Andrew Peterson (born June 4, 1974) is an American
Christian music
Christian music is music that has been written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christian life and faith. Common themes of Christian music include praise, worship, penitence, and lament, and its forms vary widely around ...
ian and author, who plays
folk rock
Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers suc ...
,
roots rock, and
country gospel music.
Peterson is a founding member of the Square Peg Alliance, a group of Christian songwriters. He has toured with
Caedmon's Call,
Fernando Ortega
Juan Fernando Ortega Work ID No. 332498534 (born March 2, 1957) is a singer-songwriter in contemporary Christian music. He is noted both for his interpretations of many traditional hymns and songs, such as " Give Me Jesus", "Be Thou My Vision" ...
,
Michael Card
Michael Card (born April 11, 1957) is an American, Christian singer-songwriter, musician, author, and radio host from Franklin, Tennessee. He is best known for his contributions in contemporary Christian music, which combine folk-style melod ...
,
Sara Groves,
Bebo Norman,
Nichole Nordeman,
Jill Phillips,
Andy Gullahorn
Andrew Gullahorn is an American Christian musician and music producer, who plays a folk rock style of Christian pop. He has released six studio albums, ''Old Hat'' in 1999, ''Room to Breathe'' in 2005, ''Reinventing the Wheel'' in 2007, ''The La ...
,
Ben Shive
Benjamin Aaron Shive (born September 26, 1979) is an American Christian musician, keyboardist, arranger, and music producer, who mainly plays acoustic Christian pop and folk rock music. He has released two studio albums, ''The Ill-Tempered Klavie ...
,
Eric Peters, and other members of the Square Peg Alliance.
Peterson is the author of ''
The Wingfeather Saga
The Wingfeather Saga is a series of four fantasy novels, plus a bestiary-like "Creaturepedia", a multi-author collection of side-stories titled ''The Wingfeather Tales,'' and a guidebook titled ''A Ranger’s Guide to Glipwood Forest'' written ...
'' series of children and young adult fantasy novels. The four-part series is currently being adapted into an animated TV show.
Musical career
In 1996, Peterson began touring across America with his wife Jamie and instrumentalist Gabe Scott. Peterson had yet to release a full-length album, and had no recording contract.
Caedmon's Call lead guitarist and vocalist
Derek Webb
Derek Walsh Webb (born May 27, 1974) is an American singer-songwriter who first entered the music industry as a member of the band Caedmon's Call, and later embarked on a successful solo career. As a member of the Houston, Texas-based Caedmon's C ...
came across his website, and was so impressed by the lyrics that he invited Peterson to open for his band at an upcoming show. The band enjoyed his performance and he was invited to join them on their 1998 tour.
This led to Peterson signing in 1999 with Watershed/
Essential Records. His first full-length album, ''
Carried Along
''Carried Along'' is the second album by American singer-songwriter Andrew Peterson, released in 2000.
Background
Peterson worked with Glenn Rosenstein, in the production of this album. Essential Records released the album on March 21, 2000.
C ...
'', was released in 2000. The album, including "Nothing to Say",
"Andrew Peterson – Biography."
Christianity Today.
Retrieved December 3, 2007. was listed on CCM Magazine's list of the Top 10 albums of 2000.
Peterson's second album, ''
Clear to Venus
Clear to Venus is the third album by American singer-songwriter Andrew Peterson, released in 2001.
Background
Peterson worked with Glenn Rosenstein, in the production of this album. Essential Records released the album on September 11, 2001.
M ...
'', was released on September 11, 2001.
In 2003, Peterson released ''
Love and Thunder''. It featured
Alison Krauss,
Cliff Young and
Randall Goodgame
Randall Kilpatrick Goodgame (born February 15, 1974) is an American singer-songwriter of contemporary Christian music and the creative force behind the family music brand, Slugs & Bugs. Goodgame has recorded eight solo albums and contributed ...
and was produced by Dove Award-winning Christian music veteran
Steve Hindalong
Steve Hindalong (born November 29, 1959) is an American drummer, percussionist, songwriter and producer best known for his work with the alternative rock band the Choir. Since 2006, Hindalong has also been an official member of the alternative ...
.
Also in 2003, Peterson read narration for the audio version of Ray Blackston's novel ''Flabbergasted'', and
Caedmon's Call recorded "Mystery of Mercy", a song Peterson co-wrote with Randall Goodgame, for their album
''Back Home.''
