Home > Phil Keaggy

Keaggy began playing music professionally in the late 1960s with drummer John Sferra . The two longtime friends formed a band called Glass Harp. The band was signed to Decca Records and began to open for such artists as Iron Butterfly, Yes, Traffic and Chicago. At one point, guitarist Joe Walsh had considered joining the band.

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 2nd Chapter of Acts, Paul Clark, and Nancy Honeytree . Keaggy returned in 19761976 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). Events January January 12 UN Security Council votes 11-1 to admit the Palestinian Liberation Organization January 15 Would-be Gerald Ford presidential assassin Sara Jane Moore is s with Love Broke Thru, which included his cover of the Randy StonehillRandy Stonehill is an American singer/songwriter from San Jose, California. Stonehill's first album, Born Twice was released in 1971, with financial help from Pat Boone. The album was recorded for a mere $800, and according to Stonehill, it "sounds like e/ Keith GreenKeith Green ( 1953- July 28, 1982) was an American gospel singer and pianist from Sheepshead Bay, New York. Green is perhaps best known for his slogan "No Compromise" and the song "Your Love Broke Through", written with Todd Fishkind and Randy Stonehill,/ Todd Fishkind song of the same name. The summer of 1977For the album by Ash, see 1977 (album). Events January 1 First woman Episcopal priest ordained January 6 EMI sacks the Sex Pistols January 18 Scientists identify a previously unknown bacterium as the cause of the mysterious " legionnaire's disease" Januar saw Keaggy on an 18-city tour of the western United StatesThe United States of America also referred to as the United States U. America ¹ or the States is a federal republic in central North America, stretching from the Atlantic in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west. It shares land borders with Canada in with 2nd Chapter of Acts and " a band called Davida band called David was a group of musicians who provided the instrumental support from 1974 until 1988 for the 2nd Chapter of Acts, a Contemporary Christian music group. The members of the band, without a name, played informally together and attended the". This was captured in the live triple album How the West Was One. 1977 also featured the only release of the Phil Keaggy Band, Emerging. In 1978Events January January 1 The Copyright Act of 1976 takes effect, making sweeping changes to United States copyright law. January 1 Air India's Boeing 747 explodes near Bombay 213 dead. January 4 Referendum in Chile supports policies of Augusto Pinochet., Keaggy released his first critically acclaimed instrumental album entitled Master and the Musician.

The Keaggy family then moved to Kansas City, MissouriKansas City is a city in Clay, Cass, Jackson, and Platte counties in Missouri. Often abbreviated KCMO, Kansas City is the center of the Kansas City metropolitan area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. As of the 2000 census, the city had a. Their first daughter, Alicia, was born soon after in March of 1980. Their second daughter, Olivia, was born on Valentine's Day, 1984, and in 1987, the Keaggys celebrated the birth of their son, Ian. Keaggy was signed to the Contemporary Christian music label Myrrh 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 won his very 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 has 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 and other musicians to create Phil Keaggy and Sunday's Child, a tribute of sorts to 1960s bands like The Beatles. A few years later, Keaggy would perform at former Beatle Paul McCartney's sister-in-law's wedding. After the wedding, Keaggy fulfilled a lifelong dream by jamming with McCartney in a hotel room.

In 1994, Keaggy released 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". 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 organ.)

As of 2004, Keaggy continues to record and tour heavily.

Rumors have followed Keaggy for years that Jimi Hendrix had supposedly named him as his answer to the question "who is the best guitarist in the world?" while making an appearance on the Tonight Show. Sometimes the rumor is that it was Eric Clapton, or that it was on the Dick Cavett show. Keaggy himself thinks that these rumors are probably not true, but due to the fact that many of these shows did not keep archives of all of their early shows, it is nearly impossible to either confirm or disprove the rumor completely. Some fans have claimed to have seen the show in question, but to date, no one has presented a tape or any kind of evidence to confirm it. Snopes has an article regarding the "Tonight Show" appearance here.