400th Episode with Phil Keaggy

Welcome to Voices in My Head, the official podcast of me, Rick Lee James. I'm a recording artist, a singer, a songwriter, an author, a worship leader, and an ordained minister in the Church of the Nazarene. The Voices in My Head podcast is where I discuss music, movies, books, pop culture, theology, and more with friends, colleagues, and sometimes just by myself. Make sure to let me know what you think of today's episode by leaving me a review on iTunes or by tweeting at me @RickLeeJames on Twitter. And please join my mailing list at RickLeeJames.com where you can receive an email every time a new episode is released. By the way, in case you're interested in a daily dose of kindness and encouragement beyond this podcast, I also run the Twitter account @MrRogersSay where I post daily quotes from Fred Rogers, one of the voices in my head. Well, I guess that's it for the intro, so sit back, relax, and listen to the latest episode of Voices in My Head. Welcome back to Voices in My Head. As always, I'm your host, Rick Lee James. Today is our 400th episode celebration. And because this is a special episode, I wanted to invite a guest on the show who means a lot to me personally. Phil Keggy is not only one of the most admired guitarists in music today, he's also a person of humility, generosity, and integrity who has used his art to share the love of God around the world. Phil is such a talented guitarist that most of us who play guitar would be happy if we were able to play his mistakes as well as he does. From beginning guitarists to music industry professionals, nearly everyone who has held a guitar pick owes a debt of gratitude to Phil Keggy for giving us something to aspire to with our playing and in our walk with God. It's my pleasure to welcome Phil back to our show today so we can discuss some of his favorite musical moments in a career that has spanned over 40 years. Phil Keggy, welcome back to Voices in My Head's 400th episode.

Hello, Rick. Nice to be with you, my friend.

Well, I am so glad to get to have some time to be able to talk with you again this evening. Uh, this, as much as being a celebration of, of our 400th show here today, is really a way to, to celebrate your career and some of the wonderful things that, that God has been able to do through your ministry over the years. And so I'm really excited to get to talk to you about some of those things. Uh, you've recorded more than 60 solo albums in your career, which is just remarkable— vocal albums, instrumental albums. And I know this is a bit like asking you which child is your favorite, but I'm wondering, do you have one album in your discography that really has a particular significance to you?

Um, well, you know, I gotta tell you, and, uh, and it's great to be with you tonight and have all our friends listening in. Uh, I really appreciate that. Um, I'd like to tell you that my mom my dad had 10 of us kids. I'm one of 10 Keggy kids, uh, from Jim and, uh, Marguerite, uh, Keggy. Um, I'm the 9th of 10, and I can tell you this for sure, that if my mom were to have to pick a favorite out of her 10 children, she, she just wouldn't be able to do it, right? And I, I think I might be able to pick out 10 I'd take that, that's fine. Yeah, I think I could pick out 10 albums that are really special. Um, the thing is, um, some of my albums, uh, some of those albums in the past, over the past— you mentioned over 40 years. Actually, I started recording with— the first record that I made was in 1965.

Oh wow.

So I was— so that's 55 years. Of recording. So you made me sound younger than I really am. But you know, if I were to think of albums right off the top of my head, I would certainly have to say the first Glass Harp— well, not the first Glass Harp album, although that was special— but the live Glass Harp at Carnegie Hall that we did. We did a live album in 1971 opening up for the Kinks at Carnegie Hall.

Wow.

And it was a sold-out show, and it was recorded with Electric Lady Recording Studio mobile unit. And, um, um, it, it, you know, it didn't come out. You know, uh, Decca Records did not release that album. It's because, uh, at the time they thought they were going to release it, I think there was a fire in the studio and the master tapes were destroyed. But then we had a— we got in contact with the, uh, engineer Ralph Moss, who engineered that concert, and he had a safety that he had made from the recording of that show. So no fixes, a real rough mix, but you can hear that album on Spotify. And I don't think it's on iTunes, but it's on Spotify. Um, and it's also, I think— no, it's not on my Bandcamp, but you can definitely hear it on Spotify. I was 20 years old. And I was just a year old in the Lord, and I was proclaiming the gospel. And we were ambitious young musicians, the three of us in Glass Harp, and the guys just let me sing about the Lord, you know. And, um, it was quite, quite an interesting concert because we were a very young, uh, group and very ambitious and full of energy and exploratory with our music and style. But the thing is, that is a very special album to me, and I want to say hi to Daniel and John from the Glass Harp. So I would say that album is pretty special. And then I would say What a Day, my first solo album, which has touched so many hearts, and it was so, you know, innocent, young.

What day! What— what? Adayadadayadaayy... Daya-day-a-daa-yaaa-ya-daahh! Wadduh days wadduhs daays waddus deezz zozzi yuzzzzs! Waddudheys wudduzdaizwazzis ziyyazoozees!

Uh, then I would say Love Broke Through was very special because of the title song by Keith Green and Randy Stonehill, uh, and Todd Fishkin, who wrote the title song. Great songs. Uh, also Abraham, written by Buck and Annie Herring. And then I had a few nice ones in there somewhere in between. It's interesting, it opens up with Keith's song and it ends with Annie Herring's song. It's really an interesting album.

All my life I have been searching for that crazy missing part. With one touch, you just rolled away the stone that held my heart. Now I see that the answer was as simple as my need to let love in. And I am so sure, I could never doubt, the gentle touch again. It's like the power of the wind. It's like waking up from the long yesterday. How we Let's see. Until your love broke through, I was lost in a fantasy that blinded me. Until your love broke through, I But I was very young.

I was not quite mature, but I was ambitious. Then I would have to say I'd skip an album to The Master and the Musician, which was my first instrumental album. That album was really special to me in so many ways, and there's so many reasons for it. And then I would probably say skip ahead through some of those albums, except the, the albums I did in the early '80s, there are highlights among the 3 Sparrow albums I did, um, Flipside, Town to Town, and Play Through Me. And if I were to make my favorite choices of those 3 albums, I could make an, an album I would love with the best of those 3 albums. So I would say like, let every— let everything else go. Uh, Our Lives, um, uh, His Master's Voice, uh, um, what's that, Morning Light, and Our Lives. See, I said Rise Up, O Men of God, and you know, certain songs like that. Carefree was a good one. Happy, um, Town to Town was a good one. But then, then when, um the mid, uh, '80s came around, I'd say Wind in the Wheat was really special, and, uh, Way Back Home. Those albums are really special to me.

Yeah.

