Cheri Keaggy:

MOVING PAST THE FAIRY TALE

by

Mike Nappa

It seemed like a fairy-tale beginning—the kind every would-be Christian artist dreams of...

The only trouble with this story is that it really is a fairy tale. Although some elements are true, Cheri had a much less dramatic start at Sparrow. A slightly embarrassed Cheri Keaggy has this to say now, "In [my original] bio it talks about Charlie [Peacock] and a chance meeting, and the story about how Charlie heard my music—and all of that is completely true. But the way the bio was worded was just kind of hype. I wanted to explain how it really happened."

Turns out that Cheri Keaggy didn’t need a "chance meeting" to be discovered. Sparrow executive, Peter York was already interested in her music, and Maranatha! Music wanted some of Keaggy’s songs as well. That fateful night at the Charlie Peacock concert only helped to confirm Cheri’s future with Sparrow, and to land her one of the best producers in Christian music.

But regardless of how she got her start, the fact remains that Cheri Keaggy is one of the hottest new artists to come on the Christian music scene in years. Her 1994 debut release, Child of the Father, was an immense success. Since that time Cheri’s life has been filled with a relentless touring schedule, appearances on "The 700 Club" and "Music City Tonight," three number one hit singles, and a Dove award nomination as New Artist of the Year.

Somehow she found time in her busy schedule to record a sophomore album, My Faith Will Stay—and managed to keep her career in perspective as well.

Says a grateful Keaggy, "It’s been really rewarding in the last year and a half to see how the Lord has used the first record. I’ve really seen the power of God as he has shown me how he can use people to minister to others. I have realized how it is not so much myself, Cheri Keaggy, the person, but it is so much the Lord working through me. I’ve learned how the Holy Spirit can use people and it’s very humbling."

Although she was able to team up once again with super-producer Charlie Peacock, Keaggy’s high hopes for this second effort lie in her other "teammate"—God.

"It would be wonderful if the Lord would continue to use these songs," she says simply. When pressed about record sales, she says "I don’t have any sales goals. It would be nice to sell enough records to pay for making it! [But] my husband handles all the business kinds of things so I don’t have to think about it. I can focus on what it is I’m doing—the writing and all that."

Cheri Keaggy’s whirlwind success has also brought another change—a move from California to Nashville. Although she had grown up and lived her whole life in Southern California, Keaggy felt that it was in the best interests of her family to make the move to Christian music’s Mecca.

"The first record we were living in California and recording in Nashville," she explains. "We had to fly back and forth and leave our kids at home and that was kind of hard. By the end of that first record I was...really torn between being called to the music...but also knowing that I was a mother first."

"So with the second record," she continues, "we were in [Nashville], 20 minutes from the studio. That was a little bit better. We brought the kids every now and then to the studio and I could come home every night and tuck them in bed."

Keaggy’s commitment to her children also shows up in her music. One of the consistent audience favorites from her first album was "Little Boy On His Knees"—a song about Keaggy’s son, Cameron. When Keaggy’s four-year-old daughter (Sarah) heard her Mommy perform that song in concert, she wanted to know where her song was. So Keaggy pulled out some lyrics she had scribbled on scratch paper years before, and put together "Beautiful Little Girl"—a song especially for Sarah.

One of the results of popular songs like "Little Boy On His Knees" and "Beautiful Little Girl" is a new pressure to fill the days with all the demands of being a successful Christian music star.

Keaggy describes the impact of her newfound success this way, "It’s made [my life] a lot busier! We were busy before, but now we’re even more busy. I guess I just try to take each day one day at a time. I feel sometimes like that Amy Grant song, ‘Hats,’ that I’m a mother to my kids, and a wife, and car pool, and a singer, and an artist, and all these things." She laughs, "It makes for a very full life that’s for sure!"

Perhaps that’s why the release of Keaggy’s second album, My Faith Will Stay, reveals a more mature woman who faces struggles just like everyone else. The heartfelt prayer of "Heavenly Father" and Keaggy’s cry in "Sweet Peace of God" show some of her desire to stay focused on God in the middle of day-to-day busyness.

And though her life is no fairy tale, Keaggy wouldn’t trade it for anything. "I love my family. My favorite thing I like about it is that it is ours. We love doing things together. [And] for me it’s just great to have an opportunity to record another 10 songs that I’ve written, and to see what God does with it."

Judging from the success of her first album, God may have fairy-tale finish in mind for Cheri Keaggy and My Faith Will Stay.