In my first career I spent 17 years in the radio broadcasting business. I began as a part-time weekend announcer and ultimately became an owner in a partnership that acquired a group of stations.
My radio career did not go as I had envisioned. I thought for sure I was headed for stardom as a rock n roll disc jockey. Instead, I spent the entire time in religious broadcasting. Some of our speakers were folks like James Dobson and Jerry Falwell and a whole bunch of people that I'd just rather forget. When I started out our stations played Southern Gospel music and featured the Blackwood Brothers, The Cathedrals and The Hinsons, just to name a few.
We received from time to time promotional copies of albums from the newer contemporary artists and that's how I was introduced to Phil Keaggy. His first solo album, "What a Day," was like a breath of fresh air. He had a slightly McCartneyesque sound and his guitar playing was simply amazing. I became a huge fan and have followed Keaggy ever since.
1995's "True Believer" was his first release for Sparrow Records. At that time Sparrow was probably the dominate label in Contemporary Christian Music so I was hopeful that the new partnership would give Keaggy's career a real boost.
I don't think that "True Believer" achieved the level of success that Sparrow was looking for and Keaggy did not remain with the label for very long. But I remember liking the CD a lot and while driving around yesterday, I pulled "True Believer" off the rack for another listen. I'm glad I did.
"The True Believers" opened the CD, a song Keaggy still performs regularly in his concerts. Keaggy sings the song like a true believer and his guitar playing sets the tone for the entire CD. "Salvation Army Band" features one of the best vocals that Keaggy has ever turned in. Also featured is a rocking version of "Be Thou My Vision" and a blues infused rocker called, "Have Mercy Lord."
I was two years into Seminary when "True Believer" was released. Listening to the CD yesterday reminded me of how hard those years were. I worked pretty much six and a half days a week. My only time off was Friday afternoon & evening. During that little block of time, I dug out the music and let it blast away. "True Believer" kept finding its way onto my CD player every week. It encouraged me and made me feel good. It's cool when your favorite musical artist is a true believer.