So, so as you can see, I'm, I'm climbing to 10 kids. I would also say that Beyond Nature is really special to me. Uh, I love that album because of you know, it came out of a new place, a newfound place. Uh, also there was a self-titled album I did in '97 or '98 that had Tender Love and Under the Grace, and those songs are really special to me. Um, skipping ahead, I would say, uh, I, I do like Acoustic Cafe and Acoustic Sketches. Both of those are kind of special in many ways. And then, um, I would go to, um, Illumination is a fantastic, uh, project. And then I've done 4 albums with my friend Jeff Johnson. I would say those albums are super, super special. Wow. It's hard to pick them all, you know.

Yeah, sure.

There, there's, uh, there are different seasons in my life, you know.

Yeah, well, yeah, well, thank you for sharing those. And just as you've been naming them off, I, I have different memories, you know, of different songs on there that when you mentioned Play Through Me, I— it almost has been so long since I listened to it, um, I've forgotten how important some of those songs were to me when I was learning how to play guitar. And, and, uh, just, yeah, just, just good, good stuff. So that's— thank you for kind of taking us on that musical road tonight because there's so much. I'll have to say that still probably my favorite album because it was the first album that I heard from you, and it was one that I got for Christmas on a cassette. I was living in Dickson, Tennessee at the time, and my dad was a pastor at a little country church there in Dickson. And I really didn't have a lot of Christian music in my repertoire. I was, I was big into country at the time, and I was trying to learn you know, Vince Gill guitar licks, because that was in the '90s when country was, you know, like the big thing.

And Vince Gill licks are worth learning.

Yeah, oh definitely.

He's a great guitar player.

Yeah. And I remember in the middle of, you know, I was kind of picky. It had to be at that time, because I was learning guitar and excelling at it. It had to be somebody who was good on guitar. I just wasn't interested, you know? And those country guys were really good. And the album that was gifted to me of yours, which was my first album and still one of my favorites, was Crimson and Blue. And no kidding. Oh, I just loved it. I just loved it. And Love Divine and just different songs on there meant so much to me. John the Revelator. So many great guitar riffs that I still— Doing Nothing especially was just several songs on that album that I go back to and pick up a guitar and just like, man, he's really jamming out on this, you know. It was good stuff.

Yeah, so yeah, I was, I was going through my little rock and roll shredding period there, wasn't I?

Shoot another seduction. Hey, hey, hey! All around the world, satellite beaming bright out into the starry night. You're sending them nothing good enough to view, and you say you're nothing worth listening to. You're doing nothing except for one private shoot. Doing nothing at all. You're saying nothing good enough to do. You're saying nothing worth listening to. You're doing nothing except for walking the town. You're doing nothing at all.

You know what, for a kid in high school at that time, it was perfect. You know, it was just, it was what I was looking for. And I remember going over to, you know, like my friend's house in the basement, and none of us were very good at what we did, but somebody sit at drums and I'd grab an electric guitar and somebody'd be on bass and we'd just try to emulate those songs as much as we could. It was so much fun.

And so that album came out in late '92. How old would you have been in '92, Rick?

Uh, let's see, in '92 I would have been just making the transition to, to high school, I guess. I think, I think I would have been probably about a sophomore in high school, if memory serves, because I graduated in '95. And that was right around the time that I was just really starting, uh, getting guitar. I had a teacher there in Dickson, Tennessee who for many years was a staff player at the Grand Ole Opry, and Doc Stone was his name. And he just taught me so much. And so I was learning how to solo, and I would listen to you to try to learn about improvisation and, you know, try to work out some of those guitar licks. And they were just out of this world, you know. I just loved it. But anyway, that's just one of my personal things.

So, well, that, that's great to know. You know, I, I, uh, I recorded that album in Nashville because my wife and I and our kids, we moved here in '89, 1989, and we moved, uh, to Nashville, and we've been here ever since. And, uh, of course I teamed up with a lot of good friends. John Saffara from Glassheart played drums on Crimson and Blue. Phil Madeira, who's a fabulous keyboard player.

Oh yeah.

And a songwriter in his own right. And Lynn Nichols produced, and Wade James played bass. It was basically the four of us, you know. And because we were also, you know, we had worked on other albums before, but I think we were just having fun, you know. We were, you know, celebrating the gospel people and jamming and just having a good time. Yeah, of course I'm not a jazz player, but I did have some rock roots, you know, rock and roll guitar roots. But it's interesting that I did Crimson and Blue after my Beyond Nature album because, um, Beyond Nature— well, Sunday's Child was '87, um, Find Me in These Fields was '89. Uh, uh, uh, Beyond Nature was '90, and then '92 we recorded Crimson and Blue. So I had done these 3 rock albums, and then right toward the end of those 4 years, I was doing a really dedicated acoustic album with alternate tunings and really pure sounds, you know. Yeah, I needed, I needed that break from you know, being Mr. Rock and Roll Guitar Player, you know.

Yeah, sure.

And you know, my, my, my albums, you know, that were, you know, rock gospel, they were not that successful. You know, I had a limited audience for that kind of music because pretty much, um, the mainstream, uh, Christian radio and CCM world was not what I was doing. I was kind of like caught between, you know, being a rock guitar player and a gospel artist at the same time. But I don't know, I just kind of like was always sort of independent-minded, you know. I just wanted to explore and do what I could do and have fun with it. Yeah. Oh yeah.

Well, and it definitely was coming through on those albums for sure, and they were so verse. And I remember, you know, that the Beyond Nature, and, you know, just kind of pouring over the album notes. And I think it was, it was probably that album that it first occurred to me, you can play guitar in another tuning, you know. This was, you know, especially before the internet, when I'm thinking back now, you know, I, all I had was some Mel Bay books when I got started, you know, trying to learn stuff. And it was just such a revelation to me that I would think, "Oh, you can put your guitar in a different tuning?" Because I remember you in the liner notes would write about different tunings that you played in and just kind of working that out. How in the world do you do that? What's next?

Well, you know, here's the thing. As a young player in the '70s, I was listening to John Renbourne, an English folk guitarist who did alternate tunings. A lot of Dadgad stuff. Uh, I also was a fan of Michael Hedges, um, and I just loved exploring the other world of other tunings. And so like songs like Fare Thee Well, Fragile Forest, uh, uh, what else was on there, um, that was alternate tuning? County Down.

County Down, yeah, I remember that one.

