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Phil Keaggy
Around 1980, I began listening to Christian radio, to a new type of music called “Contemporary Christian Music.” A song called Spend My Life With You was getting a lot of airplay. It featured some very nice acoustic guitar and even an acoustic guitar solo. I had heard that Phil Keaggy was an excellent guitar player, and I liked the song, so I bought the album (Ph’lip Side.) What a surprise. The album featured a wide variety of musical styles from blues to rock to Beatles-style pop. But what really shocked me was the guitar playing. Here was a guitar player who could hold his own with anyone, and I had never heard of him.
Shortly after that, they announced that Phil was coming in concert to a High School about forty minutes away. I got tickets! My wife and I arrived early and had our pick of seats. We sat about five rows back from the stage in the gymnasium. As we sat through the warm-up act, my anticipation began to build. Finally, the Phil Keaggy band came out.
As he began to play, I was just in awe. I had never seen anyone play like that. He had total command of that instrument. In one segment of the show he came out alone and improvised for about five minutes completely mesmerizing the audience. It was unbelievable. He covered the whole neck — using chords, fingerpicking, volume swells, chord tapping, and E-Bow, he moved seamlessly from one idea to another with unimaginable technique and ease. This was not the typical guitar solo segment of the 70s where guitar players played all the tricks and flashy licks they knew, it was completely beyond that and totally musical. It was pure inspiration pouring out of a man through his guitar.
After you see Phil Keaggy live, you either get totally inspired to play better or you want to throw your guitar away. In my opinion, he is simply the most complete guitarist I have ever heard or seen.
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- Phil Keaggy
Maybe it was a concert, or a CD (or an LP for us older players), or a song on the radio. There is usually one defining moment when we hear a player for the first time and they become our hero.
Here is your chance to tell the story of how a particular player became your hero. If you have an interesting story to tell, simply email me the story. Be sure to include the name of your hero and your name.
