andrew peterson : resurrection letters, vol. II
i have been an andrew peterson fan for years, ever since his first album called carried along. after getting used to his somewhat nasal voice, i began to see and hear that this guy's gift was special. he wasn't just another nashville christian acoustic singer/songwriter. he was a poet in a musician's body. his songs and lyrics were unique. often in christian music, lyrics are either overtly christian (fernando ortega, shane and shane, other worship artists) or mostly symbolic (derek webb, caedmon's call, sara groves, etc.) this is somewhat of an overgeneralization, but just go with me here. andrew peterson lies somewhere in between. his lyrics are often of the symbolic variety, but they're always rooted in scripture. it's easy to tell that he is somewhat of a biblical scholar, along with being an incredible writer. i continued to follow his music, through albums such as love and thunder, clear to venus, and the far country, and was never disappointed. in fact, although love and thunder is probably my favorite AP album (sans the new one), i would say he continues to get better with each album.
other fun facts about AP: he's in the middle of writing a series of fantasy novels, one of which has already been released. he works with many of my other favorite nashville artists, including andy gullahorn, ben shive, andrew osenga, gabe scott, and jill phillips. lastly, he is responsible for the greatest christmas album i've ever heard, which will get its own blog post in the not-too-distant future.
this new album, produced by ben shive and andy gullahorn, is another awesome effort from AP. the title is an interesting story. last year, around easter, AP was writing a series of writings for his website blog type thing, and they all centered around the resurrection. a fan wrote in saying that this would be a good idea for a concept album, and AP agreed. as he began writing the songs for this album, which all focus on the idea of Christ's resurrection, he realized that there was something that came before, hence the "volume 2" part. he plans to go back and complete volume 1 soon.
the cd is full of highlights, but some of my favorite moments include the entire first song, called "all things new", the backup vocals on "don't give up on me" by don chaffer of waterdeep, andy gullahorn's discreet but awesome guitar solo on "all you'll ever need", a few fun drum fills by paul eckberg on "rocket", and finally the choir on "the good confession (i believe)", which was made up of fans from all over the country who came to nashville and recorded the part together one night in a church with AP. nothing cooler than getting to sing on one of your favorite artist's albums. i hate i couldn't make it up there for that. there are many other highlights. incredible lyrical passages, beautiful string arrangements (by ben shive), and cool harmonies galore. if you're a fan of good, scripturally-based, smart, tasteful music, check this album out. i really doubt you'll be disappointed.
also check out these sites:
i have felt the holy fire of Love,
been burned by the holy fire of Love.
made clean by the holy fire of Love
-andrew peterson "don't give up on me"
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