You know, yeah, there were a number of songs that were in alternate tunings on that album, and I had a great joy in experimenting with— and then beyond that album, I've come up with about 25 different tunings for different songs. Some are on Acoustic Sketches, some are on Fantasmagorical, an album I did there. And then some unreleased, a lot of unreleased stuff. I've got some, you know, Chester's Tree, uh, As It Is in Heaven, the Prince, you know, various other songs. And I've got a list of songs with the tuning, and I'm spelling it out on these sheets of paper, uh, of what these tunings are. It's kind of, kind of fun. I need to practice them now and then so I don't forget them, you know. And, uh, But yeah, I, I, I love that, you know, and I'm very impressed. I was always impressed by great musicians, and they've all influenced me from as long as, you know, as far back as when I was 10, 11 years old, um, to the day, to the present, you know. And, uh, now, now there are young guitar players that just blow my mind. You know, when I was doing Beyond Nature that I was 30 years younger than I am now. I was 39, now I'm 69, and I still, when I pick up an acoustic, I often go to those songs just to see if I can still play them. But you know, I want to, you know, give glory to God and thank God for inspiring me to be a musician and the encouragement I got from my family, my mom, my dad, my sister and my brother Dave who got me my first electric guitar. I've been blessed, I've been really blessed. I'm very grateful.

Wow. Well, you know, I'd love to ask you specifically about your sister because I remember a few years back you did a concert in Dayton, Ohio with Faith and Friends Radio, I think was the sponsor of the evening at a church. It may have been a Valentine's banquet, I think, because my wife and I, I took her on a date and we came to see you. And that evening you shared a story about your sister, and it was a whole new story to me. And I'm sure most of our listeners here tonight probably haven't heard the story, but one of your sisters actually had quite a career in Hollywood as an actress, you were explaining to us that night. And she also played a real role in your faith journey. I wonder if you could tell us a little bit about your sister and kind of her influence upon you and her influencing you towards the Lord.

Oh sure. Um, well, Mary Ellen, um, 22 years older than me, our first, uh, the first child born in our family. Um, I think she was born around 1929, and then at the age of 17, 18, you know, uh, it discovered that she had a great, great talent, and she was very beautiful. She sang with big bands, and then she had an opportunity to audition, uh, and then she went to Hollywood and got signed to Republic Pictures. And, um, so she spent about 20 years making mostly B-movies, you know, and TV shows, and she was on many TV shows. Donna Reed, um, I Love Lucy. She did the Colgate Comedy Hour with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. And, uh, just a lot of stuff. She was in The Ten Commandments, you know. She had a couple lines in the actual epic film The Ten Commandments with, uh, Charlton Heston and Yul Brynner. And, uh, so it's really interesting. She also, uh, did a lot of TV shows. One was, uh, The Circus Boy, which was Mickey Dolenz when he was a kid.

Oh wow.

And, you know, do you remember that show? I don't know if you do.

Well, I, you know, I think I watched it. Uh, it would have been before my time, but I, I did watch it, I think, because Disney used to play like Disney Sunday movies and things, and they would rerun movies from that time period. And I remember, um, at some point watching it because I really liked watching The Monkees, and, uh, and somebody pointed out Mickey Dolenz, you know, was in there.

Yeah.

And, uh, so that's pretty cool. I'll have to go back and look at that again.

Oh yeah, well, there's an interesting story that surrounds that, but let me first get back to what happened. Um, in 1970, on Valentine's Day, our mom, uh, was in a car accident, and, uh, she was— she, she died a week later. I was 18 at the time, and, and, and it was devastating to me. It really rocked my world, and it really, um, brought me to my knees. And my sister Mary Ellen had met the Lord about a year before, and so she was pretty excited about having discovered the love of God and the gospel and the joy and the peace Jesus brings to broken hearts. And she shared with my broken heart, she shared with me, uh, the love and the, the experience that she had opening her heart to Jesus. She shared that with me. She opened the scriptures to me. She prayed with me. She loved me. She took time for me. And I wrote a song called, uh, How Can I Thank You, which was on one of my albums called Dream Again. I dedicated that song to her. And, um, so she led me to the Lord and brought me to faith in Jesus. I was a, a believer, but I wasn't— in a sense, I wasn't born of the Spirit yet, you know. She brought me to that point where I was born of the Spirit, and I had this, this new birth experience, uh, when I was 18. And, um, it affected my life in such a dramatic way that I, I just began to, you know, crave God's word and read it and pray. And then I began to meet other people who came to have the same experience as I. And, um, and so I, I owe her a great debt of gratitude. And so, um, that's how that happened. So, but, and my life was changed, you know, it was changed. And I began to write songs about my faith. They weren't great songs. I was never a great songwriter. I have a few gems along the way, but, um, but that it really, uh, opened my life up. And I have to say that the success I've had over all these years, which is not I'm not a household name, but I can tell you the success I've had is because of God's people, his children who have supported me and encouraged me along the way to keep on going. And that's what I owe my success to, as well as my dear wife Bernadette. So let me tell you this one story about my sister. Sure. So in '55 or '56, she was, uh, on this, uh, one of the Circus Boy shows with, uh, Mickey Dolenz, and she was Tula the Gypsy. And, uh, so I didn't know that, but, uh, this, uh, fella who produced Mickey Dolenz's album called Remember back in 2009, 2010, um, he said, Phil, did you know your sister was on Circus Boy? And of course, I was 4 years old at the time, but she was. And he sent me a link to this episode called The Gypsy on Circus Boy, and she played the violin and she was this gypsy, and it was, you know, just a TV show. But the thing is, about 50 years later, her little brother, me, moi, was invited to play on Mickey Dolenz's album Remember And I think that's just fascinating that a half a century later, her little brother plays on an album by the same artist who was the actor, the child actor Mickey. And I got to meet him, I got to, uh, you know, go to his listening party. And Mickey and I talked about— I sang "Let Everything Else Go" for him, and, and it touched his heart, you know, really touched his heart. I could really tell, you know, he— his head was bowed, and I think he really was touched by the Holy Spirit. But I don't know where he is in his faith, but I know that he, uh, he's a good guy, you know. Yeah, I liked him. He was really— he was really nice to me, really friendly. And I, I got to play on 6 of the 12 songs on his album, and one of my best solos is on that album on the song Remember. And, uh, good electric solo, you know.

Oh, that's great.

Well, for a couple of reasons, because I— that's awesome about Mickey Dolenz, because he was another one, you know. I— The Monkees, you know, they, they were— I think people maybe don't realize they were outselling The Beatles at one point, you know, like they were really For a band that was kind of put together as a fake band for a TV show, it's kind of amazing musically, you know, what they did. And that's really neat. But I'm so glad that you mentioned as well, uh, Let Everything Else Go, because that song has been very special to a lot of people, including myself, over the years.

