Andrew Peterson – The Rabbit Room: Recent Episodes
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The Rabbit Room cultivates and curates stories, music, and art to nourish Christ-centered communities for the life of the world.
As many of you know, the original Rabbit Room was in the back of a pub called The Eagle and Child, which was right across the street from another Inklings haunt called The Lamb and Flag. From what I read, Read More ›
Hello, folks! I had good intentions of adding this resource list to the Rabbit Room’s annual “Stuff We Liked in 2021” post, but the document kept growing and I missed the boat. I ended up posting these on social media, Read More ›
The first time I met Thomas McKenzie, which was about twenty years ago, I said, “Do you want to hang out and be best friends one day?” I was being obnoxious, joking about how cool it would be for a Read More ›
[Editor’s note: This was adapted from a 2019 post.] And now it begins. After forty days of fasting, after the harrowing darkness of Good Friday, after the long silence of Holy Saturday, after the dawn of Easter like a slow Read More ›
[Editor’s note: This post was originally written as a letter to the Rabbit Room email list the day after the Winter Solstice, on Tuesday, December 22nd. We share it here both as an offering of closure to the year 2020 Read More ›
[Editor’s note: What follows is the text of Andrew’s commencement speech, which he gave last week to celebrate his daughter, Skye, on her graduation day. We offer it here for all of 2020’s graduates, and all humans living in this Read More ›
A few weeks ago, my seventeen-year-old daughter Skye told me she wanted to take a walk and listen to a complete album, top-to-bottom. She said she was tired of listening to singles, and, though she spins full records all the Read More ›
A few years ago I had lunch with a friend in Chattanooga. His name is Chris Slaten, and he’s an excellent songwriter, performing under the name Son of Laughter. I’m envious of his beard. I asked him how his songwriting Read More ›
Years ago I was helping out in a Sunday School class, and the teacher asked the boys and girls what I thought was an unfortunate question. The Scripture passage that morning was from Joshua 3, when the priests carry the Read More ›
Being a writer doesn’t just mean writing. It means finishing. I’ve heard it said that a song is never finished, only abandoned. That’s not true for me. To the contrary, I can’t wait to be done with the thing, because Read More ›
You mumble a phrase. It’s gibberish, but it suggests a melody. You’ve gotten melodies in your head before, but this one feels different, like it’s made of something stronger and older. You notice this because you’re able to repeat it, Read More ›
It’s time at last to announce some mind-blowingly good news: the North Wind Manor fundraising is complete. Thanks to a lot of extremely generous people (this means you), we were able to meet our goal just a few weeks ago—in Read More ›
A year ago my family and I played a concert in Sheffield, England. After it was over we stood in a circle with four British friends and prayed. They were fans and supporters of the Rabbit Room, and we talked Read More ›
Note: Tickets for Hutchmoot 2019 will go on sale April 2nd @ 1pm CST. The first time I heard Carolyn Arends in concert I was wrestling with no small amount of envy. She was opening for Rich Mullins on the Read More ›
It brings me great pleasure to tell you that, on the weekend of July 18-20, Hutchmoot UK is happening! And it brings me even greater pleasure to tell you that Hutchmoot UK is happening in Oxford—a short twenty-minute walk from Read More ›
Andrew Roycroft is a pastor and poet from Northern Ireland. New Irish Arts commissioned this poem this year, and artist Ross Wilson contributed a new painting for it. Merry Christmas from the Rabbit Room. God is with us. Darkness, unspeakable Read More ›
[Editor’s note: On the first night of Hutchmoot 2018, Andrew Peterson suddenly took a break from his Resurrection Letters set to deliver a speech. As he made his way through the first few paragraphs, it became clear to everyone that some cherished Read More ›
Since the inception of the Rabbit Room community, we’ve believed that real relationship requires more than merely an online exchange of ideas. The last decade of creative work has taught us that an exchange of ideas needs to be accompanied Read More ›
I deleted Instagram from my phone earlier this summer. A few months before that I did the same with the Facebook app. Our family went on a pretty big adventure for a few weeks, and more than once my instinct Read More ›
This whole thing—and by that I mean all of creation, from the outermost galaxies to my kitchen table—swirls around a Jewish man from the first century. He was born of woman, was a refugee, was more or less homeless, and Read More ›
I’ve been attending a liturgical church for the last several years, and it rings all my word-nerd bells. The language is so beautiful and rich, and every service rehearses the story of salvation, culminating in Communion. One of the things Read More ›
(This was originally published in The Molehill, but since that’s currently out of print and quite a few folks at this weekend’s Wilberforce Conference asked about it, I thought I’d post it here.) My grandmother asked what kind of books Read More ›
