Other Keaggy-Related Internet Resources

Contents


March Of The Clouds: Ron Kneusel's Phil Keaggy Page

Ron had a page listing his collection of Keaggy recordings well before Way Back Home existed. It's since grown to a broader site, with various Keaggy information and photos. Its title and choice of background image (for those with browsers that view backgrounds) are inspired by the song "March Of The Clouds," which opens Phil's instrumental album, The Wind And The Wheat. You'll find no better "portrait" of Phil on the 'net than the one portrayed by the stories on Ron's "Phil's Friends on Phil" page; this is a must-visit site for anyone curious about Phil the man or Phil the musician. Some other particularly noteworthy items hosted at March of the Clouds are: ...and lots more that you won't find here at Way Back Home. Be sure to drop by!


The Phil Keaggy Information Phile

Subtitled "Frequently Asked Questions about Phil and his Music," this is a "webified" version of Peter Thompson's amazing 40 page FAQ on Phil and his music that Peter has posted regularly to rec.music.christian.


Glass Harp Resources

If you're new to Phil's music, you should know that before going solo in 1973, Phil was part of a trio called Glass Harp, with drummer John Sferra (who is prominent on Phil's recent recording, Crimson and Blue) and bassist Dan Pecchio. In four years, Glass Harp recorded three albums on the Decca label and were creating quite a stir far outside of their home base of Ohio as openers for such bands as Yes and Traffic. There have been occassional Glass Harp reunions, selling out Cleveland's Civic Theater decades after the band's breakup. You can learn more at The Glass Harp Web Page hosted by Torrey Nelson, and at the Glass Harp Multimedia Scrapbook (including images and soundbites), maintained by John Sferra himself. There is also an official Glass Harp Listening Center sponsored by OPM Merchandising, an Ohio-based company that distributes reissues of Glass Harp CDs and apparel, and the new Live at Carnegie Hall CD.


John Sferra's Home Page

John has been a friend of Phil's for about 30 years or more, and founded Glass Harp with him in 1969. This is his home page, where you can find out about his new album, North Bound. Phil contributes guitars and vocals to this recording.


Phil Madeira's Home Page

Phil M. was a member of the Phil Keaggy Band (whose only recording was Emerging), having hooked up with Phil K. while both were members of the Love Inn community in upstate New York in the early 70s. Both Phils have remained continual friends and collaborators since, and Phil M's legendary Hammond B3 organ playing has graced many a CCM recording by Phil K. and others including Amy Grant and Rich Mullins. Phil M. plays more than just the B3, though; he's a multi-instrumentalist, as his own solo recording Off Kilter bears witness to. Check out his home page for more info.


Compassion International

Phil and his family have been longtime sponsors of children through Compassion Internation, a Christian child sponsorship agency.

For the official word on the ministry of Compassion International, you can reach them on the web, by email, by phone, FAX, or surface mail as follows:

Compassion International
P.O. Box 7000
Colorado Springs, CO 80933
Continental US: (800) 336-7676
Off-Continent: (719) 594-9900
FAX: (719) 594-6189
Email: ciinfo@us.ci.org
If you are in Canada or the UK, visit their Partnering Country offices, Compassion Canada and Tear Fund - United Kingdom.

For many years Compassion has enlisted the help of a variety of contemporary Christian musicians. You can read about this aspect of their ministry at their Music Program page.


Philophiles

Some of these Keaggy fans have included photos or other Keaggy Kontent at their sites.
Chris Myers
Chris, a subscriber to the keaggy-l list server, maintains this site which hosts some great Keaggy photos, including a particularly nice set of black-and-whites from the Keaggy/King/Dente tour in early 1998. He also offers links to other Keaggy sites, and a discography of recordings in his personal collection.
Bob Wingate
Bob, a subscriber to the keaggy-l list server, has an attractive home page including a page on Phil Keaggy/The Master's Musician that features links to other Keaggy sites, and some soundbites from recent Keaggy albums.
Caspar McCloud
Caspar, an artist and musician, hosts this site which contains photos of Phil with Caspar and a watercolor portrait of Phil (well, it's not watercolor online!).
Doug Ingram
Australian Keaggy fan Doug Ingram has a great page of photos of one of Phil's rare Australian concerts, back in 1988.
Daniel Ille's Homepage includes a link to Daniel's Keaggy Page that features links to his Keaggy artwork.

