Browse Artists
Keaggy, Phil
Phil Keaggy began making professional recordings over 30 years ago, first as a sideman with several Eastern Ohio bands, then as a featured member of power trio Glass Harp. Besides Keaggy's burgeoning talent on the Les Paul, Glass Harp allowed Phil to express his new-found Christian faith.
The demise of Glass Harp in 1972 set the stage for the 24-year portion of Keaggy's career with which Christians are most familiar--from 1974's What a Day to 1996's 220. Although the bulk of Phil's catalogue contains primarily vocal albums, there are moments on each of those releases which display Keaggy's guitar brilliance. In addition, Keaggy has previously released three instrumental albums, the acoustic/electric hybrid The Master and the Musician (1978, an album which Keaggy still considers one of his finest works); The Wind and the Wheat (1987) and the mostly acoustic Beyond Nature (1991).
When Keaggy and his label, Sparrow Records, mutually agreed a few years back to plan for a new instrumental album, it was decided to focus on an electric approach. "Bill Deaton, who engineered Crimson & Blue, ended up being the producer. And Bill wanted to see me work with a whole new group of musicians. So in February 1996, I got together with Spencer Campbell--he's the bass player--and Lynn Williams, the drummer. I met Lynn when he was playing with my old buddy Phil Madeira. We ended up jamming for an hour, maybe more. And those jams revealed that we could play and really create together."
Keaggy recalls that the musicians' original intention on 220 was to stick with material that Phil had written in the past year. "We did start out looking only at material that was written since October 1995. But as Bill began to comb through my work tapes and demos, I would play him ideas that I had, and he'd say 'Man, that's happenin'.' To that extent, we tried to recreate the flavor of those demos in the studio. So, about half the album was cut completely new, and half the album came by way of combining my original demos with added performances and overdubs."
During roughly this same time period, Keaggy began to collect song sketches for his annual fan club only "Back Room Trax" recording. However, as these sketches became real songs, Keaggy began to think in terms of turning the fan club tape into a CD called Acoustic Sketches (1996). Phil says he's as happy with that album as any of his commercial work. "To me, it's like a looser form of Beyond Nature. That album had mostly solid, worked-out tunes. On Sketches, half the album was done in one pass, on one afternoon of one day."
Keaggy professes not to be a trendy musician when it comes to style or gear. But he admits to having embraced one piece of equipment in recent years which has revolutionized his performing and composing technique, particularly when it come to 220 and Acoustic Sketches. "Chet Atkins introduced me to the Lexicon JamMan," Phil explains. "It's a very simple piece of signal processing gear--very user friendly. You've got an input, a mixer and an output. Then you've got a selector switch for whether you want to sample or loop or use echo."
Keaggy goes on to explain the concept. "You play a riff or figure into the JamMan, capture that figure digitally, then use that as the basis for adding further lead or rhythm embellishments." Keaggy adds that the device gives him a great deal of freedom in planning his concerts. "I can get on a plane with the JamMan, a compressor and one acoustic guitar, and have everything I need for a concert.
Although Keaggy professes to be in love with his older instruments, he maintains that he's not a "vintage guy," something an equipment check of the 220 gear will bear out. "I've been using my white Zion guitar for about 10 years now. It's all through 220; I use it probably 60-70 percent of the time. And I also use a new guitar called the Parker Fly. The neck is so amazing on it. It weighs only four pounds, has two electric pick-ups and a piezeo pick-up, like you'd find on an acoustic guitar. So you can go effortlessly from an electric sound to an acoustic sound. I've found that using the piezeo and electric pick-ups blended in an overdrive [really cranked] mode for lead solos is the most outrageous sound. If you listen to 'Stomp' on 220, you'll hear a Strat figure at the beginning, then when this other, 'in-your-face' sound that sounds like nothing I've ever done comes in, that's the Parker Fly. It's got this 'bo-wowww' sound that's almost like [seminal British guitarist] Jeff Beck."
Phil adds that the folks at Zion have granted him a very special honor. "Ken Hoover and Zion have designed a new model for me called the Primera; it's actually going to be the first Phil Keaggy signature guitar. It's a beauty. Plays great, sounds great. It's the best in technology and aesthetics. It's going to have my name on it. First time in my life."
Keaggy admits that, as fresh as the 220 sessions felt, it is a struggle to continually come up with new sounds and arrangements. But he feels that some particular songs on 220 have succeeded. "I think 'Stomp' is very new and unique. I actually think it has to do with me living in Tennessee. It's a lick that evolved by way of living in this atmosphere, this environment of country pickers. I would say 'Highland' is a whole new thing for me. It's got Scottish pipes and fiddle, and it doesn't have the lead guitar going throughout. I'm a band member in this song. Then there's 'Tennessee Morning,' which was originally called 'Joy in the Morning.' It's actually a tip-of-the-hat to Chet Atkins. I thought it might be something Chet would like or play."
But Keaggy says one particular track on 220 encapsulates many of the influences which originally attracted him to the electric guitar. "'Great Escape' restates themes from the very earliest Ventures recordings from which I learned. Also, it hints at 'Telstar' by The Tornados. Anybody with gray hair or no hair may remember those records. But you know what? Any guitar player has a right to quote himself, no matter how far back he reaches into the past. I've always found it fun to do that because it's often deliberate, but sometimes it just happens because I play off the top of my head."