Ben Shive wrote and recorded this one for his first record several years ago, and I told him immediately that I wanted to record it for Resurrection Letters: Vol. I. It’s not only about our resurrection on the last day, Read More ›
One of the most meaningful moments of my life was last year at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. I wasn’t supposed to, but I used my phone to record the sounds of the Jews singing as the sun set that Read More ›
My friend Russ Ramsey, who was a pastoral consultant for this album, once preached a communion sermon on 1 Corinthians 11. He said that as we approach the table of the Lord for the Eucharist, we’re doing two things: remembering Read More ›
In a conversation with a friend a few years ago about why I’m a Christian, my answer boiled down to this: I’ve seen too much. There are too many good and beautiful things, too many stories that cry out for Read More ›
I think I’ve cried more while listening to this song than any other in my career, and it’s partly because I didn’t write it. I wish I had, because it’s everything I love about songwriting. Ben Shive has been writing Read More ›
When my dad answers the phone on Easter Sunday, he doesn’t say, “Hello?” He says, “He is risen!” And he won’t say anything else until you respond with “He is risen, indeed.” I thought it was goofy when I was Read More ›
We don’t know exactly how it all went down, but we do know this: Jesus was dead, and then he wasn’t. A battered corpse was stretched out on a slab, and then the heart in the ribcage started beating again. Read More ›
The only way to really learn something is to screw up. A few days ago (with the help of the good people at the Gospel Coalition) I released a music video for a song called, “Is He Worthy?” and just Read More ›
Hey, folks! As of today you can pre-order the Deluxe Edition 2 CD set of Resurrection Letters, Vol. 1 (which includes Prologue). And because the Rabbit Room is awesome, if you pre-order here you’ll get a special, exclusive 60 page Read More ›
Joseph of Arimathea got permission from Pilate to bury Jesus quickly because the Sabbath began at sundown, and the Jews weren’t supposed to touch a dead body on the holy day. We’re told that the women followed him to the Read More ›
It brings me great pleasure to announce that the Hutchmoot keynote speaker this October will be the wonderful Andy Crouch. If, upon reading that name, you first thought of gospel singer Andrae Crouch, then it means we’re about the same Read More ›
This song, though it may not sound like it, is a lament. Last year a good friend of mine lost his wife just hours after she gave birth to their first child. My sons were at the hospital when he Read More ›
I took a break from the studio last fall to travel to Israel for the first time. Knowing this album was about the resurrection meant I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to go if I could, and a number of Read More ›
“The Seven Last Words of the Cross,” as they’re traditionally known, are the seven phrases Jesus uttered on the cross as recorded in the Gospels. Countless sermons, musical pieces, and books have been written about them over the centuries. We Read More ›
Ten years ago, I had a crazy idea. I was in the studio working on an album that was, more or less, about the resurrection of Jesus. This was due in part to a fresh reading of C. S. Lewis’s Read More ›
Greetings! It was a good year for the Rabbit Room, and I want to humbly invite you to make a tax-deductible year-end contribution so we can start 2018 with a bang. As a nonprofit ministry, we rely on the support Read More ›
I set out to write a sonnet per day of Advent, then got too busy to keep up with it. Here are a few, offered up in the hope that they’ll be good for you somehow—even if that only means Read More ›
Several years ago some good friends gave me a book. The fact that they gave me a book and not a gift card is evidence of our friendship, because my love language is books. The book I received was Scottish Read More ›
Hey, folks. It’s Monday morning, just over twelve hours after the Rich Mullins tribute show ended. It was, for everyone involved, an unforgettable experience. The audience were wonderful, the band just killed it, the guests and the crew and the Read More ›
I was browsing my copy of Letters of C. S. Lewis (a British first edition, of course!) and happened upon this little gem. Those of us who write would do well to heed this advice—especially the part about not listening to Read More ›
When someone unfamiliar with Rich Mullins asks me where to start, I always tell them A Liturgy, a Legacy, and a Ragamuffin Band. The irony is, when that record released in 1993 during my freshman year of college, my roommates Read More ›
When my kids were little we were talking at the dinner table about our favorite words. I remember Mrs. Roberts, my ninth grade English teacher, writing her favorite word, EDIFY, on the chalk board and regarding it with delight—its visual Read More ›
I forget how much I love songs all the time. I’m not one of those people who just loves to write. I don’t know if that makes me less of a songwriter, but there it is. Whenever someone says, “I Read More ›