Oh, thank you.

There have been moments, and you know, it's a rare thing that I get to talk to people who who write the songs that have been so meaningful to me. But there have been moments throughout life that I found myself sitting at a piano or with the guitar in my hand, and I haven't always had words. And you know how sometimes there's songs that I feel like the Holy Spirit puts in your mind just because it helps you to be able to pray prayers you don't have the words to pray. And there have been times that I— that song has just really meant so much to me, you know, um, to be able to sing those words. I can't wait to see you, Jesus, face to face. Nothing in this world can take your place. And, um, and, and I can say that the same is true even back when I was in college. And, uh, me and some of my friends, um, really loved that song. And there would be times that, um, we would be going through different things and we would just turn to that song and just times in the middle of a prayer meeting, we'd start singing that, which is— I, and I, I hadn't even planned on talking about that song tonight, interestingly enough. Um, but it— that song is very, I think, significant to many of us for many different reasons. And I feel like there are certain, um, songs that for whatever reason God has just put his hand on. And for, at least for me and several of my friends, that song has meant that for us. So for whatever it's worth, we're grateful for that, for sure.

Well, I'm grateful that you shared that, Rick. Thank you so much. The song— I'm grateful for that song because it was actually born out of being inspired by a friend who passed away, who had died August 10th, 1980. And I wrote that song just a couple weeks later. While living in Kansas City, and I was on my bicycle, you know, everything, you know, chasing down hot air balloons on Sunday morning. I was on my bicycle, you know, in tune, even pace with a familiar tune. I reached for something, nothing less but something more. I mean, I was— I forget exactly how the words go at the moment, but the thing was, I was on my bicycle and, you know, you know, kind of grieving the loss of a good friend, uh, who really was an example of Jesus to me. And, uh, and, uh, while I was riding that, riding that bicycle, I, I just got this tune in my head. And then I went home and I wrote that song. And some— sometimes a song that is so meaningful comes with so little effort. Sometimes you, you almost forget when you wrote it, how you wrote it. But it happened, it just came about. And, uh, I actually had a third verse that I thought about putting in there, and a friend of mine, uh, his name is Dan Newby, he said, no, you don't need that verse, just the two verses and that chorus, that's all you need. And, uh, and I've met so many people, uh, over my lifetime since then, since 1980, that said that song has really touched them, you know, and I'm grateful for that. I think because I was touched to write the song, and then other people have experienced, uh, the hand of the Lord, you know, in their lives, directing them or comforting them or giving them, giving them some security, vision, some hope that, uh, that there is a better world beyond this one, you know. I think all that adds up.

Yeah, definitely.

Yeah.

Well, I'm— well, anyway, that's a, that's a song I'm so grateful for, and I'm just so glad that you mentioned it because I, I probably wouldn't have even brought it up tonight, but, but it really is an important song, uh, for many of us.

Certainly, it's interesting because I first recorded that in 1981 on Town to Town, um, and then I recorded it again for Way Back Home, a more acoustic version. And then I did it again just a couple years ago with Rex.

Yeah, Rex Paul.

Yeah, Rex Paul. You know, we did it on our Illumination album, and it, it just, you know, it's been done 3 different ways, and yet it, it really feels good each, each time, you know. Um, so yeah, so that's probably one of the songs I've recorded the most.

Chasing down hot air balloons on Sunday morning, in pace with the familiar tune. I reach for nothing less but something more. All the day. And the wind is at my back most of the way. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Holden conversation with a friend. I know it's there. Great anticipation fills my soul. It fills my heart. It fills the air. All the day. And the wind is at my back. Oh, I can't wait to see you, Jesus, face to face. Nothing in this world can take your place. All the pride of man lay And all his works of gold. Nothing can compare with what you are. Everything else go. Let it go.

Well, it's a good song. It needs to be heard. And I'm— I don't know if there's any people that have done cover versions of that song, but I feel like it's one that, you know, some people could, could also do as a cover and do in some different ways, you know, because it would have a lot of meaning. I think it holds up well, as just as well today. And it was great to hear it on Illumination. I really love that album that you did with Rex Paul.. And the two of you together, it just, it feels like that whole album was again sort of like you referred to with playing with your friends again when you were doing Crimson and Crimson and Blue. To me anyway, just listening to it, it feels like you and Rex Paul kind of, you know, were really having some fun with that album and hitting some unique musical moments. It felt like too, um, with totally, you know, yeah.

We experienced some really, really good energy, you know, making that album. And plus real fellowship, you know, we, uh, we, we believe, you know, in the same things and we rejoice in the same things. And, uh, Rex is an amazing producer and he plays everything, you know, he's the band. He played the bass, the drums, the keys, did all those har— all those harmonies, just the two of us. On that album, you know. And, um, and he gave me such freedom to play and be myself. And, um, he invited me to co-write with his songs. And, and, you know, I brought it— I, I brought out a song from that, um, from 1971 I never recorded. I only had the chorus and a part of a verse, and that was I Believe, you know, and, um, which describes the Jesus movement in a way, you know. And, um, and I said, what do you think of this? He goes, well, that's what started the whole ball rolling for the album. And, uh, yeah, so that was great. That's what started the whole thing was the tune I Believe. And I think that's significant because faith and belief is very, very important to get things rolling.

Yeah, definitely.

Well, yeah.

Do you feel like, um, when you really kind of came into your faith and really started becoming serious about that, do you feel like for you something musically kind of unlocked for you as well, um, along the way?

Oh yeah, yeah, big time, big time. I mean, I, I did not become this iconic, um, uh, you know, guitarist that some people think I am, because I'm not. I'm, I'm just another— I'm another guitar player that has played most of my life and, and enjoy it and love it, you know. But, but, uh, I think what happened was when I came into faith, all of a sudden I realized that it's important to connect the dots. And, you know, like it says, that God is not the author of confusion. And I was a bit of a confused guitar player in 1965, '66, '67, '68, '69. And then in '70, uh, I was born again. And I didn't become all of a sudden Matthias Mancuso, but I, you know, but I, I got better. And I began to— I mean, I grew up immensely between '69 and 1970. If you go to my Bandcamp site, there's a, there's a thing, a, a site called Piggy's Garage, and there are all these demos, you know, from '65, '66, '67, '68, '69. And, um, and you can, you can tell the difference between how I played, you know, just, you know, how I played before, I was frantic. And I mean, I had the makings of potential, you know, to be a potentially good guitarist, but I was also kind of spasmodic. Yeah. But, but when I came to faith, there was a— there was a settledness that happened inside me as a player. Also, I was influenced by Peter Frampton and Joe Walsh and Eric Clapton. Rick Lee James and Michael Bloomfield, uh, uh, who— they said something when they played their electric guitars. And at the time, I was mostly an electric guitarist. But then after becoming a Christian, I also took a new interest. Uh, uh, I delighted in the acoustic guitar and the fact that you can go with an acoustic guitar and play anywhere. Yeah. And You don't need electricity to sing a song and to play a song, you know. But, um, so yeah, that, that, that— I, I owe a lot to my, my influences, you know. And of course, the Beatles were an influence. Um, I love George guitar— George Harrison's guitar playing. I love Paul McCartney singing. My favorite Beatle album happens to be the Beatles' second album, which was not an album they made. But was manufactured by Capitol, which is an interesting story in itself. But, you know, those were some of the things that got me excited about wanting to be a musician as a kid, little kid, you know.

