1 of 3

Nearly forty years into their respective careers, Christian music pioneers Randy Stonehill and Phil Keaggy have finally recorded a full length album together.

Phil Keaggy and Randy Stonehill

They'd dabbled together here and there; Keaggy recording a Stonehill penned song in the mid 1970s ("Love Broke Through"), the two writing and recording a theme song for Compassion International ("Who Will Save the Children?") in 1985, and a critically acclaimed collaboration on the title track of Keaggy's 1988 classic album Sunday's Child. They even released a live CD and DVD a couple years back of an acoustic concert they performed together. But not until now have they written and recorded an entire album of new material as a team.

Their new independent release, Mystery Highway, an unabashedly enthusiastic celebration of British Invasion–tinted baby boomer rock and roll, reflects their long story as friends, journeymen and brothers in arms.

Christian Music Today recently met with the two men in Keaggy's home studio in Nashville to talk about their new project, their decades-long friendship, and more.

Stonehill and Keaggy met at a concert in Cincinnati in the summer of 1971. Keaggy, a prodigious nine-fingered guitarist from a "secular" rock trio called Glass Harp, was a new Christian, full of joy and excitement at the prospect of using his guitar to praise the Lord. Stonehill, himself just a "baby Christian," was a protégée of the iconic Larry Norman (who also performed that rainy afternoon) and a progenitor of the Jesus Music phenomenon. Stonehill captured audiences with his hilarious persona and stunning sense for melody and lyric. Keaggy mesmerized them with his electric guitar and stylistic relevance to the music of the day.

Stonehill (right) with Larry Norman in the old days

After the show, Norman and Stonehill invited Keaggy to visit their hotel room to hang out. Keaggy remembers meeting the two Jesus freaks with "Cheshire grins" on their faces. "We were always delighted to meet fellow musicians who were following Jesus," he says. "We had a unique thing going on with Glass Harp. We didn't know what else to do other than what we had been doing." In Glass Harp's case, that meant playing psychedelic rock that reflected echoes of their blooming faith.

For his part, Stonehill felt an immediate connection. "I was in the audience," he remembers. "I saw Glass Harp play and my jaw just dropped. I was amazed.

"I think most of us, at that point, had that same sense that we were being propelled by the wind of the Spirit. We were tying to listen and obey and use the gifts we had been given. I just remember being so delighted. Here's a guy I can relate to as a brother and as a musician. I think that's why Larry and I had those grins on our faces. We had this musical and spiritual vision. We were growing something vital and unique out in California, and I think we both were thinking, This guy should be in the circle."

Eventually both artists found their way to the top of the bourgeoning Christian music scene, bringing an element of artistic excellence with them. The musical and spiritual camaraderie between the two grew through their second decade together.

But as the artists grew into their forth decade they found themselves nearly back where they started. No record labels, no rules—just making it up again; doing the only thing they knew how to do. They both continued to tour, and Keaggy perfected the record-at-home approach to making albums he had experimented with in the early 1980s. He released records through his own website and on his own label. Stonehill, in addition to touring and releasing his own indie records, started to travel to Nashville regularly to write songs with country writers. On one of those first songwriting trips, he was invited to lunch at Keaggy's home, where the two started throwing around song ideas.

next page... |  1 of 3