Exclusive, Cheri Keaggy “Yours To Keep” First Music Video and Interview

Cheri Keaggy, Dove Award-winning singer/songwriter and trailblazing worship artist, returns with What I Know To Be True on June 3. To Be True includes 15 songs written by Cheri Keaggy. “Yours To Keep,” the project’s first single, was co-written by Cheri and her uncle Phil. The guitar melody, both fresh and familiar, provides the perfect setting for lyrics that remind listeners of God’s ever-present invitation to experience the fullness of His love. In this TCB exclusive, we bring you the premiere of Cheri Keaggy’s official “Yours To Keep” music video plus an in-depth interview where Cheri opens up about the deeply personal events, including her father’s tragic suicide, that inspired her new collection .

Congratulations on the upcoming release of What I Know To Be True! What made you choose the title of the project?
Typically, an album title emerges from a song title. But I wasn’t sure of the song titles, and I was praying about it. And I had this inner knowing of the title. This comes as a lyric from one of the songs, so it’s not completely out of left field.

You pre-released “Yours To Keep” earlier this month. Was there a recurring theme in listeners’ responses?
There wasn’t much of a common thread. But it’s been seven years since I’ve released any new music. So it’s more like ‘here’s something new from Chéri!’ But it’s nice that this song was a co-write with my uncle (Phil Keaggy), and so it was new to me. I most often write alone at the piano, and in this case we met together and I wasn’t at a keyboard, he had his guitar. And we wrote this song together. So you can definitely hear some of his influence in the musicality of it all. But in this song I’m talking about trusting the Word of God rather than our feelings. And in my own life, I’ve learned to bet everything on the Word of God because our lives can be so disrupted. If we don’t anchor ourselves to something fundamental, we don’t have much to fall back on.

The official music video for “Yours To Keep” is released this week. Taking us back to the day you recorded the video, is there a moment that stands out to you looking back?
Interestingly, the location where we shot the video is on some friends’ property where they have a cabin and some nice grounds. This album contains several songs of me dealing with the grief of losing my father, and so my friend allowed me to go to the cabin to have a personal retreat ofsongwriter. I just wanted to go and process and sit with the Lord. And there were a few songs that came in this weekend that are on the album. So it was nice to then come back to the same location for a photoshoot and this music video. So it was redemptive. And you’ll even see in the video I’m wearing this beautiful embroidered bohemian pink shawl while standing in a waterfall. But I borrowed that shawl from my mother and so it was very special and redemptive to be there recording something to put truth and goodness into the world after such a devastating event.

What song or lyric do you think the world needs to hear most in its current state?
Well, I know a lot of people have lost loved ones. A verse that comforted me when I lost my father was Psalm 116:15. So I put that in a song. And so I feel like it can really help people. Also, there’s a song called “False Anchor” that talks about how we sometimes cling to lesser loves, things for security. The song talks about that, but then points us to our one true anchor, which when all else fails, if you’re in Christ, you still have it. Hebrews 6:19 helps because there are so many things in this world that seem out of control. When I wrote this song, the opening lyrics are “It can’t be my father, it can’t be my mother.” It can’t be my husband or my son. So I begin to name these people in whom you could place your security. And I wrote this song long before I knew I was going to lose my father. It’s a hopeful song because it brings you back to Christ, who is everything to me.

You co-produced this project with your uncle. How do you think collaboration improves sound/quality?
Phil has played on many of my records over the years. He was very generous that way. He has always really supported and encouraged my music. And this example, after losing my father, I was in a fog of grief and processing through music, but I felt completely overwhelmed by the idea of ​​moving forward with recording new music. I was in a corner. For my last few records, Phil recorded piano vocal demos for me, and this time I shared how overwhelmed I felt. And he told me we could take as long as I wanted. In the past, I recorded everything in two days with 5-6 songs per day. And it was too big for me in this season. So it was a relief to my soul that we could take the time. So we approached the album differently and integrated the instruments as we went along. It was a gift he gave me to approach it that way.

You’ve been in the music industry for decades, so you’re no stranger to the process of creating music. How did the experience of writing this project surprise you the most, perhaps even exceeding your expectations?
My last album was in 2015. And since then, I remarried, I became a new grandmother. I moved from one city to another. I moved my mother from California to here. There were a lot of life events. And a lot of it was happy things, but my father’s unexpected death came into this record. The subtitle of the record could be “Seasons of Life”. There is a song you could sing at a funeral, to celebrate the birth of a new life, a wedding song. All these great life milestones are recorded with the common thread of faith in Christ through the words. If I never record another record, I will have done what is expected of me with this album.

How would you define the success of this collection?
I remember when I pressed my computer for final approval of the physical CD cover, I had an unexpected emotional response and literally laid down on the floor because I needed to be weak with the Lord. And I just said, “Lord, redeem.” » So for me, success is if the Lord redeemed my father’s choice to commit suicide. It’s a sensitive subject, but it would be a success. That this album would be a comforting balm for those affected by suicide. Let families know that they are not alone in their experience. Survivors of suicide loss are looking for a way to return to normal life after such an abnormal event. So that would be my prayer, you want to recoup your costs and that sort of thing, but beyond that, eternally speaking, that would be my prayer – that God redeems this event as only He can.

What are you most looking forward to in 2022?
For a long time, I was working on getting this music out and trying to figure out how to go about it. So beyond this June 3 full release, I don’t know. I see that at the stage of life I am at, I have a real opportunity to impact certain relationships in my life. So I look forward to impacting those relationships and beyond that, may the Lord be so gracious to use these songs to serve.

The post office Exclusive: Cheri Keaggy “Yours To Keep” First Music Video and Interview appeared first on TCA.

Author: Herb Longs

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