Sure. Well, you know what, I'm glad you mentioned the Beatles too, because I was planning on asking you, um, sort of about their influence upon you, because they, they really whether people admit it or not, um, I think they have had an influence on all forms of popular music for so many years now. And, uh, there's a great picture that, that I've seen online over the years, uh, of, of you and, uh, Sir Paul McCartney. And from the looks of it, you're, you're in a what appears to be a hotel room sitting on a bed, both holding guitars together, and you're dressed up up very nicely. And, uh, and I've always wanted to ask about that story of the two of you together and, and how you met, because in many ways, um, I, I feel like you're, um, vocally a lot of times I hear a lot of Paul McCartney in your voice, uh, whenever I hear you sing. And, uh, and it's, it's obvious on some of the songs they've, they've had an influence on you. I think especially of the song Love Divide and, uh, that, that really has a very Beatles-esque feel to it in there. But, but I'd love to know the, the story behind that, that picture and, and, uh, kind of how that came about where you had a chance to meet Sir Paul McCartney.

Well, here's how it happened. A friend of mine who worked at CBN, uh, Christian Broadcasting Network, he was, uh, he had a show there at CBN and he said, Phil, I want you to meet somebody, uh, and she— her name is Linda Eastman, and she's Linda McCartney's sister, and, uh, she works with us at the time. And said— he said that she was producing, uh, a promotion for the book, which was the Living Bible, called The Book at the time, in the, in the mid-'80s. And I said, Oh, that's great, that's great. And she said, well, she was— I, she, he had said, I told her about you and that maybe you could do a song. And I did a song. I recorded a song called Discover the Book that was never released. And she wanted to make a video. And so we started making the video, uh, which was me singing the song, but the video was never finished because they ran out of funds. Um, and so, so that's a bit of history. But the thing is, we became friends as a result of that. Uh, you know, the Eastmans, uh, you know, there was, there was Linda and Laura Eastman, and Linda became Linda McCartney, and Laura, um, became Laura Malcolm. She married, uh, and met, uh, Donald Malcolm, and he was her fiancé. And she said, Phil, after, you know, we became friends, and she said, would you sing in my wedding? I said, well, sure, sure I would, you know. And, uh, so Laura asked me, we worked out the songs. I sang 3 vocal songs and did the instrumental. Um, I did What a Wonder You Are, Here and Now, and, um, what was it, The Two of You, and I Love You, Lord. Those were the 4 songs that I sang at the wedding. And she said, okay, great, those, those are great. Oh, by the way, Paul and Linda and their family will be in the wedding party. And I, I was— I went into shock because, oh my gosh, I thought this was going to be kind of a private thing. And it wasn't a huge attendance, there were about 45 people there, and it was held in the Hamptons up in Staten Island area— and Long Island, I'm sorry, Long Island, not Staten Island. And, um, so I mean, I got nervous, but then when I told Jim Olson, who made my, uh, my, my guitar, he said, oh, Phil, I, I can't believe it. I've got this left-handed Olson guitar that the guy who ordered it can't pay for it. Would you be kind enough to put it in Paul's hand as a gift? It would mean a lot to me if you could give this guitar to him. I go, oh gosh, now the pressure is really on, you know. Not only do I have to sing in this wedding in front of Paul McCartney and his family, but I, I'm also been asked to, you know, give this guitar as a gift. And so, but it worked out, and, uh, Laura was really, really cool, and Linda was really awesome, and she worked it out. And asked Paul if it's okay. And we met up, and it was— the reception, uh, was held at his brother-in-law's house, and that's— that was an upstairs room, you know. And, uh, they worked it out, and, um, and Linda said to Paul, hey, Phil has something he wants to present to you as a gift. And he goes, really? And I go, yeah, here it is. This is a guitar from Jim Olson. And, uh, it's yours. And he looked at it and he smelled inside the sound hole and he goes, oh, for me? That's great! Where's it— so where's your guitar? I go, it's over there. Come on, get it out. And, and he started telling me how I did a fine job, you know. He did a very good job, you know. You have a nice voice and you remind me a bit of James Taylor and all that sort of—

oh wow.

So, but we, we sat and played guitars for like 20 minutes. It wasn't just a photo op, it was actually— we, we actually played for like 20 minutes. We did like 4 songs together, and it was a beautiful experience because, you know, he'd been a hero and he's still a great musician at his age and, uh, an inspiration. And so that's how that, that's how that came about. My wife took the picture that you saw that's on online, you know. So, man, but yeah, that's how that came about.

Well, well, that's a great story. And, and I want to get back to— I had one other thing about the Beatles I wanted to talk to you about, but I, I love Olson guitars. And the— actually, the only time I've ever had a chance to play one, a few years back I did an album with Lifeway Worship, and Dave Cleveland did some guitar— well, he did a lot of the guitar on my album. And I know you and Dave Cleveland have played together, he was telling me a few times. And he let me sit and play on his Olson guitar a little bit in the studio when we were there together, and I just thought, man, this is like, you know, just a beautiful instrument, just really neat. It's not often that I get to come across— at least here in Ohio where I live in a small town, we don't come across Olson guitars very often. So that's a— I, I can tell listeners for sure, that's a wonderful gift, uh, for anyone to be gifted. And, and I'm sure that Paul McCartney probably appreciated it very much, uh, to be able to, to get to play one of those. And what a, what a cool experience to be— for you to be able to sit and play with with him. That's just a wonderful story. I love it.

