Went out for a run tonight and finally hit my three-mile goal. Very exciting. So excited I couldn’t breathe for about five minutes. And may not be able to walk tomorrow. But it’s about the length of the race, and hopefully that means I can at least finish. That is [...]
Happy Monday, fellow internet people. Hope you guys had a good weekend. I went up to Merrillville, IN with Caedmon’s, where we played at the national convention for the Salvation Army. Now that’s an organization that was not even on my radar, but I was really impressed and inspired by [...]
Well, a bunch of people asked me to sign up for this thing called Twitter. So I did. If you’re into that you can find me HERE.
In other news, I’ve been working on a project for Nick Flora (aka Coin Laundry Loser) and it’s going really well. He [...]
I was feeling kind of crummy this weekend. Just worn out and a little sinus nasty. Playing in the heat Sunday actually helped me feel a little better, but our bus driver was Walter from The Big Lebowski and none us got much sleep the way he drove.
So Monday [...]
I’m on the bus now, on our way home from South Carolina. Today Caedmon’s played after a game of the River Dogs, Charleston’s AAA baseball team. The stadium was really cool, on the edge of a peninsula, and the walkway all around the outside of the building looked out over [...]
Two weeks from tomorrow I’m running a 5k race called “Ellie’s Run”. The money raised from the race benefits a school in Africa. Specifically, each $25 provides books, uniforms and shoes to a child who will then be allowed to attend. Here is a video showing some of what’s going [...]
Thanks to Jay, Nathan and Chad, who hooked me up with the Normals covers. Much appreciated. And problem solved. (God bless the internets.)
My parents were in town for a couple days this week. I’m the second most clumsy person I know and I have very few skills related to home [...]
It’s getting very close to new website time. And this leads me to ask a fairly ridiculous question:
Does anybody have a good jpg of the covers of the Normals albums?
Cause I don’t. And that’s absurd, but hey. But if you DO, or if you could scan them and send [...]
Full band show. Nashville. Monday night. With Emily Deloach (Todd and I are playing with her) and David Condos. Love to have you join us. Much rock will be had. See earlier post.
[...]I’ve threatened, you’ve asked, and today my girls got up so early that I have more than enough time this morning to write it all down. That’s right, it’s pedalboard time.
First off, thanks to everybody who came to my show this past Saturday night. It was a good time, Nick [...]
And another reminder about tonight’s Nashville show at Christopher’s Pizza. 8 PM with Coin Laundry Loser and Owen Pye. Love to see you there!
[...]This past Tuesday a group of us Square Pegs/songwriters got together over at Randall’s house for a meeting of the Weaklings. Ron Block and David Wilcox came and sat in with us, which was a real treat.
For these meetings we pretty much just sit around and play new [...]
Just got back from a nice run. Tonight I got over a mile and a half, which is the farthest yet. Probably the farthest ever, to be honest. I learned that Wilco’s “Sky Blue Sky” album is terrible for running, and that “Who’s Next” by The Who is awesome. But [...]
I have one thing for you today. CLICK HERE to see it. Look closely at this auction. It is very special. I hope this goes for millions and millions of dollars.
[...]It’s good to be back home. I did finally get the recording stuff going and it was so fun to play those tunes. Ben’s record is amazing and it’s an honor to be a part of it.
The Caedmon’s show was fun. We hadn’t played in about four weeks and [...]
Things that happened today that were super awesome:
- think I sold all the gear I had listed the other day
- set up a ton of recording gear to work on Ben Shive’s record, to realize I had upgraded my computer beyond what my audio software would work on
- crashed [...]
I know what you’re thinking. “George Bush really didn’t have to give me this $300, $600 or $1200 check, but I’m sure glad he did. Now what should I spend it on?”
Well, aside from chipping in to help me raise money to send African children to school (CLICK HERE) [...]
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I just signed up to run a 5k race. Which turns out to be something like 3.1 miles. Which is probably more than the grand total that I’ve run since high school. But I’m going to do it.
And I need [...]
You asked, I answered. Here are a couple…
———–
Chris asked -
“What inspired ?Man of the House? off the Photographs record?”
I had just read, from start to finish, the coffee table book of the complete Springsteen lyrics and I thought “I need to write a song that good.” I don’t know [...]
I don’t even want to know how much time I spent making this. Hope you enjoy!
