Andrew Peterson

Andrew Peterson is an artist in every sense of the word. Few people in this world seem to have as many irons in the proverbial fire as the soft-spoken former Floridian. With an already impressive catalog of albums in his resume, a membership in good standing with the artistic friendship known as the Square Peg Alliance, and favorable comparisons to the late, great Rich Mullins, one wonders what more Peterson could ask for?

Apparently, music isn’t the only art that flows through Peterson’s veins. Recently, Soul-Audio’s Matt Conner sat down with Peterson to discuss these newfound outlets as well as to discuss Peterson’s upcoming album, his annual tour, and his new web endeavor.

SA: Now that you’ve been making music for a while, you must have a defined fanbase. How would you describe the average Andrew Peterson fan?

Peterson: That’s hard to answer. One of the things I enjoy about my audiences is their diversity. After shows I meet high schoolers, college students, the parents of high schoolers and college students, whole families of homeschoolers, grandparents, ex-stoners, weathermen, and now, with Slugs and Bugs and Lullabies, younger children. I take that diversity as a high compliment. I remember seeing Sting live for the first time when I was in college, and I loved that there were kids and parents at the show together, dressed up like they were going to the symphony. My parents and I never had music in common, so when I see that my songs can be a point of fellowship between generations, I’m happy.

SA:You’re involved with so many projects that differ so much from the other that I’d like to discuss. But one that has a lot excited each year is the Christmas tour for Behold The Lamb of God. Is that still an exciting thing each year?

Peterson: I look forward to it for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is that I get to spend a few weeks with friends I don’t see nearly enough. It’s a joy to play with a full band anyway, but having that band be people I admire personally and artistically makes it even better.

SA: Would you say that ‘Behold’ has exceeded your expectations? When you first developed the idea, what were you picturing?

Peterson: One of my favorite memories about ‘Behold the Lamb’ is of the first rehearsals with the band Silers Bald. This was in 2000 and we had toured together some at that point, so when the idea for this concert came along I roped them into coming on the road for the first tour. They showed up in Nashville without a clue what they were getting into. It was like they had these question marks hovering over their heads.

Anyway, we were rehearsing the new songs and my brother came by and stood in the back of the building and listened. I had told him all about the idea and he was one of the few people who really seemed to understand what it was that I hoped to do. When he came and heard it he got emotional, and I could see it from the stage. When the song ended he told me in that gruff, big brother, men-don’t-cry way, “This is something really special.” He doesn’t usually talk like that, and I held onto that bit of encouragement throughout the rocky first tour.

As for what I was picturing, from the beginning I imagined it being at the Ryman Auditorium here in Nashville. I wanted the songs to sound different, more American and rootsy than your typical Christmas concert, and a venue like the Ryman suited it perfectly. That we’ve been able to put on the concert there for the last few years has been quite an honor.

SA: Then there’s the children’s record - the Slugs and Bugs project. Now that it’s over, how do you look back on that whole time? And what has been the feedback?

Peterson: Well, Slugs and Bugs has been ridiculously fun to be a part of. Just a few weeks ago I was leading songs for the kids at my church. I hadn’t done it before at our church and we were pulling out all the standards (”Father Abraham,” “I’m Gonna Sing, Sing, Sing”)–it was me and Andrew Osenga, by the way–and he said, do “God Made Me.” I told the thirty or so kids that I had a new song for them and I started the song, nervous about teaching that many kids something brand new. Well, about half of them cheered and sang along at the top of their lungs because they knew it already. I think that record’s potential hasn’t been tapped yet, and we’re working on some exciting things right now.

Slugs and Bugs also opened the door to the folks at Big Idea (VeggieTales). Randall (Goodgame) and I have written the two most recent Silly Songs for the VeggieTales videos, and if it sounds like I’m bragging, I kind of am. It’s been such fun to work with those guys, and it’s been a turn in our careers that we’re completely surprised by and thankful for. Randall and I have sat in the parking lot of Big Idea and laughed at what a blessing it is to have an output for the goofy side of our music.

SA: I had no idea about Big Idea. How did that connection happen? And do you see another kids’ songs project in the future?

Peterson: The Big Idea thing has been quite a ride. Randall and I sent Slugs and Bugs to our friend Kurt Heinecke, who composes the music for all their films, and he passed it on to the producer, who without listening to it passed it on to his wife. She liked it so much that she grabbed her husband and made him listen to it - I need to send her a thank you note. Anyway, they were finishing up production of “The Wizard of Ha’s,” a prodigal son story, and needed a tear-jerker song for the end of the story. “You Can Always Come Home” fit, and they asked us to write a silly song too, which ended up being called “Monkey”. You can YouTube it if you want to see it. They’re great folks, and great to work with. The silly song in the next video is called, ahem, “The Biscuit of Zazzamarandabo.” Go ahead. Say it out loud.

Randall and I plan to record another Slugs and Bugs album, but it’ll probably be a while.

SA: In many ways, you’ve been very busy with writing books - which I want to get to - and various musical projects like the children’s album and the Appendix series. But then again, I’m wondering if some fans are restless for the standard studio album since it’s been since 2005’s The Far Country.

Peterson: Oh, man. I’m restless too. Even more so since the record has been finished for a while now. I’ve had so many other irons in the fire that it took longer to get the songs written or the free space in the calendar to head into the cave to make another record. I hope my listeners will be patient for a few more months, because I’m as excited about Resurrection Letters, Vol. II as anything I’ve been a part of.

SA: So what is the timeline for Resurrection Letters? When is it out?