In 2004, Peterson's song "Family Man", from the album ''Love and Thunder'', was nominated in the category "Country Recorded Song of the Year" for the 35th Annual
Dove Awards.
Peterson also released a Christmas album, ''Behold the Lamb of God: The True Tall Tale of the Coming of Christ''. Since the holiday season of 2001, Peterson and a wide variety of fellow Nashville area musicians have gone on tour playing the songs from the album, culminating in an annual performance in
Nashville
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...
's
Ryman Auditorium. Peterson recorded a new edition of the album that was released on October 25, 2019.
In 2005, Peterson released ''
The Far Country'' and ''Appendix A: Bootlegs and B Sides''.
In 2006, Peterson worked with his friend Randall Goodgame to release ''
Slugs & Bugs & Lullabies'', a children's album. The album produced two tracks which were featured on the newest video in the bestselling
VeggieTales series called ''
The Wonderful Wizard of Ha's''.
Peterson sang the song "Arise, Arise" on ''Songs from the Voice, Vol. 2: Son of the Most High'', a compilation album produced by Don Chaffer of
Waterdeep. That same year,
Michael Card
Michael Card (born April 11, 1957) is an American, Christian singer-songwriter, musician, author, and radio host from Franklin, Tennessee. He is best known for his contributions in contemporary Christian music, which combine folk-style melod ...
recorded Peterson's song "The Silence of God" for his album ''The Hidden Face of God''. Peterson appeared on Card's radio show on numerous occasions.
In 2007, Peterson independently released ''Appendix M: Media / Music / Movies'', an EP containing live versions, original demos, and rarities. Later that year,
Randy Travis
Randy Bruce Traywick (born May 4, 1959), known professionally as Randy Travis, is an American country music and gospel music singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actor.
Active from 1978 until being incapacitated by a stroke in 2013, he has recor ...
recorded Peterson's "Labor of Love" for his 2007 Christmas album ''
Songs of the Season''.
In July 2008, Peterson signed with the Christian label
Centricity Music. On October 21, 2008, Peterson released ''Resurrection Letters, Volume Two'', a collection of songs about what the resurrection of
Jesus Christ means for people today.
The album reached No. 9 on
''Billboard'''s Top Christian Albums chart.
In August 2010 Peterson released ''Counting Stars'', which debuted at No. 7 on ''Billboard''s Top Christian Albums chart. His single from the album, "Dancing in the Minefields", reached No. 13 on ''Billboard''s Top Christian Songs chart and stayed on the chart for 19 weeks.
[ Andrew Peterson/ref>
On August 24, 2012 Andrew released the album '']Light for the Lost Boy
''Light for the Lost Boy'' is a 2012 album by the American contemporary Christian music singer and songwriter Andrew Peterson, released on Centricity Music.
Background
Peterson worked with Cason Cooley and Ben Shive, in the production of this alb ...
'' to critical acclaim, due to a fuller band sound which maintains his depth of lyrical content.
In October 2016, Peterson released ''The Burning Edge of Dawn'', which includes a song sung with his daughter Skye.
Peterson released a five-song EP, ''Resurrection Letters: Prologue'', in February 2018, as a follow-up to ''Resurrection Letters, Volume 2''. On March 30, ''Resurrection Letters, Volume One'' was released. This album contained "Is He Worthy?" written by Peterson and Ben Shive
Benjamin Aaron Shive (born September 26, 1979) is an American Christian musician, keyboardist, arranger, and music producer, who mainly plays acoustic Christian pop and folk rock music. He has released two studio albums, ''The Ill-Tempered Klavie ...
, which was covered on Chris Tomlin's '' Holy Roar'' album on September 28, 2018.
Writing
In 2007, Andrew Peterson published ''The Ballad of Matthew's Begats'' with illustrator Cory Godbey. It is a children's book based on the song of the same name from Peterson's annual Christmas show, ''Behold the Lamb of God: The True Tall Tale of the Coming of Christ.''[Peterson, A & Godbey, C (2007): "The Ballad of Matthew's Begats", Thomas Nelson, ]
Peterson also wrote a four-book series of fantasy/adventure novels for young adults entitled ''The Wingfeather Saga
The Wingfeather Saga is a series of four fantasy novels, plus a bestiary-like "Creaturepedia", a multi-author collection of side-stories titled ''The Wingfeather Tales,'' and a guidebook titled ''A Ranger’s Guide to Glipwood Forest'' written ...