[...]Had a good weekend. Cason and Katie had our family over for lunch Saturday. After that, we laid low and watched a couple movies, something we never get the time to do anymore. Saw The Darjeeling Limited tonight, which I loved. Brought me back to India.
It’s been four years since [...]
My good friend, and the newest member of the Square Peg Alliance, Ben Shive has been working on a masterpiece of a record for the last few years, and people, it is almost done. And you need to own it. In the baddest of ways.
Not only is he the finest [...]
No score and three years ago… was a very painful day. Just in case you’re keeping track. Maybe someday I’ll have a party.
So yesterday was drums and bass day on my new project. Andy Hubbard and Aaron Sands were the backbone, Andy Hunt was tweaking the knobs, and Neilson and [...]
I’ve been learning a lot these days, or it seems, I’ve been unlearning a lot these days.
I’m usually a talker. I have a lot to say. You’ve probably noticed, if you read this blog for a while, that I haven’t had that much to say recently.
It’s because I’ve been [...]
Somebody suggested this, and I thought it might be a good idea. We’re going to do a bit of a “Reader Mailbag” type thing. Do you have any questions about what’s behind a song, a guitar sound, some opinion we’ve discussed? Leave your questions as comments on this post. Thanks! [...]
Well, Neilson and I have finished up our first week of working together. We’re doing four tunes, and they’re turning out great. Tuesday we’ll go back in and cut drums and bass, but right now it’s just some guitars, some vocals, a few finger snaps and a lot of Garett’s [...]
I’ve had two days in the studio with Neilson Hubbard now, and it’s going well. We’ve been deciding which songs to pursue and then outlining them, getting the keys, tempos, grooves and main melodies down.
These songs are very different for me. They’re very, dare I say it, “pop”, but naturally. [...]
An excerpt from “Bound for Canaan” by Fergus M Bordewich, a book about the Underground Railroad.
Conductors who were in a hurry, or desperate, sometimes literally flung fugitives onto a passing ship, and hoped for the best. In one such instance, a steamboat captain named Chapman, en route from Cleveland [...]
My weeks are starting to be busy in a new way right now. A lot of business-y things are going on and so it’s been a lot of meetings, a lot of brainstorming, a lot of making of lists (and checking them twice). It’s all very good stuff, and I [...]
It’s Tuesday now. The final show of this leg of the Overdressed tour was Saturday night, and it was a great show. It was the smallest room we’ve played a full show in possibly since I joined the band five and a half years ago. And it was really fun. [...]
We’re playing in Chicago today and Jeff, our bass player, got us all tickets to a Cubs game at Wrigley Field. I’ve never been to a major league baseball game, and I’m excited. More later…
[...]I was on the elliptical machine at the YMCA here in Kokomo, IN today. I was listening to the new Counting Crows record on my ipod while the tv in front of me was tuned to the Montel Williams show. The closed captioning was on so I could read the [...]
It’s a clear and chilly Sunday afternoon. The girls are taking naps, they’re both so tired from church that they went down quickly, sweetly, and without a fuss. Alison’s out to lunch with friends.
The house is a rare quiet for a few moments. I’ve done a lot of sitting this [...]
Well, last night was a pretty great night. The show with Jeremy and Eric was really fun. We went in a big round, two songs at a time, and each ended up playing seven tunes. I’m such a fan of my friends and it was great to be able to [...]
“I was working on the proof of one of my poems all the morning, and took out a comma. In the afternoon I put it back again.”
- Oscar Wilde
***
I’ve finally caught a bit of a wave with my writing this week. It’s been one of the more draining periods of [...]
In Austin, TX last week I heard an interesting theory. An old friend of Todd and Garett’s, subsequently a new friend of mine, runs a graphic design studio there. He said he got curious about the buttons on traffic lights that you push when you want to cross the [...]
One of my favorite bands, Sixpence none the richer, got back together and played their first Nashville show in years tonight. Well, they got back together before tonight. Tonight they just played a show.
But it was a good show. And you better believe I was there.
Now Nashville, [...]
“If this week were a dude,” I told a friend last night, “I’d punch him right in the nose.” It’s been a fairly ridiculous week where something fairly major broke almost every day.
Tuesday I followed my friend Brody’s suggestion for “positive post Tuesday” and then jumped in the shower. [...]
Somehow a show I added to the tour dates a few months ago disappeared. I’m figuring that out now. BUT, I want everybody to know about this show, as it’s going to be super fun.
