On 30th anniversary of ‘Master,’ Keaggy discusses tough times

By John Benson

A double-disc reissue of Keaggy’s first album will be out, along with a tour.

There is something about being 27 years old that adversely affects musicians.

Aside from the fact that this is the exact age Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Brian Jones and Kurt Cobain died, other prominent musicians – such as Prince and Axl Rose – have spoken publicly about the personal trials and tribulations of being 27.

The odd phenomenon even affected Youngstown’s favorite music hero Phil Keaggy, who at the age of 27 released his first instrumental effort, 1978’s “Master The Musician.”

“The album was born out of some real heartache,” said Keaggy, calling from his Nashville studio. “My wife and I were married in 1973 and in 1975 we lost triplet boys through premature births. And then a year later, a baby boy was premature and a year later a miscarriage. And then in 1978, I go out and do this album because I didn’t know what to say.

“I didn’t record any lyrical music. So the album has a melodic, whimsical pathos in the album. It was just born out of that time, and that’s why it might remain special to me.”

Keaggy said when he recorded “Master The Musician” he was influenced by a variety of artists, including Jann Hammer, Anthony Phillips and traditional folk music. Known at the time for his guitar virtuosity, former Glass Harp member Keaggy threw his fans and label (NewSong Records) a curveball with the album, which features folk, jazz and rock-influenced compositions.

In fact, NewSong Records originally released a Tolkien-like narrative along with the record that attempted to put a story behind the music. Normally, most artists would reject a record label dabbling with their creative expression, yet Keaggy said he knew the material was unique and different. So he was just happy it was going to see the light of day, even if that meant including an allegorical story he didn’t create.

“Yeah, it was creatively a breakthrough album,” Keaggy said. “It was my first instrumental album. And it was an album that even then the label I was with didn’t know what to do with it because I was promoted as a Christian artist and people were saying, ‘Where is the message?’

“Well, the message was the melody to me. I’ve always thought the music sort of stood on its own.”

To celebrate the album’s 30th anniversary, a double-disc reissue has been released with Keaggy mounting a unique tour in which he’s playing the album in its entirety. The Youngstown native is scheduled to perform April 26 at Powers Auditorium.

Joining Keaggy on tour is Glass Harp member John Sferra (drums) along with Boh Cooper (keyboards), Ric Hordinski (guitar), Tom Hemby (guitar) and Tom Shinness (guitar). Keaggy said the evening will include all of “Master The Musician,” as well as other solo material and band members’ work. However, he stressed fans shouldn’t expect to hear any Glass Harp tunes, even though he understands that’s what his hometown may want to hear.

“I still consider myself a Youngstown musician,” Keaggy said. “That’s where I cut my teeth, and that’s where I grew up for the most part. So I have many friends there, and I’m grateful for that. If anyone remembers or if they like this album, I’d encourage them to come out and listen to it live.

“We’re trying to do that album lick for lick, which is pretty cool to capture that. Often when people do an album, it doesn’t sound like the album. It sounds sort of like it, but I think it’s a nice evening of music and it’s a one-time thing. It probably will never happen again.”