Making an Album, Part Five

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1. It’s Sunday, so we’re taking it a bit easier than the last few days. Doing our best to honor the Sabbath when there’s a hard deadline staring us down. The last few days, however, have gone more or less according to schedule. That means we’re making good progress, but it also means we’re getting tired. We finished up a little (only a little) early last night and slept in a little (only a little) today.

2. I don’t know why I’m numbering these paragraphs, but I kinda like it.

3. Someone asked a few days ago why we’re making the album here instead of Nashville, where of course there’s an abundance of studios. Here’s why.

4. When we made Resurrection Letters II we hopped back and forth between Paul Eckberg’s Studio (which Osenga dubbed The Metropolitan Museum of Modern Paul), Gully’s home studio (The Night Owl’s Nest), and Michael Card’s studio (Mole End Studios). It was a blast hanging out together pretty much every day, and we sampled some of Nashville’s finest eateries for lunch many of those days. But we’re all family men. There are 10 kids between us, and wives who are bravely holding down the fort while we’re off on our hunting/gathering raids in the studio.  That meant being home for dinner most nights. This was a good thing. It meant we got to pretend we had normal lives for several weeks, with 9 to 5 jobs and a semblance of routine. Routine is a rare thing in this self-employed life.

5. But that also meant that the album took months. Literally months. So this time around, I decided to try something different and sort of old school. My label, Centricity Music, which I’m very grateful for, has a studio deep in the mountains of the Northern Cascades in Washington. It’s available to their artists, which is awesome, but there’s one catch: it’s deep in the mountains of the Northern Cascades in Washington. It’s not easy to get here. It’s more than four hours from Seattle, assuming the roads are clear, and flying with all our instruments and gear is tricky, too.

6. So to avoid the fabled Resurrection Letters-three-months-of-recording fiasco, we carved out eight days of intensely focused studio time, hoping to return home with a mostly completed album, like Inuit tribesmen with a slain moose.

7. Never mind the fact that while we’re slaving away, we happen to be in one of the prettiest mountain ranges I know, cozied up in a log cabin. Don’t tell our wives, lest they slay us like moose when we come home.

8. Right now I’m outside the control room listening to Ben and Andy working on a rhythm track for a new one called “The Reckoning”, so I have to go. Thank you for encouragement and prayers. I hope this music is a blessing to you. Have a good Sunday.

 

Andrew Peterson is a singer-songwriter and author. Andrew has released more than ten records over the past twenty years, earning him a reputation for songs that connect with his listeners in ways equally powerful, poetic, and intimate. As an author, Andrew’s books include the four volumes of the award-winning Wingfeather Saga, released in collectible hardcover editions through Random House in 2020, and his creative memoir, Adorning the Dark, released in 2019 through B&H Publishing.


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14 Comments

  1. Paula Shaw

    Literally waiting with bated breath for this album. All the little snippets of the songs sound so wonderful, and the anticipation is getting to be too much, but please know you all have literally a communion of saints cheering you on. Can you hear us? =) Praying the rest of your days there are smooth and you get every song just “perfect”. Thank you all for following the call. You all rock!

  3. Ian Browne

    It’s awesome to have the chance to get out in the middle of nowhere to let your art fly. I can’t wait for the new album, I’m sure it will bring glory to the Father, the creator of all things including the music we all use as tools for His praise. bless you all in your endeavors!

  5. PaulH

    Carrying on Andrew & Co.
    I fully support you and trust all is well there and at your homes. I do fully trust you will bring us all back something rich in melody and glorifying to God.

  6. Elizabeth H

    oh, that’s so totally awesome! i love WA, miss it so very much! hope you’re having fun and enjoying it! AND that you’ll investigate a great place to take your wife off to after you’re all done with the album 🙂

  7. Nathaniel Miller

    So you’ve got a recording room, a control room, a kitchen, a weight room, a gorgeous view outside, and a log cabin to stay in. Do you have your own personal movie theater as well? Hard to tell if you’re working hard or having the time of your life. If your past music is any indication, both are true. Thanks for the inside looks. The music clips are indeed exciting to hear!

  10. sid

    Praying for all you guys. You do what you do and I’m sure it’ll be awesome. I’m looking forward to the results. And a hearty prayer to the wifes at home for keeping the home fires burning while your away.

  12. whipple

    Three items:

    1) What are the TSA airport regulations on slain moose?

    2) The thought of you guys checking a hammered dulcimer at an airport frightens me.

    3) When I hear the title “The Reckoning,” I can’t help but think of Val Kilmer’s Doc Holiday. Any chance that another High Noon-esque western story is coming into play?

  13. Ben

    Thank you, Andrew and company. All your songs have been to me, at one time or another, words from God. Can’t wait to hear the new collection of letters!

  14. thad

    Meese. Slay you like meese.

    (Not to be confused with Meece, David, who, as far as I know, is still alive.)

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