Peterson: I was all set to release the album early this year when something surprising happened. I asked my manager to send the finished record over to a label called Centricity (Jason Gray, Downhere), just to see if they’d be interested in picking it up at least for distribution. Well, they ended up really liking the record, and after a couple of meetings we’ve decided that we’re going to try and work out some kind of an agreement with them. They seem to be a great bunch of folks, and some of them are familiar with my music already, which was a good feeling.

We’ll be releasing the record later this year sometime, probably in the fall, and though I’m disappointed that folks will have to wait that much longer to hear it, I really feel like this is a door the Lord opened. We’re still moving forward with the ‘Resurrection Letters’ tour in March, which will incorporate some of these new songs along with some tried and true ones.

SA: You seem to write thematically, especially on an album like ‘Country.’ When you’re writing songs for this album, is there a dominant theme coming through?

Peterson: The novelist Mark Helprin said that when he writes a book he generally has the final scene in his mind. He writes toward that scene, as unaware as the next guy of how he’s going to get there. Helprin said that it’s like throwing a rock into a pond, then diving for it. When I heard him say that I felt it described why I tend to have a concept in mind for a record. Usually there’s an image in my head of the album cover, or an impression of the way a person feels when they’re listening to the songs–you know how when you pick up a book that you love, you get a flash of emotion that sums up your overall sense of the work? Maybe it’s just me.

Anyway, I knew early on that I hoped this record would be joyful, and I always imagined the cover was deep green and verdant like April in Tennessee. I wanted it to sound like that, too. A lot of the choices we made in the studio were, in my mind, guided by that sense of how I wanted the album as a whole to make you feel.

That being said, when I sit down to write a song I’m not shooting for anything nearly that specific. I do my best to serve the work, as [Madeleine] L’Engle put it, and let it grow into what it wants to be, then when it’s time to make the album I look at all the songs and choose the ones that support one another the best.

SA: I’d love to give you a chance to talk all about the fantasy series you’re authoring - can you tell us more?

Peterson: Yes! On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness is one of the most preposterous book titles I’ve ever heard, which is why I love it. It’s an adventure story about the Igiby children, set in the world of Aerwiar (so called because the First Fellow, a bloke named Dwayne, woke up on the very first day of that world’s creation and said, “Well, here we are.”). Janner Igiby and his siblings, who live with their mother and ex-pirate grandfather in the sleepy little town of Glipwood, stumble onto a secret that just might be the end of them if they’re not careful. As I read the book to my boys they politely informed me which parts were boring and I removed those passages, post haste. Hopefully it’ll be the kind of story anyone can enjoy, and that parents can read aloud to their kids.

I believe in the power of a great story, whether it’s about Frodo or Moby Dick or Saint Godric or King David, and have always had an itch to tell a story of my own. Writing The Wingfeather Saga is a dream come true, and I don’t use that cliché lightly. For as long as I can remember I’ve wanted to write books–for longer than I’ve wanted to write songs, in fact–and I hope this is the first of many. That said, I can’t imagine ever giving up music. I’m just thankful to have good hard work to do.

SA: How many books are planned for the Saga?

Peterson: Right now there are three, but there might need to be four. I’ll know by the time I finish book two, which is what I’m supposed to be working on right now.

SA: How does a songwriter get involved with writing such a saga or is it really not that much of a stretch?

Well, if you had asked me at the beginning of the process, I’d have told you it wasn’t much of a stretch. I tell stories for a living, after all, so could it be that difficult? The answer is a resounding YES.

Writing a book is vastly, vastly different from writing a song. Writing a book takes much more discipline, much more nose-to-the-grindstone focus than songwriting. With songs, you sit and ponder and doodle on the guitar or piano, or you whip out your journal and try a little free association to find a line or two. You find one central idea and use music and poetry to communicate that idea. Granted, many songs are multi-layered and can have a host of different interpretations, intended or otherwise.

But a novel is complex. A novel has characters, and every one of those characters is a universe unto themselves, and the only way to explore that universe is to write, write, write. Songwriting is more like going fishing, to borrow an analogy from Rich Mullins. You do a lot of waiting, and if you’re lucky, something bites.

The editing process is much more grueling too. When we were recording Resurrection Letters I’d stop in the middle of a vocal take and check with Ben (Shive) or Andy (Gullahorn) about a choice of word. They’d tell me what they thought and I’d either change it or leave it alone. Once a song is written in your living room, most of the time not a whole lot changes between then and the finished product. When I delivered the manuscript to WaterBrook Press, however, it was the third draft. Then my wonderful editor went to work and we revised it even more. Then the copy editors came in and fixed even more.

The thing is, in a sick kind of way I loved every bit of the process.

SA: Finally, can you tell us about your new site, The Rabbit Room? Where did the name come from and what’s the vision there?

Peterson: The name for the Rabbit Room came from the back room of the Eagle and Child, the pub where the Oxford Inklings sometimes met. I went to England a few years ago and made my obligatory C.S. Lewis/Tolkien geek trip to Oxford. I saw this sign above the doorway to the back room that read “Rabbit Room”. I don’t know what it meant, but I loved the way it sounded, which may have been in part due to the fact that I was reading Watership Down. Anyway, when I got back to the States I reserved the domain name and started the process of figuring out what the site might become. What I landed on, thanks in part to you, Matt Conner, was a writer’s collective that also featured a store where readers could support the site and the artists we recommend by buying their products. It’s been steadily growing since it began last October, and we’re now selling everything from CDs to album downloads to new and used books by our favorite authors. The main point of the thing is to shed light by drawing attention to artists and writers who tell the truth, and tell it well.

• http://www.andrew-peterson.com
• http://www.rabbitroom.com/

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