Singer/author Peterson says tour a departure for him
Andrew Peterson said the Stories & Songs tour is a departure for both him and Steven Curtis Chapman, just in different directions.
The tour comes to the Baton Rouge area on March 1 with a 7 p.m. concert at Greenwell Springs Baptist Church.
“I come from a world where I’m more of a folk singer songwritery guy,” he said. “My shows are almost all scaled-back acoustic shows. But he’s been doing this for so many years, and so many of his shows have been really big and he wanted to scale this show back. But scaled back for Steven Curtis Chapman is gigantic for me.”
Peterson struggled with describing his own music: “My three favorite songwriters are probably Paul Simon, James Taylor and Rich Mullins. So I don’t know if that helps your readers know anything about my music, but I really love words and stories. “From a genre perspective, it’s hard to say what kind of music I am, ’cause if I was to tell you it is folk music, you’d probably picture Peter, Paul and Mary, and it’s definitely not that. But if I say it’s Christian music and you picture CCM music, it’s not really that either.”
Peterson added, “I’m a songwriter and I’m a Christian, so most of my songs in one way or another wind up being about that central part of who I am. My songs aren’t worship songs. They tend to be story songs, songs about very specific things in my life.”
Peterson is most recognized for his song “Dancing in the Minefields,” about his marriage.
He said that every time he hears a story about people’s reactions to the song, “I’ve been thankful. ... Anybody who’s been married for anywhere from 10-15 or so years, everybody can look back at a season, not just a day or two, but a season in your marriage where you were plagued by this ‘Oh, no! What have we done?’ or ‘This is way harder that we thought it would be.’
“The older we get, the more we realize that affairs and divorces aren’t just things that happen to other people. We all know people who have gone through some pretty hard stuff, so you kinda realize, ‘Wow, I’m not as immune to those things as I would have thought that I was.’
“It’s good to remember that the struggle is part of the deal.”
Peterson also writes fantasy novels, the Wingfeather Saga, and has put a lot of thought into the role of art and creativity in life. “I would say that what a lot of beautiful art does is it reminds us we are not alone,” Peterson said. “I think everybody is hounded by this fear of loneliness. Not that they are physically alone but that they are alone in their fears and doubts and their brokenness: the flaws that are kicking around in our hearts.
“So when we encounter a work of art and you go, ‘Wow, I never thought to say it that way’ or ‘I thought I was the only one, and here’s a song that’s just summed up the way that I was feeling.’ I think there’s this wonderful connection that happens. This sense of connection of you with the heart of the person who made that work of art.”
But for Peterson, the process doesn’t end there. “And I think God uses art and songs and movies and other people that way.”
ä ON THE INTERNET
http://andrew-peterson.com/
http://www.rabbitroom.com/
http://wingfeathersaga.com/