Phil Keaggy

Philip Tyler Keaggy (born March 23, 1951 in Youngstown, Ohio) is an American acoustic and electric guitarist and vocalist who has released more than 50 albums and contributed to many more recordings in both the

Philip Tyler Keaggy (born March 23, 1951 in Youngstown, Ohio) is an American acoustic and electric guitarist and vocalist who has released more than 50 albums and contributed to many more recordings in both the contemporary Christian music and mainstream markets. He is a seven-time recipient of the GMA Dove Award for Instrumental Album of the Year, and was twice nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Gospel Album. Keaggy was raised in a small farmhouse in Hubbard, Ohio with nine brothers and sisters, and began playing guitar at age ten on a Sears Silvertone guitar. He is missing half of the middle finger on his right hand due to a childhood accident at age 4 involving a water pump. He is frequently listed as one of the top fingerstyle guitarists by Guitar Player Magazine readers' polls.

Keaggy began professionally playing music in the late 1960s with drummer John Sferra. The two longtime friends, with the addition of bassist Dan Pecchio, formed a band called Glass Harp in 1968. A major turning point for the trio was their winning of an Ohio area's "Battle of the Bands." One of event's judges happened to be an associate of the celebrated producer Lewis Merenstein, whom he alerted to the hot young threesome. At the time, Merenstein was fresh from producing albums for many successful artists including The Spencer Davis Group, Turley Richards and Van Morrison's Moondance (Merenstein produced Astral Weeks as well) and had just been voted Producer of the Year by Rolling Stone. Merenstein was persuaded to fly down from New York to see what the fuss was all about. Upon hearing the band perform, Merenstein was so inspired that Decca Records signed Glass Harp to a multi-record deal. A short time later, the band found itself in New York's Greenwich Village recording its first album at Jimi Hendrix' Electric Lady Studios with Lewis Merenstein as producer. As a Decca Records artist, the band began to open for such artists as Iron Butterfly, Yes, Traffic, and Chicago. At one point, future James Gang and Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh was being considered to join New Hudson Exit (the band Phil Keaggy was in prior to the formation of Glass Harp) but the other members of the band felt Walsh's style was too dynamic. Years later, Amboy Dukes guitar player Ted Nugent was quoted as saying "I don't know what happened to that Phil Keaggy, he could have saved the world with his guitar" in Guitar Player Magazine.