Musical Influences

Classical Composers

Were you given the chance to ask Phil about his musical influences and who he's been listening to lately, you might expect to hear about the Beatles, the great blues-rock players of the 60s and 70s, or about other contemporary guitarists. But Phil's first response is often a reference to the music of turn-of-the-century classical composers. Among his favorites are the following (images courtesy the Picture Gallery of 1000 Classical Composers):

Edvard Grieg (1843-1907)
[Grieg picture] References to the works of Grieg, widely considered the greatest Norwegian classical composer, appear in Phil's music at least as far back as the early 70s (you can hear him steal some lines from Greig's masterwork, "Peer Gynt," in a solo on his live album with Second Chapter of Acts, How The West Was One). On Phil's recent acoustic album, Beyond Nature, you'll find his arrangement of Grieg's "Symphonic Dances," arranged by Phil for five guitars (overdubbed!). You can find out more about Grieg at these web sites:

Claude-Achille Debussy (1862-1918)
[Debussy picture] French composer Claude Debussy is probably the personality most closely associated with the term "impressionism" in classical music. You've almost certainly heard his best-known works, "Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun" (for orchestra) and "Claire de Lune" ("Light of the Moon", for piano). Phil has noted that "Claire de Lune" partly inspired his acoustic instrumental, "Fare Thee Well," which appears on Beyond Nature (the intro and coda are very reminiscent of "Claire de Lune"). The other influence for this tune was the Beatles' "Yellow Submarine"---you can sing "We all live in a yellow submarine" over the chorus! Talk about diverse influences.... You can learn more about Debussy at these web sites:

Ralph Vaughan-Williams (1872-1958)
[VW picture] Ralph (pronounced "Rafe") Vaughan-Williams is widely considered the greatest of the British romantic composers. His best-known works are probably "The Lark Ascending" and "Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis." He composed a piece titled "Dives and Lazarus" based on the melody of an English folk song; this same melody is the basis of several popular hymns, including "I Feel The Wind Of God Today." It is under this title that Phil's treatement of the melody--inspired directly by Vaughan-Williams'--appears on Beyond Nature. Phil recently arranged a movement of a lesser-known work of Vaughan-Willimas--a quintet--as an electric guitar instrumental titled "Ralph's Peace." He has been performing it live on acoustic, and it will appear on his next instrumental album, 220, to be released by Sparrow Records in August 1996. You can learn more about Vaughan-Williams at these web sites:

Contemporary Musicians

Among Phil's many contemporary influences are the following:
Bruce Cockburn
Phil is a huge fan of Bruce Cockburn, a Canadian contemporary singer/songwriter whose best-known song in the USA is probably his top-40 hit of the 70s, "Wondering Where The Lions Are." Phil is particularly fond of Cockburn's earliest work, and composed the music to "It Could've Been Me" (on Way Back Home) with Cockburn's style in mind. You'll find more about Bruce at the Bruce Cockburn Web Page, which includes a page listing several other Cockburn web resources including Gavin's Woodpile, an online Cockburn newsletter.

Martin Simpson
Martin and Phil were cover artists on consecutive issues of Fingerstyle Guitar magazine during its premier year (issues 3 and 4 of 1994). Martin first gained recognition for his awesome acoustic guitar chops in his home country of England where he appeared solo and as accompanist for several well-known British folksingers, most notably June Tabor. In the 90s, he and his US-born wife and fellow musician, Jessica Ruby Simpson, moved to upstate NY, and later to Santa Cruz, CA. At the same time, his fame has spread widely. His recent releases include two collections of Celtic and "Atlantic Rim" instrumentals on the Shanachie label (Leaves Of Life and When I Was On Horseback), a collection of instrumental arrangements of traditional gospel songs (A Closer Walk With Thee), a collection of contemporary folk songs recorded with Jessica (Red Roses), and most recently a collection of original and traditional acoustic blues songs (Smoke and Mirrors), the latter albums being released by Thunderbird Records. You can learn more about Martin at the Martin Simpson web page, hosted by Thunderbird Records. Phil has recently (fall of 1995) composed a song called "Legacy" that is partly inspired by, and intended as a tribute to, Simpson's music. It appears on his Acoustic Sketches recording.

Allan Holdsworth
Jazz/fusion legend Allan Holdsworth has been a strong influence on Phil's electric lead style and on his use of extended chords and volume-swelled chords. Phil wrote the instrumental "Paid in Full" on the Underground album as a tribute to Holdsworth. For more about Holdsworth, visit The Allan Holdsworth WWW Home Page.

