The Master's Musician Phil Keaggy Talks About His Involvement With the

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Although anything but a musical, the movie “Reagan” has some moments that give cause for those who remember 1980s music to smile. A brief excerpt from “Every Moment” by legacy Christian rockers DeGarmo & Key makes an appearance, as does Genesis’ “Land of Confusion” with its vicious anti-Reagan puppetry video. One moment is more subtle: the intro to “Sweet Child O’ Mine,” which, unlike the aforementioned songs, is a new recording by a somewhat surprising choice, not in terms of the required six-string dexterity needed for accurately performing Slash’s iconic riff but the person chosen to do so. Namely, Phil Keaggy.

I caught up with Keaggy, who I last spoke to in the early 1990s when I was an active music journalist covering Christian music, on a relatively quiet afternoon for a video chat. I say relatively quiet, as Keaggy and his wife Bernadette had been spending the day entertaining assorted grandchildren at their Nashville home. Nevertheless, Keaggy is his usual gracious, self-effacing without pretense self.

The first question is the obvious one. How did he come to play a Guns N’ Roses song? The answer is disarmingly simple. “(‘Reagan’ producer) Mark Joseph called and asked me to do it. I don’t know why he asked me; he could have asked anyone. But, for that moment, I think he wanted to put me in the spotlight.” As an aside, perhaps Keaggy being a true world-class master musician had something to do with it, although you could never get him to say anything along those lines.

Keaggy elaborates, “I didn’t play the entire song; just the intro. We did do a version where I did some improvisation at the end. I didn’t hear it until I attended the movie premiere.” He softly chuckles, adding, “When the song came on, I gently nudged Bernadette. It was a thrill.”

How did Keaggy’s experience during the Reagan era affect him? It was a period of maximum productivity, both musically and personally. Keaggy recorded several classic albums during the time, beginning with “Ph’lip Side,” which came out in the summer of 1980, and concluding with the homage to the British Invasion power pop extravaganza “Sunday’s Child.”

Away from the recording studio and the stage, after years of heartbreaking miscarriages, the Keaggys started a family. He reminisces, “Our first daughter was born around the time Reagan was inaugurated in 1981. Our second daughter was born in 1984, and our son was born in 1987. I was more tuned into Ronald Reagan as a President than any other President I can recall. I really believed in him.”

Keaggy adds this tidbit. “He was campaigning in 1979, and I was asked to play at a place where he was going to speak. So, I played a small set standing on the back of a flatbed truck. After me came Phil Everly from the Everly Brothers. That was cool, because the Everly Brothers were heroes to me.” This makes Keaggy one of the few people who can list on his resume “opening act for the next President of the United States.”

Final thoughts? Keaggy reflects, “I was really growing up during that time, becoming more aware of the world around me. I was concerned with world peace, and Reagan’s policy of ‘peace through strength’ resonated with me. To be a part of the movie in a small, musical way … I felt honored. This is special to me.”

As is Phil Keaggy to all his well-earned fans.