians to Listen to Secular Music?
Why Did Christian Music Forget The Call’s Michael Been?
How Did John Michael Talbot Change Christian Music?
20 Great Books about Christian Music
What You Should Know about Rich Mullins
Why Did Sam Phillips Leave Christian Music?
10 Keith Green Songs that Still Inspire Us Today
Why Should Christian Music Pay Attention to T Bone Burnett?
Photo Credit: Curt Cosenza/Flickr
Mary Oelerich-Meyer is a Chicago-area freelance writer and copy editor who prayed for years for a way to write about and for the Lord. She spent 20 years writing for area healthcare organizations, interviewing doctors and clinical professionals and writing more than 1,500 articles in addition to marketing collateral materials. Important work, but not what she felt called to do. She is grateful for any opportunity to share the Lord in her writing and editing, believing that life is too short to write about anything else. Previously she served as Marketing Communications Director for a large healthcare system. She holds a B.A. in International Business and Marketing from Cornell College (the original Cornell!) When not researching or writing, she loves to spend time with her writer daughter, granddaughter, rescue doggie and husband (not always in that order).
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