Andrew Peterson
The Far Country
Fervent Records

I think I’ve said it before, but there are three guys that I would put at the top of my storyteller list – Bebo Norman, Justin McRoberts, and of course, Andrew Peterson. This being his sixth album, Peterson has by far, passed my expectations of a singer/songwriter. His songs/stories have always had depth to them and his voice is easy to listen to. Peterson, like only a few others in his genre, has succeeded at surviving in a money-hungry-fast-paced-hit-radio-atmosphere with his quite tone and lyrical deepness.

The themes on The Far Country range from childhood to thoughts of dying. One particular song that really pulls at the heart strings is “Queen of Iowa,” which is a reflection of a meeting between Peterson and a dying woman in Iowa. Peterson was asked to play for this woman in her living room while she lay in bed suffering from her illnesses. He had this to say about the moment – “Seeing a Christian face her own suffering and death with such uncontainable joy touch me in a way that I can’t describe. Heaven was so palpable you could almost see it in the air around her, and I truly believed that Death had lost its sting.”

There is more suffering turned to hope to be found in the other tracks on the CD. “In a sense, this album is about death. But in a greater sense, it’s about heaven and hope.” It’s that light of things hoped for that draws me to this CD. Peterson has captured the essence of the “Mystery of Mercy.” “Those of us who have been rescued by Christ have all felt, in the muck of our sin, utter amazement that God, who is holy and just, also has it in Him to adopt us as His children.”

- Ken W.
(Quotes taken from Press Release.)