Phil Keaggy at Uptown's

Tuesday, my wife said to me, "Can we go to Trader Joe's sometime soon so I can pick up another few months' worth of vitamins?" "Sure, I said, let me check the website for Uptown's Smoke Shop and see if there are any events coming up that we can coincide with." I checked the website and was soon exclaiming, "Phil Keaggy's going to be at Uptown's in two days!!!" I made a couple phone calls, reserving a seat and getting the day off work, and we were set to go.

Thursday, November 12, we made the 3 hour drive to Nashville, starting around noon and getting there a little after 2 (we are in the Eastern time zone, N'ville's in Central). We did our TJ's shopping, then went next door to Uptown's. I bought some sticks that my local tobacconist is not going to carry (upcoming reviews for Xikar HC Series (all 3 variants), Torano Exodus 50 Years, and Alec Bradley Vice Press, thank you very much...) and we talked with the manager and the owner for a while before heading out to get some food before the show. Interesting to find out that Uptowns' clientele does include many names from the music industry that you would recognize, including some of my all-time favorites, as well as local sports stars. I won't drop any names here as they have their right to privacy and this article is not about them, anyway.

Phil Keaggy showed to start setting up around 5:00. I offered to help carry stuff in, but I was too slow. I got to talk to him a bit as he was setting up, expressing my gratitude for providing so much enjoyable music, then getting into the reason he was playing at Uptowns: his love of pipes. I pride myself on being well-informed about cigars; while I may not have the photographic memory of some people, I can generally do a good job recommending smokes to people. Phil knows his pipe tobaccos every bit as well as I know my cigars. He is more of a non-aromatic (natural?) tobacco fan, whereas I've generally thought of pipes in terms of aromatic tobaccos. That is a big mistake as it is equivalent to a cigar smoker only thinking about Acid, Havana Honeys, and CAO Flavours--while it may be good on occasion, there is just so much more out there and when you experience the richness of natural tobacco, you rarely ever dip into the flavored pool again.

During a lull in sound check, I went ahead and asked Phil, "What pipe tobacco would you recommend?" I expected just a few names, but he put down his guitar and went with me over to the wall of pipe tobacco and showed me several things I might be interested in, including one that had cigar leaf mixed in...maybe next time! I bought Beacon by McClelland, a Virginia Flake with a bit of Louisiana Perique. Phil said it has a bit of pepper to it; I like peppery cigars, so I thought this would be a good choice. I did smoke a bowl on Thursday night...after a bowl of something else and 2 cigars, so while it tasted good, I cannot give a fair evaluation of the Beacon at this point.

A little later Phil sat down at the table with me and started contemplating a set list. I pulled out my list of songs that I had brought--my "if he opens it up to requests, this is what I should shout out" list. He took it and ended up playing "Fare Thee Well" from the Beyond Nature album. A young man showed up from Detroit (yes, he drove all the way from Detroit!); he got his picture taken with Phil and had him sign the back of his guitar. I had brought my 3 favorite CD booklets (Beyond Nature, Phil Keaggy (self-titled), and Sunday's Child) which Phil graciously signed for me before the show.

For the actual concert...let's just say that when Phil has an "off" night, he is still better than 99 percent of all guitar players in the world. I saw something I had never seen on Thursday night: Phil Keaggy nervous. He actually does not often play in his home town of Nashville and with so many friends, relatives, and acquaintances around, the nerves did show a few times. He made mistakes that were unlike him, and ended up playing "Days Like You" as kind of a theme song for the night: "I have days like you / stuck in the mud, feeling the blues / oh, I have days like you / just holding my ground." I think mostly because of some frustration at the sound not working right all the time as well as some playing mistakes, he stopped after an hour and a half and spent the rest of the evening talking with the folks who came.

The set list did include "John the Revelator," "Paka," "Make You Feel My Love," "Here Comes the Sun," "Shades of Green," "Salvation Army Band," and "Village Bells" (from his new Christmas album) as well as the two other songs mentioned above.

I have to say that Phil Keaggy really impressed me as a very friendly, likable fellow. He was gracious and humble and willing to share his opinions on pipes and cigars (he once was a member of a cigar-smoking Bible study called...are you ready for this..."Holy Smokes"); he had time for everyone who wanted to speak with him on Thursday night, but also made everyone feel special.