I’m so pleased to let you know that David Taylor will be our Hutchmoot keynote speaker. I met David last year, thanks in part to the famous (infamous?) video he produced, featuring a conversation on the Psalms with Bono and Read More ›
There’s a little white church building in Connecticut that for many years has hosted concerts by me, Jason Gray, Andy Gullahorn, Eric Peters, The Gray Havens, Jill Phillips, and many more. It’s called Community Coffeehouse, and it’s run by some Read More ›
This year for Lent I committed to writing a sonnet each day. I won’t burden you with all forty, but at the risk of being presumptuous, I thought I’d post the seven sonnets for Holy Week in the hope that Read More ›
I just realized that today’s the birthday of one of my favorite living poets, former U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins. I’ve often called him the gateway drug for poetry, because his work manages to be just as accessible as it Read More ›
A few months back I posted a song by one of my new favorite artists, the Swedish band A Treehouse Wait. I’m telling you guys, this album is gorgeous. The production is lush and tasteful and super creative, and they Read More ›
Some walls are built to keep something out. Others are built to keep something in. But there’s another kind of wall, a wall that defines the boundaries of a place in order to make that place more beautiful, and to Read More ›
Sarah Arthur, a writer and speaker, is one of the preliminary fiction judges for CT’s annual book awards. She put a list together of what she’s looking for as she wades through the potential finalists, and it’s a good reminder Read More ›
A few [months] ago a wonderful little film showed up online. It featured one of my favorite authors, Eugene Peterson, having a conversation about the Psalms with Bono, one of my favorite songwriters. It actually brought tears to my eyes, Read More ›
It’s no secret that I’m a Swedophile. Not only have I toured there a lot, not only have I made some great lifelong friends there (looking at you, Samuel and Kaj and the Petersons), not only have I tracked down Read More ›
Rabbit Room LIVE is our first official event as a nonprofit ministry. We’ve invited a bunch of friends of the Rabbit Room, people who have in one way or another been a part of this community over the years to Read More ›
Welcome to Hutchmoot 2016. It was a grand first day, though I’m sure everyone’s as tired as I am. A few people asked if I could email them the opening remarks, and I thought it might be easiest to just Read More ›
(This was the address I delivered to the Buechner Institute at King College last year. Frederick Buechner’s 90th birthday was just over a month ago, so I post it here and invite you all to respond with your own reminiscences Read More ›
About a year ago Eric Peters and I began chronicling our twelve-day tour of England, a flurry of concerts that were booked in part so Pappy and I could pillage England’s many second-hand bookstores. It was a wonderful trip. Eric Read More ›
Several years ago I played a gig with the great Phil Keaggy, and he told me he had just read a book about the Inklings in which I was mentioned. Of course, I would like to say my first impulse Read More ›
Today is the day. After months of meetings, prayers, conversations, emails, and phone calls we're officially launching the Kickstarter campaign to bring the Wingfeather Saga to the screen. Let me repeat myself: we're going to make a serious run at animating---literally, "bringing to life"---all four books, the entirety of Janner, Kal, and Leeli's story.
What?
YES.
I'll explain more, but if you're like me and sometimes you don't have time to read a tome of an email, then here's the link. You can watch the video, read all about our plan, and sign up at one of the reward levels to 1) support the project and 2) get some cool stuff.
Here's the quick rundown of how I ended up at this juncture, in case you're worried that I've lost my mind.
Last week I put on my smart hat (I don't actually have a smart hat) and went to Vanderbilt University. Professor David Michelson is teaching a course on early Christian poetry, and after one of the recent Local Shows he kindly invited me to audit the class. "As long as I don't have to write any papers," I said. He convinced me to stop by for a session, and---other than the fact that my smart hat was smoking and singed around the edges---I loved it.
Here's what I learned in just two hours.
Our family watched A League of Their Own the other night (still a good movie, by the way) and there's this moment where Tom Hanks tells Geena Davis that baseball is "supposed to be hard. If it was easy, everyone would do it. The 'hard' is what makes it great."
At the end of every Christmas tour we all sit around and play "Highs and Lows," naming the high points and low points of the month. The highs are easy to come up with; the lows are tricky because the real lows (for me, anyway) aren't the sorts of things you can just blab about in a group of people. But in 2014, everybody had the same low.
Happy Thanksgiving, Rabbit Roomers.
I'm writing this from Shiloh, my parents' 150-year-old Florida Cracker house, where we Petersons plan to feast like vikings in celebration of God's goodness. My favorite song on the new record is called "Don't You Want to Thank Someone", as appropriate a Thanksgiving tune as I've ever written, so I thought I'd give away a few downloads.
