Why Andrew Peterson’s Christmas Tour Remains a Sacred Tradition
Maina Mwaura
Audio By Carbonatix
By Maina Mwaura, Crosswalk.com
Artist and Author Andrew Peterson, known for his top Praise and worship song Behold the Lamb, loves singing about Jesus all year long. However, for him there is something to singing about Jesus during the Christmas season. As Peterson embarks on his Christmas tour this season, it’s a yearly tradition that he deeply enjoys and finds comforting to singing along with the audience. ”Each night has a memory of its own.“ In a sit-down interview with Crosswalk/Salem Media, Peterson opens up about the tour along with what he personally gets out of this yearly tradition.
Crosswalk: This is your twenty seventh year in doing this tour, why do you love doing it?
Andrew Peterson: I think my body wouldn't understand what was happening in December if I didn’t do it every year. It's just such a part of the rhythm of my year to go out on the road like this. I don't know how long I'll do it; I don't know if I'll do it forever, but until further notice, or until God tells me otherwise, we're just going to keep going out every December.
CW: There is a lot of energy in going out on tour like this, what does it feel like?
AP: There have been some years that I’ve come home and just collapse and almost immediately gotten sick before Christmas morning, there have been years where it's been hard. However, there is the other side to doing this, it’s just been an incredible blessing, to our family for example to do this tour. The whole band comes along to, who I love doing music with. We've joked about the fact that, how shocked we are that there's not one jerk on the tour with us. Everyone on the tour, our all nice people who love each other.
CW: When you’re singing from night to night, what does the Holy Spirit do inside of you?
AP: It Keeps my heart beating, it's different every time. I'm very conscious of the fact that we, I mean, thousands of times now that we put on this show and sing these songs. I still get emotional almost every night. I go out on the stage at the first show, and I'm like, is this going to be the year where I don't feel this anymore? it's almost like an out-of-body experience where you're just performing the songs and you're kind of observing what's happening.
CW: What are you enjoying about the moment?
AP: I'm enjoying things other than the song. I'm enjoying the sound of the drums, and I'm enjoying the joke that I had with the band backstage right before the show, and then I'll realize I'm in verse three of the song, you know? But you're still being obedient. You're still standing there, and you're repeating the story. You're saying the words again and again. When I was younger, and the song leaders at church would be like, you really have to mean this, you really have to dig deep if your heart's not in this, that kind of stuff. However, something has to be said, that I just showed up.
CW: You’re a writer, producer, author, and I’m leaving some things off. How do you do so many things?
AP: I’m mostly holding on for dear life, we're living in the fall amongst thorns, and sometimes it's just kind of hard to be a human. I spend a lot of time trying to like crack the nut as if it's possible to like, you know, dial everything in perfectly and then have this perfect <laugh> serene, productive life. I don't think that's possible, to be honest. I am getting better at it though. I'm getting better at saying no to things. So, I don't have much of a rhythm, because I'm usually, pivoting to the next most urgent thing.
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MAINA MWAURA is a freelance writer and journalist who has interviewed over 800 influential leaders, including two US Presidents, three Vice-Presidents, and a variety of others. Maina, is also the author of the Influential Mentor, How the life and legacy of Howard Hendricks Equipped and Inspired a Generation of Leaders. Maina and his family reside in the Kennesaw, Georgia area.