It's a great story. In fact, I was just speaking with Dave Cleveland this past week. You know, we're good friends and we keep in touch. Yeah, yeah. And, you know, it's an interesting thing because a friend of mine, his name's Edward AJ, who lives up in New Jersey, he sent me, oh, last summer, two pictures of Paul playing that olsson that he got from the Flaming Pie Deluxe set that came out this year. And I go, oh, that's fantastic. Now I got to see him play, you know, that guitar in a different setting other than the day, the day, you know, I gave it to him. And I sent that on to Jim Olson, and Jim got so excited. He said, you just made my day, you know, to see these pictures. So if you, if you go online and you could probably see those pictures of Paul playing the Olson. That's from the deluxe set of that album. Yeah. So, you know, he was a real gentleman. You know, he was really nice. He was very encouraging to me. And Linda was very sweet, and God rest her soul, you know. I know he lost a great friend in her. And, you know, I always think that God loves us and he has His hand upon our lives. And, um, no matter how famous you are or how unfamous you are, you matter to God. You know, everyone, every soul, every person matters to God, and He loves us so much. And so it's, it's great how these opportunities, uh, happen and, uh, to meet people that have influenced you. I never, never thought in the world, and, you know, let alone meet the guy, got to sit and play guitar with him, which was really awesome.

Yeah, that is— yeah, it's a great story. And, and, you know, years ago— and I, I have the CD in the, in the next room over for me right now because I, I still listen to it from time to time— but there was a tribute album, Come Together: America Salutes the Beatles, that came out several years ago. And I love the song that you did with, with P.F.R. You did a cover of We Can We can work it out. And, uh, I— that was always one of my favorites. You had a really brilliant guitar part at the beginning of that song. And then you guys together, you and PFR, I always thought you guys should have done like a whole album together. It was just— it was—

I wish we could have. I love Joel's voice. I thought Joel had a wonderful voice. And, you know, they, they were a special group, PFR, you know. And, uh, But, uh, I really thought they were pretty, pretty wonderful, and I was honored to be able to be a part of that song. They actually had arranged it and invited me to sing. I didn't even play guitar on that song. I sang and I played an organ bit on it, believe it or not.

Is that right?

Yeah.

Oh wow, I, I thought the, uh, the beginning— there was just an acoustic guitar part at the beginning. I thought that was you playing.

Yeah, that, that's, that's me at the beginning. Yeah, sure.

Okay.

Yeah, I did play that intro. I think there's a couple, 2 or 3 guitar parts going on at the same time. I did that at home and I brought it to the producer, uh, Jimmy Lee Slos. I said, what do you think of this? Maybe put it at the beginning. He goes, yeah, why not? You know.

You can get it wrong and still you think that it's all right. Think of what I'm saying. We can work it out and get it straight or say goodnight. We can work it out. We can work it out. Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting. I have always thought that it's a crime, so I will ask you once again. Try seeing it my way, only time will tell if I am right or I am wrong. Wanna see it your way? There's a chance that we might fall apart before too long. We can work it out, we can work it out. Life is very short, each other's no time. Fussing and fighting, my precious life. I have always thought this better Life is very short and there's no time. I have always done many things of my life.

Although, although, you know, the Beatles song starts right with the vocal, you know. Yeah, but, um, uh, it could have been fine without my little intro. In fact, um, I don't think it adds that much to a great song. I think the song is great, stands on its own. Yeah.

Wow.

Well, it was fun for me, and I— it's still one of the highlights of the album for me, for sure, when I go back to that one.

So I love, I love the string, string arrangement in that recording was really great, wasn't it?

Oh yeah, yeah, it was great. Yeah, and it— there were a lot of really good selections on that album. There was even a hidden track that I think was only on the CD that was, uh, Jerry Douglas playing Dobro, just a solo song. And I, I can't— it's been a while since I listened and I can't remember the song right now, but there was just a a unique variety of musicians on that album, uh, from all different genres. And, and you're right, that the stringed parts were amazing. So, um, really, you know, I'd say what—

I'll say one more thing about the album. You know, they called it America Salutes the Beatles. If they would have— if they would have called the album Nashville Salutes the Beatles, I think it would have gotten a lot of acceptance. But I don't think— I don't— I think they made a mistake mistake by calling it America Salutes the Beatles, only because it had— it leaned more country, you know, uh, except for my, my tracks didn't sound as country, um, because I'm not very country, um, although I was born and lived in the country as a kid, um, you know, if— but I think, I think if they would have called the album Nashville Salutes the Beatles, I bet it would have charted Yeah, well, it—

you know what, it charted in my house for sure because I still play the CD. I just love it. It's one of those that I come back to, and it's one of those that's special to me too because I don't think you can stream it anywhere. I don't think it's ever been like digitized in that way that you can find it on Spotify or iTunes. So I always feel like when I pull it out and listen to it, it's almost like my, uh, you know, my little secret album that I get to to hear and keep to myself in some ways because I think it's everybody's secret.

Yeah, definitely a secret album. It never, it never, uh, it got panned in the, in the reviews, I think, which is very important. There's a lot of talent, a lot of talent on the album.

Yeah, there really, there really was. So, well, you know what, we've been, we've been having a good conversation tonight and I, I don't want to take your entire evening away, but I I'm really enjoying just getting to hear from you on some of these things. And, um, you know, I'd love maybe just one more or two more stories that I know are significant, one of which— and I think I actually asked you the last time you were on this podcast to tell the story, but it's a really great story, I think, just because it involves another musical icon that, that kind of came your way. And again, I heard about this story, I think it was— I can't even remember, it might have been when Dave Cleveland and I were talking in the studio one time. But you, you're someone who uses a JamMan pedal and you have for many years. And for listeners that may not know what that is, it's, it's a loop pedal where you'll play things and record them and, and then they'll play back again and then you play along with it. So in many ways it's like you become your your own band when you're playing on stage. And most of us who play those type of loop pedals now, I think most of us first saw that those things even existed because of you, because you were playing them and we had seen you in concert or somebody had shared along the way.

Uh-huh.

I don't believe the playing backwards, but I know the backstory to that is I think you were introduced to that kind of playing through Chet Atkins, if I'm not mistaken. And I wonder if you would mind sharing that story. Tonight?