April 11 (Next Friday) in Naperville, IL, at The Union at North Central College I’ll be [...]
Yeah, yeah, it was a prank. Many thanks to everyone who believed it.
I was talking with a friend the other day who was telling me that they don’t like how negative a lot of blogs can be. He has people post every Tuesday about something positive. I just thought it’d [...]
I’ve been waiting to share this news with you guys for quite a while, but today just seems like the day to do it. As many of you know, I’ve been meeting for the last six months or so with different record companies here in Nashville, looking for someone to [...]
I’m on an airplane from Houston to Dallas, on my way to tonight’s Caedmon’s show at The Door. I’m pretty excited to play this weekend, as I’m introducing two new elements to my rig. Fender sent me a Jazzmaster guitar, one I’ve been dreaming about for years. And it’s wonderful. [...]
Yeah, I’ve started playing Scrabulous on facebook. It’s their version of Scrabble, where you get to play your friends. I’m not going to lie to you, people. I’m good at Scrabble. But this Scrabulous. I call it “Scrabble that lets you cheat” because, well, it lets you cheat. Or rather, [...]
A few weeks ago I started reading a book about the Underground Railroad titled “Bound for Canaan”. (CLICK HERE for more information on the book.) The book starts off with a brief history of slavery and how it came to America. Then it goes deeper into the abolitionist movement, [...]
Not to be Captain Complain-o, but there are a few things in life right now that are just sort of making me miserable. Two things, actually.
1. Big Girls Don’t Cry by Fergie.
and
2. the theme song to the cartoon show Clifford the Big Red Dog.
For whatever reason I can not [...]
It’s quarter after midnight and I just got home from a late-night mastering session with the great Vance Powell. I am so loving getting to work with people better than me. I feel like I learn about a dozen things every day I’m at the studio, and I know it’s [...]
I thought about explaining this photo, but I decided it would be better if you did. Free iLikeAndy.com t-shirt to whoever provides the best quote for this picture.
Today is a Monday, man. I had about six things planned for the day and never finished the first one, even though I worked on it all day. (In case you’re wondering, Yes, the first thing is a pedalboard…)
But it was a good day. I love my job. I love [...]
Sitting at Sputnik working on a mix for my friend Arthur Alligood. Six songs. I’ve been behind on work a bit and this has been in the cue for a while so I’m glad to finally get to it. Great songs. Really great songs. It’s a joy to work [...]
Had a great show tonight in North Carolina. The crowd was awesome and we changed the set order a bit and I thought it flowed really well.
Alison’s parents came tonight, and brought a few friends with them. We ate at a good old pub and got to spend some time [...]
We played tonight in South Carolina. It was a good show, but a very quiet crowd. Josh Moore is really sick and missed tonight’s show, leaving me with a lot of space to fill.
We went to see Semi-Pro tonight, the new Will Ferrell movie. I had high hopes, alas, [...]
It has been Flu Central here at the Osenga house this week. I got off the bus Monday afternoon and, apart from a half day singing bgv’s for the incredible Jon Troast (whose record I played guitar on this past Friday), and a day mixing an EP for a [...]
Well, it’s happened. I joined Facebook. If you’re on there, go find me and we can be friends.
We had another good show tonight in Pennsylvania. This morning the friends I paid homage to with the “willow tree” section of “Hold the Light” baptized their new baby boy this morning, while [...]
Spinal Tap’s playing on the bus. That means it’s a good night. We’re in Pennsylvania now. Just had a great show here tonight, and tomorrow we have another one about an hour away. Which is nice.
The Andy and the Andys show the other night might have actually been a little [...]
I got two main things for my birthday: A rockin’ waffle maker (hotel/cafeteria style) and the flu. Not that big a fan of the flu.
Thanks to everybody who emailed and called me with birthday greetings yesterday. I didn’t answer any of the calls because I couldn’t really talk. Again: the [...]
Come on, party people,
Come on, party lambs,
Come down to the Rutledge
for an Andy Birthday Jam!
Once I got invited
to join somebody’s show
then something crazy happened
and they have no show no mo
But I will still be rocking
with a killer band
Mister Odmark and Sir [...]
Our scene opens as Andrew is looking out his living room window, a winsome smile ever slightly perched upon his countenance. It seems he is remembering something, something a little sad, a little happy, and very true. The screen shimmers around the edges as we are taken back in time [...]
