Joey Liberatore - FIRST CONCERT EVER

In this First Concert Ever segment, the singer-songwriter, Joey Liberatore, talks about the story of his first experience with live music. You can check out the story below:

I had just turned 13, only about 3 years into my guitar playing ventures.  My dad took me to see an artist by the name of Phil Keaggy, one of the most talented guitar players of all time, yet very much underground, falling under most listener’s radars. Phil Keaggy played an impactful part of my father’s life ever since he was introduced to his music during his twenties.  Twenty five years later, he passed on that part of his life to me.

I walked into the church he was playing at, Community Vineyard, having a general idea of what to expect - a sixty-something year-old Christian singer/songwriter playing his legacy hits for his die hard fans that have been with him since the 80s.  Thirteen year old me, not being in his usual demographic, was not expecting much of a connection to this guy - boy was I wrong.

Phil shocked me song after song, bringing his versatile setlist onto that modest church stage.  This musician was the first to introduce me to the wonderful art of looping.  He used this looper to bring an incredible funky energy to his song “Salvation Army Band” that brought the house down.  In the midst of all his crazy looping tricks, his skills on the guitar shined even brighter.  Acoustic or electric? it didn’t matter, he mastered them both.  Like silk, all 9 of his fingers would glide through every fret of his guitar with ease and fluency.  Beyond the energetic spectacle, he amazed me the most with his performance of “Let Everything Else Go”.  Phil showed me that sometimes, the intimate combination of a solo voice and guitar is all that a song needs.  Let Everything Else Go is an intricate, yet deeply emotional song that talks about finding peace in God’s faithfulness.  His performance of this song brought tears to my eyes; still does to this day.

Many musicians and songwriters forged the artist I am today, but only a select few gave me the foundational love of what music can do.  Phil Keaggy is one of them.

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