To experiment or not to experiment?

This is the question that most recording artists face around the time they set to work on their second or third album. Once you've established a "signature sound" that audiences have grown to love over the years, it's a lot harder to get away from it in your later years while still keeping your audience. As much as I may love it when some of my favorite bands and songwriters demonstrate prowesss in unexpected musical genres, I have to admit that for every successful stylistic change one artist pulls off, there's another who has tried to branch out from a sound that worked from them, and failed miserably.

Christian folk singer Andrew Peterson, on the other hand, is one of few artists that I honestly hope will never change. At least, not in the way that those immediately surrounding him in the music business might want him to. You see, Andrew's got a gift. It's easy these days for a guy to strap a guitar on, strum out a few chords, and score a deal, but it's much more difficult to stay true to the singer/songwriter tradition and actually tell good stories, unhindered by the temptation to go "pop" and woo a larger audience.

Andrew first captured my attention with his major label debut, Carried Along, which was lushly layered with acoustic instruments galore, and while there might have been a few more upbeat tracks and hints of trying something new on his sophomore album Clear to Venus, I knew for the most part what to expect on his third disc, Love and Thunder I was very happy when press materials started surfacing, assuring fans that they'd be getting the same folksy blend on his new album that they'd been getting all along, no drum loops, no guest rappers, no hired gun songwriters to produce a crossover hit, etc. Almost selfishly, I rejoiced, knowing that this wouldn't be an album geared towards winning over legions of new fans - it would simply be Andrew doing what he does best.

For those who aren't familiar with Andrew's music, it's not too far removed from Rich Mullins or the mellower side of Caedmon's Call, maybe a bit less eclectic and more traditional. However, it's not just "safe" adult contemporary stuff - Andrew is an evocative songwriter, aware of the presence of God in nature, family, the hollowed out space inside his guitar, pretty much everything in day to day life. As such, he is able to provide songs that describe the glory of God in ways that are often profound, weaving together stories from the Bible, his own life, and the imaginary world inside his head to engage the listener. Many of his songs are parables, and some are hymns and praise songs. It's nothing revolutionary, but he pulls it off with class. Not everyone can really get into his music, but those who get it seem to really get it.

What I wasn't counting on when I picked up Love and Thunder was the near absence of his most trusted musical companions - his wife Jamie Peterson and instrumental whiz Gabe Scott. Andrew's recordings have always had a light touch, but without those two, I must admit his latest work feels a bit sparse. It doesn't pretend to offer anything as upbeat as "Isn't It Love" from the last album, though admittedly that helps the collection to flow a little more smoothly. To be honest, there isn't even an obvious hit that grabs me as much as "Nothing to Say" and "No More Faith" did on the last two records. But somehow Andrew still has that familiar charm that makes me not regret this purchase for one second.

I should note that Andrew isn't alone on this record by any means - fellow folk artist Jill Phillips steps in on a few tracks to cover for Jamie's absence. And Andrew seems to have found a new multi-talented instrumentalist in Ben Shive, who manages to fill Gabe's shoes to some degree. Most impressive is how Andrew has worked his connections to get Allison Krauss and her bandmate Ron Block to help flesh out some of these tracks. Overall I might have expected a more captivating mix from these creative minds, but I don't know if the intent here was to blow anyone away with dazzling instrumentals. It's one of those albums that you have to spend a few afternoons with on the porch sipping iced tea, so to speak, to fully appreciate.

Canaan Bound
Long after we are dead and gone, a thousand years our tale be sung
How faith compelled and bore us on, how barren Sarah bore a son...
The record begins with a soft piano ballad, which is actually a bit unexpected for an artist who's known to be an acoustic guitar-slinger. The melody and meter have a very hymn-like quality to them, but the song itself is a story, with Andrew playing the role of Abraham as he tells his infertile wife Sarah to pack her things up and join him on a trip to Canaan. It's a story of God's faithfulness to a couple who had all but given up hope, and I can't help but think that Andrew took "Alaska or Bust" from the last album and brought it back thousands of years in time to tell the story of a transitional phase in another elderly couple's life.