Visit Official Website.
The demise of Glass Harp in 1972 set the stage for the 24-year portion of Keaggy's career with which Christians are most familiar--from 1974's What a Day to 1996's 220. Although the bulk of Phil's catalogue contains primarily vocal albums, there are moments on each of those releases which display Keaggy's guitar brilliance. In addition, Keaggy has previously released three instrumental albums, the acoustic/electric hybrid The Master and the Musician (1978, an album which Keaggy still considers one of his finest works); The Wind and the Wheat (1987) and the mostly acoustic Beyond Nature (1991).
When Keaggy and his label, Sparrow Records, mutually agreed a few years back to plan for a new instrumental album, it was decided to focus on an electric approach. "Bill Deaton, who engineered Crimson & Blue, ended up being the producer. And Bill wanted to see me work with a whole new group of musicians. So in February 1996, I got together with Spencer Campbell--he's the bass player--and Lynn Williams, the drummer. I met Lynn when he was playing with my old buddy Phil Madeira. We ended up jamming for an hour, maybe more. And those jams revealed that we could play and really create together."
Keaggy recalls that the musicians' original intention on 220 was to stick with material that Phil had written in the past year. "We did start out looking only at material that was written since October 1995. But as Bill began to comb through my work tapes and demos, I would play him ideas that I had, and he'd say 'Man, that's happenin'.' To that extent, we tried to recreate the flavor of those demos in the studio. So, about half the album was cut completely new, and half the album came by way of combining my original demos with added performances and overdubs."
During roughly this same time period, Keaggy began to collect song sketches for his annual fan club only "Back Room Trax" recording. However, as these sketches became real songs, Keaggy began to think in terms of turning the fan club tape into a CD called Acoustic Sketches (1996). Phil says he's as happy with that album as any of his commercial work. "To me, it's like a looser form of Beyond Nature. That album had mostly solid, worked-out tunes. On Sketches, half the album was done in one pass, on one afternoon of one day."
Keaggy professes not to be a trendy musician when it comes to style or gear. But he admits to having embraced one piece of equipment in recent years which has revolutionized his performing and composing technique, particularly when it come to 220 and Acoustic Sketches. "Chet Atkins introduced me to the Lexicon JamMan," Phil explains. "It's a very simple piece of signal processing gear--very user friendly. You've got an input, a mixer and an output. Then you've got a selector switch for whether you want to sample or loop or use echo."
Keaggy goes on to explain the concept. "You play a riff or figure into the JamMan, capture that figure digitally, then use that as the basis for adding further lead or rhythm embellishments." Keaggy adds that the device gives him a great deal of freedom in planning his concerts. "I can get on a plane with the JamMan, a compressor and one acoustic guitar, and have everything I need for a concert.
Although Keaggy professes to be in love with his older instruments, he maintains that he's not a "vintage guy," something an equipment check of the 220 gear will bear out. "I've been using my white Zion guitar for about 10 years now. It's all through 220; I use it probably 60-70 percent of the time. And I also use a new guitar called the Parker Fly. The neck is so amazing on it. It weighs only four pounds, has two electric pick-ups and a piezeo pick-up, like you'd find on an acoustic guitar. So you can go effortlessly from an electric sound to an acoustic sound. I've found that using the piezeo and electric pick-ups blended in an overdrive [really cranked] mode for lead solos is the most outrageous sound. If you listen to 'Stomp' on 220, you'll hear a Strat figure at the beginning, then when this other, 'in-your-face' sound that sounds like nothing I've ever done comes in, that's the Parker Fly. It's got this 'bo-wowww' sound that's almost like [seminal British guitarist] Jeff Beck."
Phil adds that the folks at Zion have granted him a very special honor. "Ken Hoover and Zion have designed a new model for me called the Primera; it's actually going to be the first Phil Keaggy signature guitar. It's a beauty. Plays great, sounds great. It's the best in technology and aesthetics. It's going to have my name on it. First time in my life."
Keaggy admits that, as fresh as the 220 sessions felt, it is a struggle to continually come up with new sounds and arrangements. But he feels that some particular songs on 220 have succeeded. "I think 'Stomp' is very new and unique. I actually think it has to do with me living in Tennessee. It's a lick that evolved by way of living in this atmosphere, this environment of country pickers. I would say 'Highland' is a whole new thing for me. It's got Scottish pipes and fiddle, and it doesn't have the lead guitar going throughout. I'm a band member in this song. Then there's 'Tennessee Morning,' which was originally called 'Joy in the Morning.' It's actually a tip-of-the-hat to Chet Atkins. I thought it might be something Chet would like or play."
But Keaggy says one particular track on 220 encapsulates many of the influences which originally attracted him to the electric guitar. "'Great Escape' restates themes from the very earliest Ventures recordings from which I learned. Also, it hints at 'Telstar' by The Tornados. Anybody with gray hair or no hair may remember those records. But you know what? Any guitar player has a right to quote himself, no matter how far back he reaches into the past. I've always found it fun to do that because it's often deliberate, but sometimes it just happens because I play off the top of my head."
Visit Official Website.
Albums
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Phil Keaggy
Majesty and Wonder
Music to Paint By Brushstrokes
Music to Paint By: Splash