Eric Johnson
Phil has noted in interviews that he admires the electric playing of Austin, Texas guitarist Eric Johnson, saying that Johnson's energy and attention to vintage tones and styles reminds him of some of the magic of Glass Harp. Johnson most often performs live in a trio setting, just as Phil did in Glass Harp. In his 1996 interview for Guitar Player magazine, Johnson cites Phil's playing with Glass Harp as an important influence on his legendary lead tone. You can learn more about Johnson's music at The Eric Johnson Home Page or The Eric Johnson Fan Page or The Unofficial Eric Johnson Site.


Musical Collaborators

Phil has appeared on many albums by other musicians, contributing his signature guitar work and occassionally vocals. An extensive list of such collaborations appears in the Preliminary Complete Discography. Among these musical collaborators, the following have web pages:


Miscellany

Here are some other web sites that may be of interest to Keaggy fans:

Guitar Sites

AG: Acoustic Guitarists' Annotated Guide to the Internet
An annotated collection of links to hundreds of Internet resources for acoustic guitar players, compiled by your friendly neighborhood Way Back Home editor.

Guitar Notes by Jason Nieh
A handy and extensive collection of Internet guitar-related links, compiled by devoted Keaggy fan Jason Nieh.

Contemporary Christian Music Guitar Music Archive
This archive, maintained by Mike Pilato, contains chords and tab for songs from many contemporary Christian guitarists. It is temporarily off-line as of early spring 97; but keep visiting for up-to-date info.

CGTAR at AOL
Allegedly a CCM tab site; but AOL sites crash my browser so I can't verify this!

Rockin' with the Cross
Allegedly has CCM tab, but the server has been down so I cannot verify this.

James A. Olson Guitars
A web page describing and honoring the wonderful acoustic guitars of James Olson, long-time friend and luthier of Phil's. Another site maintained by your friendly neighborhood Way Back Home editor.

Langejans Guitars
A web site for Langejans custom acoustic guitars, Phil's recent exclusive choice for live performance (they share time in the studio with his Olson, too). Jason Nieh maintains this site.

Delerium's Psychedelic Web
A web site describing "psychedelic" bands in the US from 1963 to 1972, including an entry for Glass Harp.

Contemporary Christian Music Sites

CCM FAQ
Rec.music.christian Home Page
Christian Music Mailing List
This site, hosted by Prodigy Services Company but open to all 'netizens, lets you peruse archives of the Prodigy sponsored and moderated Christian music mailing list, and subscribe or post messages yourself. Phil's music has been a topic of discussion on this list.
CCM Magazine
The Lighthouse Electronic Magazine
A monthly online CCM magazine.
The Lighthouse --- Online CCM Magazine
Christian Happenings
An extension of Christian Happenings magazine, listing concerts, conferences, talks, etc. chronologically and by region.
White Flag
An online distributor of CDs, videos, and more. "We call ourselves 'Whiite Flag' because our goal is to be totally 'surrendered' to Jesus."
CCM Links
CMO: Christian Music Online
JR Music --- CCM Resources
webresources
A list of all kinds of Christian web resources, including a selection of music resources.
711.NET Christian Internet Assistance
A searchable directory of online sites for and by Christians; searches can be localized by US state.
RadRockers
Mail order purchasing of "rare" Christian music.
CCMusic
"A loosely organized group of people who have the common goal of promoting Christian music through the World Wide Web." Their site includes a large list of Christian artist sites.
LIFE 106.3 WCTL Music
A Christian radio station broadcasting from Erie, PA; their site includes a collection of Christian music links.

Other Artists

These artists are among my own personal favorites, so I couldn't resist taking the opportunity to mention them here. Since their music appeals to this Keaggy fan, perhaps it will appeal to you, too.

Brooks Williams is a fine contemporary singer/songwriter whose wonderful, blues-inspired songwriting and incredible acoustic guitar playing has been influenced by Phil, Bruce Cockburn, Joseph Spence, and others. He and Phil have performed on the same bill. In an interview in Acoustic Guitar magazine, Brooks remarked that seeing one of Phil's solo acoustic shows played an important role in motivating him to make music his career. You can find out more about Brooks at the Brooks Williams Home Page.

Bob Franke is another fine contemporary singer/songwriter whose songwriting is renown, and whose writing is strongly influenced by his Episcopalian spirituality. Although I don't believe he and Phil are aware of each others' work, Bob has written a provocative essay on songwriting as listening to the Source that I feel deserves a wide audience, and that articulates better than I ever could something that I appreciate a great deal in Bob's and Phil's songwriting. You can learn more about Bob Franke at Bob Franke's Home Page.

The Alta Vista web crawler has located a large number of sites that mention Phil; here is a Phil Keaggy query at Alta Vist. Many thanks to Jason Nieh for locating this resource!



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Tom Loredo / loredo@spacenet.tn.cornell.edu