Let There Be Light
They spoke into being the work of their hands
From the void of the wire and the wood...
As track one transitions smoothly into track two, a few strings pick up where the piano left off, and Andrew grabs his guitar for a rousing ode to the simple act of making music. As Andrew strums along, an accordion, fiddle, and mandolin join in. Andrew reminisces on the old days when he and his buddies would sit around and jam, and he fondly remembers that they have all grown up know - one them is now in law school, another is a mechanic, Andrew himself is a professional musician... in their own ways, they are making music that is "the light of the world". It's a beautiful affirmation that God designed us to do good and creative work that reflects the creative Being whom we serve. I love the notion that the very ability for man to create was given by God, and that we are capable of creating music and other forms of art that mirrors His own ingenuity in some small way.

Serve Hymn/Holy Is the Lord
High this mountain, broad this sea
Still my sin ran deeper...
Andrew and his ad hoc band display a bit of a Nickel Creek vibe on this worshipful song - I know that Andrew's a big fan of Nickel Creek, and with Allison Krauss helping him out, it's kind of a no-brainer that there would be similarities at some point. Andrew has tried his hand at writing a hymn here - despite the awkward title, it's actually a pretty good one, reaching far beyond the simple, repetitive phrases of most modern worship songs and really digging up a good description of God's wrath and His limitless love in sending His Son to save us from that wrath. It's one of those songs that's just so traditional that it's hip (at least, in the mind of someone who thinks a lot of hymns have profound lyrics and who goes ga-ga over acoustic instrumentation). The only weird thing about this track is the short three-line interlude "Holy Is the Lord" tacked on at the end - it's drenched in strings and it sounds like a fragment of a song that Ben and Andrew came up with but couldn't finish.

Pillar of Fire
On through the passes of the mountains it goes
As bouldered and broken as my heart...
Andrew keeps things relatively low-key here as he disp into another story from the Bible - this time, he recounts God appearing as a pillar of fire to lead Moses and the Israelites through the desert at night. In typical folk music fashion, he describes all of this happening in his own familiar setting "along the line of the great Mississippi", scaring the cattle and so forth. It's more of a personal tune about where God is leading him. The music has tinges of country, but it isn't overly twangy or anything. (Not that I would mind if it was, but for the most part Andrew doesn't do country.)

Just As I Am
All of my life I've held on to this fear
These thistles and vines ensnare and entwine what flowers appeared...
The first single released to radio is a semi-upbeat track with a catchy 3/4 rhythm. It's not a re-cast of the hymn "Just As I Am", though it obviously follows a similar theme. Andrew actually uses one of Jesus' agricultural analogies to describe salvation as a process in which his heart is shattered and planted in the ground in order to yield a bountiful harvest. Even though the crop is sizeable, Andrew marvels that more than just the produce, "it's me that He loves". Cliff Young of Caedmon's Call pitches in with a few backup vocals here and there - a nice track overall, though I kind of wish the analogy had been stretched a little further.

Family Man
I traded in my Mustang for a mini-van
This was not what I was headed for when I began
This was not my plan...
This song is the first of two very personal songs that Andrew wrote about his family (duh). While he's certainly dedicated songs to his wife and kids before, this one is very revealing about the conflict he must be experiencing between being a musician on the road and trading it all in for the domestic life. It's one of the most sparse tracks on the record, mirroring "Venus" from the last album except without the country twang. A picture of Andrew and Jamie with their three young children is featured beside this song in the lyric sheet, and it's no surprise why Jamie chose to step down as part of Andrew's touring band in order to look after them full-time, and why Andrew himself doesn't tour as heavily as a lot of major label CCM artists do. Though he acknowledges that none of this was what he originally had in mind, his devotion is unwavering as he expresses that God knows what he's doing and he loves his family. Interestingly, this is the one new song where Jamie shows up on BGV's.

Tools
Faith and hope and love are what I carried home
They're rusty, but they work as good as new...
Another gentle track with an extremely light touch (just an acoustic guitar and an accordion), this one pays homage to Andrew's grandfather, who died the day this song was written. (Andrew is very diligent about logging when, where, and under what circumstances most of his songs were written.) It starts off simply, with Andrew recouinting being sent to the tool shed by ol' grandpa to retrieve a rusty set of hand-me-down tools, half of which Andrew probably didn't know how to use, but many of which came in handy later. The song meanders into a bit of his grandfather's personal history and how much the two men had in common, and ends satisfyingly with a fitting eulogy about the life lessons he learned from grandpa and how those lessons may seem old and cliche and out-of-date, but they're still just as useful as they always were.