Well, sure, Rick. Um, the thing is, you know, back in, uh, '79, I had a device called, uh, it was an MXR digital delay, and it had this, uh, I had a pedal that I could just, you know, for almost 2 seconds I could loop something like, like a quick beat and play over it. And then I started using Roland, uh, effects rack mount like the STE-3000 or the 1000. And the STE-3000 would give me 4.5 seconds of locking in a particular loop. So I could do a chord progression. Well, I was doing that back in the early '80s and through the '80s with my effects pedals, not my pedals but my rack. But then Muriel Anderson said to me, hey, you know, uh, Chet Atkins got this thing called a Jamman, and would you like to go and meet him and ask him about it? I said sure. He's a hero, you know, guitar hero. Sure. And, and so we went to his house and he had this Jamman that was made, uh, Lexicon made it. And, uh, I plugged it in and, and I, I did a bit of a thing and he goes, Phil, looks like this thing was made just for you. And I thought, yeah, I dig it. So the next day I went to Corner Music in Nashville and I bought me a Jam Man. And you know, I still use the Jam Man. Um, uh, it goes up to 32 seconds loop, but I have another looper that goes, you know, beyond that, beyond infinity. And, uh, Um, but yeah, you know, I still use it because it's the most user-friendly, uh, one I have, combined with one of my pedals, which is called a MIDI Wizard. And yeah, it's a, it's a MIDI controller for it, and it's, it's, it's real intuitive. It works really good for me. And, but I, I, I thank Chet Atkins, uh, who gave me a great compliment, and he says, you, you create a nice atmosphere when you play. Can you imagine that? Being told that by a guy like him. And so I was really grateful for that. And yeah, and I mean, I did my Acoustic Sketches album. Three-quarters of that album was done just making things up with the Jam Man right on the spot. And so yeah, yeah, and I still use it when I do solo concerts, sure.

Man, that's terrific. I love the idea of someone like Chet Atkins investing in you, you know, and kind of, yeah, you know, just kind of bringing you over and saying, hey, come and look at this. And yeah, you know, one thing that I love about hearing so many of the stories that you've told, and you tell them so humbly and it's amazing, but just again, the different people that have crossed your paths, that God has brought into your life, and different things that you weren't even looking for at the time that have really been sort of the fingerprints of God bringing you along on this journey and teaching you new things and then allowing you to invest yourself into others as well. And I really love just getting to hear those kinds of stories this evening and the way that that's been been just really a part of your journey. So thank you for being faithful with the gifts that you've been giving and sharing those things with other people too. I was wondering— Oh, thank you, Rick. Oh, you know, I was wondering tonight how to kind of start closing down our conversation.

Yeah.

And there was a lot of things I was thinking about, but I know in the several times that I've seen you in concert, one way that you many times will close down your time playing is by sharing a Rich Mullins song like "Hold Me, Jesus" or a song like that. And I was just thinking, you know, Rich was somebody that influenced many of us. The most recent album that I released is actually called "Thunder," and the reason I called it that is because I had the chance to release one of his songs that he had never released, and it was called Thunder. And, uh, and there's, there's a real sense that, you know, Rich Mullins has, uh, has permeated, uh, music in so many ways, especially among Christian artists. And, uh, and it seems like you have a real love for Rich and his music too, and, and the way that you kind of pay tribute to him And I wonder what your experience was maybe in interacting with him in any way while he was still here with us. I know you still play those songs kind of in tribute to who he was, but what does Rich Mullins mean to you as a person?

Well, he was one of the most honest Christians I've ever met, you know, extremely talented. He could write, play piano, play dulcimer, uh, you know, and all that, and, uh, hammer dulcimer, guitar. He writes songs from the heart. One of the songs that I recorded of his called Madeline's, uh, When Madeline Prays, it's called When Madeline Prays. Oh, what a tender song that is about a young baby who couldn't hear, couldn't see, couldn't speak, and yet he would whisper in her ear and say, "Pray for Rich, pray for Rich," because he knew that her spirit could hear, you know. I mean, it's just one of those— he had, he had this honesty and this depth, and, uh, he was a very real person, you know. He would be one of those kind of people you'd meet, and he would not put on any religious airs. He would just be who he is. And be honest. And if you accept him for who he is, great. If not, yeah, that's okay. That's okay, you know. And it's like Jesus never forces himself on anybody, you know. You know, when it says in the Bible that every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord, he's not pressing people down like a dictator, you know. It's when you finally see the Lord The immediate response will be, "You are Lord," and you fall on your knees. You know, he is the Lord. You know, it's like, uh, it's recognized, it's not imposed. So I think that's an interesting concept, and I think Rick was in touch. He also loved, from what I could see, he loved people well, and he accepted people because He knew that God accepted him with all his flaws. And so we should take hope, you know, take strength in that, you know, because— have hope in that because God, you know, he doesn't expect us to fix ourselves up first. He's the one that does the cleaning up and the fixing up and the healing of the heart. And Rich understood those things. Unfortunately, his life was cut short. Not necessarily in God's, uh, you know, in, in, in, in God's, uh, economy. You know, it's like, uh, the Lord had a plan perhaps for, for Rich beyond this world. And, um, you know, he wasn't married, he didn't have children, but he encouraged a lot of people. Uh, I was greatly saddened when he died, just like I was saddened when Keith Green died, because Keith and I were friends as well. And I've said a lot, a lot of goodbyes to people I love and meant a lot to me over the last 10 years especially. But, uh, yeah, he was, he was a gifted, gifted songwriter. Uh, I, I am very still impressed with his body of work. First time I got to sing this song, Hold Me Jesus, was for Rich at a gathering that we had Caffè Milano, about 1995. He was just grinning in the audience, enjoying the whole evening full of music that we celebrated his songs. And he was like, he was like a kid in a candy store. He looked really happy. And, um, I've been doing the song ever since in my own concerts. Hold Me, Jesus.

Sometimes my life just don't make sense at all. When the mountains look so big and my faith just seems so small, hold me Jesus, 'cause I'm shaking like a leaf. You have been King of my glory, won't you be my Prince of Peace? And I wake up in the night and feel the dark It's so hard inside my soul, I swear there must be blisters on my heart. So hold me, Jesus, 'cause I'm shaking like a leaf. You have been King of my glory, won't you be my Prince of Peace? Surrender don't come natural to me. I'd rather fight you for something I don't really want than take what you give I need. And I beat my head against so many walls, now I'm falling down, I'm falling off my knees. And the Salvation Army Band is playing this hymn, and your grace rings out so deep it makes my resistance seem so thin. Hold me, Jesus, 'cause I'm shaking like a leaf. You You've been King of my glory, won't you be my Prince of Peace? I'm saying, hold me, Jesus, 'cause I'm shaking like a leaf. You have been King of my glory, won't you be my Prince of Peace? Peace. Hold me, Jesus. Please hold me, Jesus.

