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1) Falling Into Place: Back in the early 2000s, our friend and loyal helper Robin Mawdsley had put a band together. Robin plays many instruments and is a music lover. She had these words and I put the music and melody to them. Her band (Third Season) which included her soon to be husband, Keith on bass, recorded the song with their own music. That was cool with me. So, here’s my version. Just a demo, but it’s a nice “ride”!
2) Junk: Gifted producer Monroe Jones invited me to sing this McCartney classic for an album he was producing for Duane Eddy. I loved Duane’s albums and hits as a youngster. His signature Twang style made him famous. Interestingly enough, I don’t play anything on this arrangement—only sang. I’m not sure this recording was ever released. Dreamy….
3) Bam: Here’s a piece that I recently rediscovered. I was going through some old hard drives and came upon this little quirky tune I titled “Bam.” I think it was around 1999 or 2000. My recollection is that I had just bought a new drum machine—I was trying out. The pattern is the same one I ended up using on the song “Inseparable.”
4) Stars: I wrote a number of small intro pieces for my friend Chuck McGowen and his audio book on Heaven. This one is one of many short pieces.
5) Charmed and Dangerous: One of the great songwriters in country music today is Paul Overstreet. Paul invited me to write a couple of tunes with him back in the day. That was a real privilege for me! This was one of them—this is the demo- Kooky little song—such fun we had singing it together! I found the “more produced” version in my garage as we were about to go live with this release so I've added it as a bonus track (20). The other tune we wrote ended up being recorded by the Glass Harp in 2002 called “If Love Is All We Got” on the Hourglass album.
6) The Road Ahead: Here’s a pretty instrumental acoustic piece I wrote about 5 years ago. Producer and songwriter Nathan Chapman contacted me about writing a Beyond Nature styled song, as he had an idea about orchestrating around a piece such as this. Nothing came of it, so it’s been on the shelf all this time until now- except for this appeared in the book Alternate Tunings by Adam Cord. Adam has done 3 books of songs for me. Nathan and I a year later in 2016 did write a song together which became “La La La Love You” on the All At Once album.
7) If I Were An Animal: Here’s a long lost track…..Back in the early 90s, friend and musician/producer Charlie Peacock asked me to put music to a couple of poems by 5th grade students, as I recall. One piece was called “Blue, Blue” and the other was “If I Were An Animal”. I had fun with this one and a few years later I recorded an instrumental version of the song on my 220 album. If you compare the two versions you’ll notice that the rhythm guitar part is the same and that I phrased my lead work to be similar to this vocal demo. I had recorded this on reel to reel and I VSO’d up the last bit so my voice sounded lower when brought back to normal 7 ½ IPS. Fun stuff kids!
8) Praise: This was a piece I came up with for Tom Gulotta, (my Bandcamp/Garage buddy), back 2007. He wanted some background music for a reading he recorded of Frederick Buechner from the book Godric. The song eventually found its way to the "Frio Suite" album I did with friend and collaborator keyboardist Jeff Johnson, with the title becoming “Dream Of The Blue Hole.”
9) Hold Me Jesus: Here is one of the finest heartfelt songs ever by Rich Mullins. It’s a classic like “Your Love Broke Through” IMHO! I’m glad you can hear my version of it here. God rest Rich and may his music continue to bless others for years to come!
10) Welcome Home: In 1986 I made a cassette compilation called Back Room Trax Vol 2 and this song was on it. It’s a story song about a runaway young girl who was later reunited with her mom and dad after a time away thanks to prayer, love, understanding and mercy. This version has a different drum pattern, BGVs and a more upbeat feel. I like both versions, actually. I know this song has touched a few hearts. Thank you Lord!
11) No More Tears: Another piece I sent to Chuck McGowen for his book Heaven. It’s a short quote from my song “As Warm As Tears.”
12) Father (demo): Here is the demo I did for this song which eventually appeared on my “Welcome Inn” album in 2009. The album version is one of the last sessions I did with friend and keyboardist/arranger Tom Howard. He has been greatly missed!
13) PK Breaks a String: Just a funny moment –I don’t break many strings. I did in my early days but not so much these days.
14) Daylight: I wrote many songs with my sister Geri. She actually penned these words and I turned them around to be sung to her. She’s a sweetie and we did do a nice album called Brother and Sister. I was experimenting with Apple’s Garage Band at the time. I believe this was around 2004.
15) Holly B: Here’s one of many birthday greeting songs I’ve done for friends. Holly is a dear friend to this day, to me and Bernadette. She has been my booking agent since the early 80s.
We love her mucho! I did this on a laptop using GarageBand drums.
16) Muzak in a Box: So, back before my son Ian became a professional musician and producer/writer, as an early teen, he was messing with GarageBand. These days, and all grown up, he uses Logic and he really gets the best sounds. He has become a musician I highly respect and love with all my heart! You go son! By the way, we wrote a song for my All At Once project (“Undertow”) and he mixed a number of the songs for me on that project!
17) Broken Stone (Robin Crow w PK): Robin Crow is a multi talented man with an amazing creative imagination! He also owns and manages the famous Dark Horse Studios in Franklin TN. He has invited me to play on a number of songs in the past and this is one of them. He did the loops and bass and I played the electric guitars here. This piece sounds timeless to my ears. Really like this one!
18) Were You There: Steve Hindalong is a great drummer/ percussionist and a fine producer—He has worked with many successful bands and produced the City On A Hill projects. Here is a track where he produced me for one of those projects. Thank you Steve for doing a fine job over the years!
19) Pin The Tail: Back when our son Ian was becoming very interested in music, he found a band he really liked called Pinback. I liked their sound too, so I created this piece for Ian to be inspired to. We started a vocal session but it never got quite finished. So here is the track called “Pin The Tail.” He however went on to write and record dozens of really nice songs. He’s actually written some big hits!
21) Longing To Know: This piece has a similar feel to as “Warm as Tears.” I believe it was used in the Heaven audio book as well.
22) Praise (with Frederick Buechner): Here is the man himself! What a fine expression of these words Frederick penned and spoke. I would love to hear the whole book. Thanks Tom Gulotta for bringing this one out!
23) As Years Go By: and finally, we close with this song of love and joy through the years. David Wolfe penned these words and the very talented Buddy Greene and I wrote the music. Buddy plays such a beautiful solo on his harmonica. This piece has always been special to me and finally we can share it with you.
God bless us, everyone!
Psalm 91
Phil Keaggy
May1, 2020
credits
released May 1, 2020
Special thanks to Steven Ashlock for his help in compiling this one.
supported by 256 fans who also own “Back Room Trax - Vol. 10”
A wonderful potpourri of studio and live Christmas tracks! Phil demonstrates his wide range of musical knowledge through instrumentals and vocal arrangements. The live version of "Shades of Green and Red" quotes a number of additional carols, which I haven't heard in other releases. Love the cover's "childhood photo recreated" as well - complete with toy guitar! sonrise
New on the always-great label Velvet Blue Music is “Slow Parade” from Gileah Taylor, boasting warm songs built on piano and guitar. Bandcamp New & Notable Apr 26, 2024
Delightfully unpredictable debut from a New York electronic producer and composer with backgrounds in psychedelic rock, jazz, and indie pop. Bandcamp New & Notable Apr 25, 2024
supported by 256 fans who also own “Back Room Trax - Vol. 10”
This collection a joy to listen to repeatedly...it’s made even more special by all the wonderful musicians (who are great in their own right) he shares in playing the music with...truly a wonderful collaborative experience paulsparks