'' published by Waterbrook Press, a subsidiary of Random House and Rabbit Room Press. The first novel, '' On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness'', was released March 18, 2008. The second novel in the series, '' North! Or Be Eaten'', winner of the 2010 Christy Award
The Christy Awards, established in 1999, are awarded each year to recognize fiction of excellence written from a Christian perspective with matters of faith at its core. Awards are given in several genres, including contemporary (stand-alone novel ...
for Young Adult Fiction, was released August 18, 2009, and the third novel in the series, ''The Monster in the Hollows'', was released in May 2011. The series concluded with ''The Warden and the Wolf King'', and won the 2015 Clive Staples Award (named after C.S. Lewis
CS, C-S, C.S., Cs, cs, or cs. may refer to:
Job titles
* Chief Secretary (Hong Kong)
* Chief superintendent, a rank in the British and several other police forces
* Company secretary, a senior position in a private sector company or public se ...
) for Imaginative Fiction. This novel was funded successfully through Kickstarter in August 2013 and was released in July 2014.
''The Wingfeather Saga'' is being adapted into an animated television series by Angel Studios. In 2016, a Kickstarter
Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...
campaign funded a pilot episode which was released in 2017 as a short film. An equity crowdfunding effort was launched in 2021 and successfully raised $5 million to produce the first season of the series, which is slated for release in December 2022. Peterson is a producer of the series.
In 2019, Peterson published ''Adorning the Dark: Thoughts on Community, Calling, and the Mystery of Making'', a semi-autobiographical work. The book earned "Book of the Year" honors from ''Christianity Today
''Christianity Today'' is an evangelical Christian media magazine founded in 1956 by Billy Graham. It is published by Christianity Today International based in Carol Stream, Illinois. ''The Washington Post'' calls ''Christianity Today'' "evange ...
'', and '' World''.
Musical style
Peterson plays in the vein of a folk, rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
, bluegrass, country, blues
Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...
, and pop
Pop or POP may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music
* Pop music, a musical genre Artists
* POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade
* Pop!, a UK pop group
* Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band
Albums
* ''Pop'' (G ...
musician, while to a lesser extent rock and roll, where this enables him to play Christian pop, Christian rock
Christian rock is a form of rock music that features lyrics focusing on matters of Christian faith, often with an emphasis on Jesus, typically performed by self-proclaimed Christian individuals. The extent to which their lyrics are explicitly Ch ...
, folk rock
Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers suc ...
, roots rock, and country gospel styles and genres of music.
Discography
Albums
Singles
(Selective singles and videos)
* 2000: "Nothing to Say"
* 2004: "Family Man"
* 2010: "Dancing in the Minefields" (peaked at No. 13 on Billboard's Top Christian Songs chart)
* 2012: "Rest Easy"
* 2014: "After All These Years"
* 2018: "Is He Worthy?"
Video
* 2005: ''Behold the Lamb of God'' Live (DVD)
Books
* 2007: ''The Ballad of Matthew's Begats''
* 2008: '' On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness: The Wingfeather Saga, Book One''
* 2009: '' North! Or Be Eaten: The Wingfeather Saga, Book Two''
* 2011: ''The Monster in the Hollows: The Wingfeather Saga, Book Three''
* 2014: ''The Warden and the Wolf King: The Wingfeather Saga, Book Four''
* 2014: ''Pembrick's Creaturepedia'' (Illustrated by Aedan Peterson)
* 2016: ''Wingfeather Tales'' (editor)
*2019: ''Adorning the Dark'' (nonfiction/memoir)
*2021: ''The God of the Garden'' (nonfiction/memoir)
Awards
GMA Dove Awards
References
External links
*
www.WingfeatherSaga.com
The Wingfeather Saga Online
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peterson, Andrew
1974 births
Performers of contemporary Christian music
American performers of Christian music
21st-century American novelists
American male novelists
Place of birth missing (living people)
Centricity Music artists
Fervent Records artists
Living people
People from Monticello, Illinois
Musicians from Illinois
Novelists from Illinois
21st-century American male writers
Christian novelists