Copyright ©1996, ProMotion, inc.
www@acloserlook.com
My Faith Will Stay manages the artistic tension well; it's a strong set of songs that vary from worship--oriented songs like the orchestral pop sound of "Heavenly Father" and the communion-centered piano piece "In Remembrance of Me" to the radio-ready pop sounds of "Keep on Shinin'," and the gospel-rap groove of "Love of God."
Keaggy, who began writing songs while serving as worship coordinator for her small southern California church, is almost an accidental artist. She never set out to become a recording artist, and insists she never hoped for more out of her songwriting than to have some of her songs published in new collections of praise and worship music.
But once artist and producer Charlie Peacock heard her playing piano and singing Child of the Father at a concert hall where Keaggy's audio engineer husband Eddie was testing sound equipment before one of Peacock's concerts, it was only a matter of time before she would be in the studio.
Child of the Father, released in 1993, generated three Number One hits on Christian radio and earned Keaggy a Dove award nomination for best new artist. It didn't hurt that she shared a famous last name with contemporary Christian music's renowned writer and guitar-slinger Phil Keaggy, who is her husband's uncle.
Anyone who is tempted to dismiss Cheri Keaggy's music because nepotism got her the gig, listen up: it is the fine songs, great music and sparkling production, not a famous last name that makes My Faith Will Stay a must-have record.
Where Child of the Father was heavily worship-oriented, My Faith Will Stay is less so, although the album's closing number, "In Remembrance of Me," deserves a place in modern hymnals. For most of the record, though, Keaggy turns her focus more on the power of faith in helping humans persevere through life's unavoidable hardships.
"The songs on the first record were filled with vertical lyrics, very worship-oriented," Keaggy says. "Since that release, I sensed that I need to speak to those in my audience who are hurting. People often come up to me at concerts, thinking all I do is go around worshiping the Lord all the time. But I'm just like any other person. I have hardships too. I wanted to remind people that when we are at our lowest point, our source of help is Christ."
The album begins on a high note, a chorus of voices shout-singing a declaration of reliance on God:
My faith will stay! My faith will grow!
Sometimes fast, sometimes slow
Through the wind and through the rain
By Your grace, my faith will stay.
The same words are repeated as the song fades out and segues into "Keep On Shinin'," a song with an unrelentingly positive, infectious beat. Keaggy's lyrics offer no explanation for tough times, only encouragement, and the result is a song that's both a powerful piece of spiritual reassurance and a surefire radio hit. Keaggy was inspired to write the song by the "unexplainable joy" she saw in the eyes of a woman at her church whose health was deteriorating from a brain tumor diagnosed just after her wedding. That makes the song that much more powerful.
Themes of human struggles and God's faithfulness to see us through resonate throughout My Faith Will Stay as Keaggy stresses not pat answers nor promises that a Christian life is one of ease. Just the opposite. These songs speak of people who are "empty and have nothing to give/discontented by the way that you live," people who "can't find peace," "feel forgotten," people who have "made mistakes . . . fallen down . . . carry some scars."
Yet the album is no downer. Instead, it is constantly uplifting and enlivening, whether on the mid-tempo numbers like "He Will Look after You," which was inspired by a scene from the movie Apollo 13 showing the smallness of the earth in the vastness of the universe, or the slow, contemplative "Heavenly Father," which centers around a simple question: "Father, Heavenly Father/Have I told You I love You today?"
Only one song deviates from the album's general theme, but its a worthy side road. "Beautiful Little Girl (Sarah's Song)" is a song any young mother can relate to, wondering what her precious daughter will become and how she can help the little girl grow spiritually strong.
The song leads into "The Love of God," which mixes a singing-rap vocal on the verses with pop and gospel styling on the choruses as the song builds layer on layer. It's an odd but effective number and a highlight of this very worthwhile record.
Copyright ©1996, ProMotion, inc.
www@acloserlook.com