This first is of the acoustic demo (from The Lost Boy Demos, which is only available in the 2 disc deluxe edition). The second is a fairly embarrassing (to me, at least) soundboard bootleg of the song from one of the shows on the fall tour with Ben Shive and CALEB. I hope you like it in spite of my lumpy-throated singing toward the end. That song just got to me every night.
Click here to download the zip file.
Or you can listen here:
Don't You Want to Thank Someone Don't You Want to Thank Someone
I'm grateful for so much, but somewhere near the top of that list is YOU. Thanks for supporting me and mine this year. I leave you with a roundup of Thanksgiving-ish thoughts from some of our favorite writers. If you have more, post away. Oh, and for the last few years I've posted a poem called "Thanksgiving: A Confession and a Plea to the Almighty", which I've heard has been read aloud at family gatherings; strange but true. Here's a link to the old post, should you be interested. Now let the authorly wisdom commence.
Happy Thanksgiving, Rabbit Roomers. I posted this poem last year and thought I'd dust it off again this week. Reading it just now for the first time since last November, I can't decide if I like it more or less than I did when I wrote it. I remember that I was thinking of a poem by Berryman that I once heard Garrison Keillor read (I can't remember which), but I gave up on all that by the tenth line and let the thing go wherever it wanted. Whether or not you enjoy the poem, I pray your time with family and/or friends is peaceful and that you remember in all your feasting that it's but a shadow of what is to come.
THANKSGIVING (A CONFESSION AND A PLEA TO THE ALMIGHTY)
O God, Magnificent Confounder, Boundless in mercy and power, Be near me in my apathy.
Be near me, Savage Dreamer, Bright Igniter of Exploding Suns, But not too near. I’d like to live,
By your grace, just long enough To taste another perfect steak. And to see my children marry,
And, perhaps, to pen a memoir. Great redeemer of my lechery, Bright Dawn of Blessed Hope,
Lay waste to every prideful thing, Each black infraction of your law. O Swirling Storm of Holy Anger,
Be patient with me. I’m certain I will make a second gluttonous Trip to the festal spread of food.
And I might as well admit, O King Omniscient, I plan to make a third.
I'm writing from a porch swing at Shiloh, watching my brother Pete as he sifts through several boxes of his old keepsakes. Every now and then he calls his wife over to look at some ridiculous or awesome piece of his past. (Ridiculous = his unopened Star Wars action figures; awesome = an original reel of the Return of the Jedi trailer.) The turkey's in the oven, the Macy's Day parade is on, and the sheep are bleating in the pasture behind me. There's some terrible stuff happening in the world right now--and some terrible stuff in your lives, I'm sure--but today is a day to direct our attention instead to all the good and beautiful things that undergird the broken parts, like an underpainting that refuses to be marred even as the artist touches and retouches the imperfections.
We wanted to share a few items for your perusal in case you check in before or after your post-feast nap.
Here's a brand new live performance of "Don't You Want to Thank Someone," which we recorded at North Wind Manor. It features my pals Nate Dugger on keys, James Gregory on upright bass, and my son Asher on percussion.
Here's a short, thoughtful piece by Zach Franzen about instilling a sense of gratitude in our children.
This is a Thanksgiving poem I wrote a few years back, which some folks have read aloud at their gatherings. It's weird, but whatever.
And if you want something a thousand times more beautiful, here's a benediction by Robert Farrar Capon (which you Hutchmooters will remember Pete reading before the final meal).
And finally, we present a fun song from our friends at the Tokens Show (a live radio show in the spirit of A Prairie Home Companion), called "Thank You, Thanksgiving!"
Pappy and I drove south from Oxford to the Isle of Wight, but not before heading to the Kilns to see C. S. Lewis's house and then the short drive to Holy Trinity Church in Headington Quarry to see his grave. Graves are funny. Let me qualify that. Death is most certainly not funny, and neither are graves, really, though some of the epitaphs at Disney's Haunted Mansion are. What I mean is that, unless you were close to the person buried, there isn't much to do other than stand there awkwardly for a few minutes and then move on. That happened years ago when Ben Shive, Laura Story, and a few others of us visited Rich Mullins's grave in Indiana. It was meaningful, truly, but only for about 90 seconds. As I recall, we reenacted the Spinal Tap scene at Elvis's grave, only we sang "Awesome God" with bad harmony instead of "Heartbreak Hotel." Call me disrespectful, but I think Rich would have liked it.