High Noon
All praise to the fighter of the night
Who rides on the light
Whose gun is the grace of the God of the sky...
Man, you can't get much more "Western" than a title like that! Some old-school fiddles squeeze out the first few bars of a familiar hymn as Andrew sets us up for a wonderful flashback to his first album, borrowing Gabe Scott's instrumental talent one last time (man, I'll miss him!) for a little hammered dulcimer action on a tune that echoes Andrew's song "Rise and Shine" and a number of Rich Mullins songs as well. It's probably the most intense song on the record volume-wise, which isn't really saying much as the production is still somewhat light, but the drums and layers of instruments and vocals do offer somewhat of a grandiose, climactic feel as the song builds up steam. Here, the account of Jesus' death, Satan's apparent victory, and then Jesus' resurrection is recast in the form of a Wild West movie. (Yes, I realize that Carman has done something similar, but let's not go there - Andrew has much more class than that.) Andrew's storytelling and knack for poetic metaphors is definitely firing on all cylinders here, and to top it all off, Jill Phillips weaves in a line from the hymn "All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name" in true City on a Hill fashion - which isn't surprising, given that Steve Hindalong and Derri Daugherty are at the production helm. It's a shame Andrew hasn't been in able to participate in a City album thus far - he'd fit like a glove and likely raise the bar talent-wise.

The Silence of God
The Man of all Sorrows, He never forgot
What sorrow is carried by the hearts that He bought...
A song about the dark times when God doesn't seem to be there may feel like an odd choice to follow such a victorious anthem ("High Noon" could well have worked as the album's final track), but Andrew manages to pull of a graceful mini-sermon here, encouraging believers who have more questions than they do answers regarding why God is taking so darn long to answer simple prayers. This subject is as old as the prophets of the Old Testament, and yet it's not one that is easily understood by a lot of Christians (though Jars of Clay handled it quite well on The Eleventh Hour). Having been through such times myself, I have to say that Andrew nails it on the head in terms of how that longing for comfort feels, and how cruel it can be when it seems the other believers around you are happy and having a great old time. It's tough to tackle all of this without making God sound cold and distant - it's a tough phase for any Christian to go through, and I'm glad that Andrew handles it delicately.

After the Last Tear Falls
After the last "This marriage is over"
After the last young girl's innocence is stolen
After the last years of silence that won't let a heart open
There is love...
Andrew manages to cap the record off with one heck of a great song - which should be no surprise, given that he co-wrote it with Andrew Osenga (lead singer of The Normals). It's a classic songwriting vehicle - using line after line that starts with the same words to drive home a salient point - and it works quite well. The two voices weave together, referencing all manner of desperate situations in which people are tempted to feel that God isn't there, and offering the gentle reminder that God's love will outlive all of it and cannot be thwarted by any of it. They even manage to get in a few memorable rhymes (whoever would've thought of the pair of lines "After the last dirty politician/After the last meal down at the mission"?), and Andrew Osenga adds a little flavor to the song with what seems to be his favorite instrument, the electric mando-guitar. If this is what he's capable of apart from his band, I can't wait to hear his solo record! As for Andrew Peterson, he brings the album to a close with a pair of references to earlier songs - a few lines lifted from the AP classic "Shiloh", and the piano line from "Canaan Bound". It makes me feel like there's more of a theme at work here than what I'm catching.

Overall, I can tell that this was a labor of love for Andrew Peterson and his musical colleagues, and I'm hard-pressed to come up with any real criticisms about any of it. Perhaps it's a little attention-grabbing than Carried Along or Clear to Venus - not sure whether that's due to the change in producers (Glenn Rosenstein's approach on the last two discs was slightly less subdued while still true to the mellow nature of most of the songs) or the near complete absence of Jamie and Gabe. I can't fault Andrew for pulling together a different gang of people than he's worked with in the past and seeing what happens. So while Love and Thunder may not be as earth-shaking and noise-making as its name implies, it's still a wonderful album to help you unwind after a hard day. Stick around and get to know it a little and it'll reward you.

Now, Andrew, about that tour with Nichole Nordeman that isn't gonna make it out here to California... if you're saving up your vacation time for Disneyland, couldn't you squeeze a gig in while you're here? Pretty please?

ALBUM WORTH:
Canaan Bound $1
Let There Be Light $2
Serve Hymn/Holy Is the Lord $2
Pillar of Fire $.50
Just as I Am $1
Family Man $1
Tools $1
High Noon $1.50
The Silence of God $1
After the Last Tear Falls $1.50
TOTAL: $12.50

Website: http://www.andrew-peterson.com

Recommended: Yes