Man, I really should be going to bed, this single-parenting thing is crazy exhausting. For some reason I just feel like I need to type a little bit tonight. I think I need to clear my head so I can get to sleep. Some things I’m thinking about.
- The girls [...]
Here’s what I wanted to tell you yesterday…
My wife has recently discovered a love for coffee. Something about two little kids and needing caffeine, I don’t quite understand it… She found 963 Coffee, which, according to her, is both delicious and really good for the farmers. All the coffee comes [...]
Yeah, Saturday’s show was better. In fact, I’ll say it was pretty great. We added a tune, totaling 24, I think. LONG show. But fun. Thanks so much to all the Colorado folks who made it out. They were the most excited crowd yet. “Two Weeks in Africa” got everybody [...]
I’m sitting in a comfortable Denver hotel room, listening to Andy Gullahorn’s new record, and occasionally watching this great youtube clip Alison sent me last night. (Mom, you’ll like that one. Click on it.)
We played last night at Derek’s brother’s church in Lincoln, NE. I won’t lie to you, [...]
We had our first show of the tour last night. As promised, the set was long. The crowd seemed pretty into it, which was helpful, and was very forgiving of our few mistakes. All in all, though, it went much more smoothly than I had expected.
My set was really fun. [...]
Time for photos of tour rehearsal! The bus will roll tonight and we’ll have a few more hours of running through tunes before we have to break stuff down and get it loaded up.
These first few shows will be LONG. Just so you know. We’re having trouble cutting songs, [...]
I’m at a place called Soundcheck, setting up for the Caedmon’s tour. The first day is just putting things in their place, plugging stuff in, checking levels, making sure everything is working. Tomorrow we’ll actually start playing songs.
That will be much more fun than today. Today has basically been [...]
Ah, Saturday… Ella and Alison are at the library for a ballet performance, Ella is very excited, and Sadie is fast asleep in her crib. It’s quiet, I made a few phone calls but there’s nothing pressing on the To Do List that I could do right now, even if [...]
I was on ichat with my friend Austin a few minutes ago and I wanted to use a word. The word that means what you can and and can’t say, and also means how to be polite. I wrote “eticate” but I knew that wasn’t right. Then I wrote “edicate”, [...]
Well, a big, fat thanks to all of you who chipped in with suggestions for songs for the sampler, who voted for t-shirts (and submitted them) and who’ve inquired about helping to fund the free EP. I can’t say how honored I am by you guys. It’s pretty inspiring, to [...]
Ok, so I’m printing up versions of the Letters EP to give away on the upcoming Caedmon’s tour. I want to add a pair of songs from each of my full-length albums after the EP, as a bit of a sampler. I’ve got these picked so far:
After the Garden (The [...]
Well, I think there were a couple winners in the t-shirt contest. Numbers 1 and 6 seemed to take the cake, and will be printed up shortly. Thanks for sending them in and for voting!
Just think: Very soon you will be able to own your very own piece of interWeb-inspired [...]
Many choices were given to me, seven are being passed on to you. Leave it as a comment, what’s your favorite? I have a couple I particularly like, but again, I’m leaving it up to you. Let the voting begin…
Option 1
Option 2
Option 3[...]
It’s a little known secret that one of the best tools for getting an independent musician out of a jam is to have a contest. And so without further adieu…
A CONTEST!!
I just realized that I need to have designs for t-shirts in the next couple of days so I can [...]
Well, I’ve been playing catch-up the past few days. Returning e-mails and phone calls that have piled up over the past month of my sabbatical. I think I’m about done now, or at least am at the point where I just have to wait for the returns to my replies. [...]
What did you do today?
I got to be in a movie.
Well, maybe not a movie. Maybe a self-filmed commercial for a friend’s new record. The record’s really good. Amazing, actually. And you should buy it. And you should also watch this. Alison and I did about five times in a [...]
Here’s a recording of Hold the Light from the Imperial Theatre in Augusta, GA. This was the second to last Peterson Christmas show, and it was a really good one.
The band on this tune was Cason on piano, Garett on cajon, Marcus Myers on bass, Andy Gullahorn singing background [...]
So here we are. The Sabbatical is over. It’s been nice. I feel like I have some new things to talk about. I’m going to ease back in and just give you a few random bullet points of things I’m thinking today. As always, but especially today, I love to [...]