Well, you know, I've got this, uh, a Bandcamp site called Keggy's Garage. If you go to Bandcamp, Phil Keggy, there's a thing called Keggy's Garage. You can also access it through my, my website, philkeggy.com. But I've got a release that came out this year, 22 different artists, you know, it's called Duet, Instrumental Duets. And yeah, yeah, they're all duets. And so if you like to hear me playing with other people, like great people, Christy Linné, Lawrence Juber, Jason Truby, and the list goes on and on and on. Um, Muriel Anderson. I mean, there's so many, you know, it's really an honor to be a part of a recording project with all these people. But, uh, one of the things also, uh, recently, uh, we've, uh, Jeff Johnson and I have a new project coming out soon called Ravenna. It's instrumental, and, uh, Jeff and I have already done 3 albums Frio Suite, Water Sky, and Cappadocia, and this new one called Ravenna. And these are very special albums, and I wanted to just kind of give a high sign and, and, and say keep your ears open for just beautiful music that's instrumental but really kind of goes very deep in many ways regarding acoustic instruments. You know, I play acoustic classical, electric, mandocello, mandolin, bass, and he does keyboards and percussion. We have a guest drummer on this new album too, uh, Mike Snyder, who's a great drummer. Um, so I, I do want to, uh, let my friends out there know that this album is forthcoming. Uh, I also did a project with some friends and it's called Music Tellers that came out last spring. And it's all improv, uh, Shannon Hayden on cello. She's an incredible, uh, incredible cellist, and, uh, I got to play with her and, uh, with Kyle Jones on percussion, Tony Gerber on piano, uh, keyboards, flutes. So yeah, there's a lot of good stuff. I, I keep busy in the studio, and I do sessions for a lot of people and friends, and, um, recently did, did some recording for, uh Rick Lee James. Oh wow, so that was fun. That's coming out called, uh, The United States. It's awesome.

Yeah, that's great. Yeah, that's so cool.

So keep your attention to that.

Yeah, that's another great player. My goodness. Yeah, you— that's— I've— I'm stunned by that one too because he was another one that, you know, back when I was learning guitar, it was— it was my guitar teacher. You gotta listen to to Rick Derringer, you know, rock and roll hoochie coo.

Yeah, well, he's a true believer, you know. He, he's a— he loves the Lord, you know, for sure.

That's great. Well, um, and you know what, and, and also you had, you had shared a song with me, um, that, that you got to play on that's a Randy Stonehill song that I think, uh, Rex Paul and you had also played on as well. And hopefully for an upcoming project as well called, I believe it's Lazarus Heart was the name of the song, and that's a really great track too. So you've had some good ones.

Yeah, oh, that came out amazing, you know, and I mean, it started with me playing my acoustic and singing the song. I asked my son Ian, who's a producer and a songwriter, I said, "Do you think I should pursue this?" I chose the song for Randy because he's going to have a 50th anniversary celebration of his music and ministry over the years. Uh, and Ian says, yeah, pops, I think, I think you're on to something here, it sounds good. So I sent my finished track over to Rex, and Rex added the drums, keys, 12-string harmonies, bass, and then sent it back to me, and I did my lead solos, my electric stuff on it. And he did all the harmonies, as I mentioned. And it's a great track, it really is. It just rocks, you know. And I was like, I felt like I was 25 when I did it, you know. So, hitting all those high notes, you know.

Yeah. Well, it's a great track. And if you don't mind, I'll share some of that on this episode as well, because I'm really impressed with that. Just kind of as a coming attraction of an album that hopefully we'll get to hear soon, maybe in the next year here. So yeah, that's great.

Yeah, play the whole— play the whole tune.

Yeah, all right, I'll definitely do it then. That's great.

I—

well, Phil, this has been so great, and I want to— I want to let all of our listeners know that all of these links you've been mentioning, I'm gonna make sure we put them on our podcast page as well.

Thank you.

Voices in My Head podcast.com. With this episode so that they can just, even as they're listening, they can just click right through wherever they're listening to the podcast and go and find those pages. But this has just been a real thrill for me, and it's made my, my 400th episode here on this podcast just to be so special. And thank you so much for your ministry over the years. And I know that you probably won't ever even know the way that you've influenced people like me over the years from afar, but in many ways you've been kind of a musical mentor to many of us over the years. And you've shown us what it means to walk in integrity with the Lord and, and to use our gifts in a way that is pleasing to God. And so I'm, I'm very appreciative. I am one of those lives that's been touched, that God has used you. And, you know, to reference a song we talked about earlier, Play Through Me, I think, I think that God has has done that many times over with your ministry, that he has just played through you and used you in those ways. So thank you so much for taking the time to be able to share some of these wonderful stories tonight and for, for being able to spend some time talking with me again here on the show. It has really meant a lot.

Oh, you're so welcome, my friend, and thank you for— thank you for giving me an opportunity to share. With others and yourself as well. Thank you. For sure.

Well, I say it every week to my guests, and I'll say it to you as we wrap up tonight. Phil Keggy, thank you for being one of the Voices in My Head this week.

Clinging to this telescope, scanning the horizon. Stranded in my little boat on the Sea of Dreams. Running out of time and hope, searching for an island. Finding every cruel mirage is never what it seems. And I sailed to the edge of the world, and I saw your face, your wonderful face. And that's when you called to my Lazarus heart. Rescued my Lazarus heart. Called to this Lazarus heart. Rise again. Rise again. Drifting through this veil of mist, blinding and relentless, trying to understand the secret language of my soul. Forces in me turn and twist, raging like a tempest. Doubt and fear wash over me like waves that rise and roll, and I sail to the edge of the world, and I saw your face, your wonderful face, and that's when When you come to my Lazarus heart, rescue my Lazarus heart. Come to this Lazarus heart, rise again, rise again. Suddenly the bells were ringing everywhere, and angels filled the air like shooting stars across the sky. Ooh, then I knew forever who you are, and tears of joy fell from my head. To my Lazarus heart. Ooh. Rescue my Lazarus heart.

Whoa.

Come to My mouth to his heart. Whoa, whoa.

Thank you for joining me here this week on Voices in My Head. I hope you'll visit me on my website at rickleejames.com where you can find out more about me, get my music on vinyl and CD, follow my blog, and even schedule me for a concert or a speaking engagement. Better yet, even a book signing in your your neighborhood. You can find all that and more at rickleejames.com. Also, it would mean a great deal to me if you could write a review of this podcast on iTunes. The more positive reviews that we receive, the more visible this podcast will be online. And now for the benediction: May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the by the power of the Holy Spirit, you may abound in hope. God bless you, and thank you for listening to Voices in My Head.