So I’m going to officially end my sabbatical on Monday, but I thought I’d drop by and say a quick hello. It’s our last night in Orlando. We’ve been having an amazing time here. The door to our room’s patio is open and I’m typing as I listen to the [...]
As you may or may not have noticed, the past few weeks since the Christmas tour have been Sabbatical, Part 2. It’s been good to get away from business stuff for a little while. A much-needed break, for sure.
******
Right now I’m at Alison’s parents’ place in North Carolina. We’ve been [...]
In about an hour we’ll step on stage for the last show of this tour. Nineteen shows in twenty days. It’s been really great but everybody’s feeling ready to get back home.
A little over an hour ago we convinced Ben Shive to give us a concert. In this empty 2000 [...]
6 PM and we’re still on the bus on the way to Tampa for our 7 PM show. Somewhere in Georgia last night one of the wheels on our trailer fell off, so we had to take a number of hours getting it fixed. Tonight will be interesting.
Last night’s show [...]
The tour is playing the historic Ryman Auditorium tomorrow night. It’s always an amazing show at one of the premier music venues in the country. A number of people have told me they’re coming in from out of town to see the show so I thought I’d take a few [...]
Andy Gullahorn played this song a couple nights ago and I literally shed tears, not eyes a little wet tears, but the real down-the-cheek variety. You guys need to hear this…
This tune is on his new record, as is a little ditty about a little amputee you may be [...]
Yesterday was 7 years of Alison and I dating and today is 5 years of me playing with Caedmon’s Call. Craziness.
They say time flies, and sometimes it does, but right now I feel like five and seven years seems about right. I have a hard time remembering life without Alison, [...]
I’m writing to you today from a hotel room in New Milford, CT. It’s very snowy here, not quite like Gilmore Girls, but close. Too many of the guys on this tour like that show, but I digress.
We played the second of two Indiana shows last night. My parents came [...]
We had a good time celebrating Sadie Tuesday. Some pizza, some cupcakes, a few balloons and a new toy car that might be the greatest thing Sadie has ever seen in her life’s existence.
Ella and Alison came on the bus for our show in [...]
Last night’s show in Austin might have been the best yet. The audience was great and I felt the performances were particularly inspired. Maybe it’s because we were looking forward to getting home today for our one day off in the midst of the tour.
Jeff Miller, our bass player in [...]
Andy P’s boys are on the bus with us tonight and I’m writing in the midst of a pillow fight barrage. Good times.
Had a fun show last night in Dallas, saw a lot of new and old friends. Taco Cabana afterwards was a welcome late-night snack. CLICK HERE for [...]
AO: Hey, want to play checkers?
Cason: There aren’t enough pieces.
AO: (counting) Yeah, you’re right. And I wouldn’t have moved my back row anyway.
Cason: Yeah, cause you’re a cheater.
AO: It’s not cheating. It’s strategy.
Cason: Dude, it’s the rules. You have to move your back row. Otherwise the other person can never [...]
Show was good last night. Don and Lori came out, brought their little ones. We all played “I’m Still Here” in honor. Whether it was good as a performance, I don’t know, but it was fun.
All the shows have been sold out so far. Makes for a crowd that’s involved. [...]
Every Christmas tour it happens. A game becomes THE game. Everybody plays it most of the time. This time it’s threatening to be euchre; a midwestern card game generally dominated by grandmothers. Andy Gullahorn and I have been beating Marcus Myers and Bebo, but tonight we were overthrown in a [...]
Well, the first show was awesome. A wonderful crowd, completely sold out. I thought we played really well and I just had a great time. Singing some of those lyrics just got me last night. I ended more than a few songs with tears in my eyes.
The people who put [...]
Well, the Sabbatical (part 1) is over. I’m in Elkhorn, Nebraska. Tonight we’ll play the first of 19 Andrew Peterson Christmas shows. We spent the last two days in rehearsal in Nashville, trying to sneak out every time it looked like a lull was looming so we could spend a [...]
I’ve been blogging pretty much at least once every other day for almost two and a half years straight. It’s been a good time, and I’ve been able to build up some loyal readers (you) who’ve really helped me with getting my music out there. And made. And written… But [...]
Yesterday at church our pastor talked about Nehemiah, how in the 5th chapter of his book he stands up against unethical taxation and interest. Taxes and interest. How stunningly timeless those issues are, eh?
I’ve been thinking, as you know, a ton about our government (in America) and where a follower [...]
