The Square Peg Alliance Compilation is Here
We’ve had our meetings.
We sat in lawn chairs in the Gullahorns’ back yard wearing shades and speaking in hushed tones lest the forces of evil thwart us. We sold t-shirts.
We elected a treasurer (Eric Peters) and a president (Gullahorn). We delegated responsibilities and munched trail mix importantly.
Behold, the fruition of our labor: The Square Peg Alliance Compilation 2009, and it’s only $5.
Some of you may be wondering what the Sam Hill the Square Peg Alliance is.
I’ll be brief. The S.P.A. is a group of singer/songwriters who are friends, and who believe in each other’s music. One day a few years ago we named our little music community and sought to expose our listeners to music (and people) we care about, which is in keeping with the Rabbit Room’s philosophy. We each chose a song to contribute, in the hopes that you’ll discover music you would have otherwise missed amidst the daily American media assault.
Who is the S.P.A., you ask? And which songs did they compile? Here’s the track listing:
01. “The Space Between Living and Dying”, Jeremy Casella
02. “Bluebird”, Randall Goodgame
03. “That Guy”, Andy Gullahorn
04. “Swing Wide the Glimmering Gates”, Andrew Osenga
05. “You Can Be Yourself”, Eric Peters
06. “Lay Me Down”, Andrew Peterson
07. “Your Usual Response”, Jill Phillips
08. “4th of July”, Ben Shive
09. “This Too Shall Be Made Right”, Derek Webb
To purchase the download, visit the Rabbit Room Store.
Thank you! Hope you enjoy the music.
A.S. Peterson has crafted a work of compelling historical fiction which begs the question, “Can this really be a debut novel?” With dogged fidelity, Peterson captures the spirit, manners, and social conditions present during the American Revolutionary War. We meet colorful, credible characters who navigate the high seas of life and love, dependence and independence, war and peace, truth and consequence, and despite forays into dark places, The Fiddler’s Gun is beautiful, lyrical, and redemptive.
Walt Wangerin, Jr. strikes again.
Janner Igiby lives in Glipwood, a nothing little village in the land of Skree, on the edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness. Manhood is on the horizon, but Janner finds it hard to feel much hope for the future. Skree is ruled by foreign oppressors, snake men called the Fangs of Dang, servants of a shadowy emperor named Gnag the Nameless. The Skreeans are weak and weaponless. They’re even tool-less. Any Skreean who needs to use a hoe has to borrow one from the Fangs (and fill out the requisite paperwork). And from time to time, the Black Carriage arrives in Glipwood to carry young Skreeans toward an unknown fate across the Dark Sea.
I am not a fan of Civil War literature; in fact, I have always thought of it as one of those weird sub-genres for obsessive types. They’re almost like Trekkies with their re-enactments and maniacal devotion to detail. It’s just not my thing (although I’m secretly jealous that they get to dress up and shoot cannons).
A Randall Goodgame song is like a great independent movie. Characters deliver lines like they were lifted from a break room, a truck stop, or a downtown diner. Seemingly incongruent scenes are juxtaposed and plot isn’t obvious; in fact, narrative–a good story–is often more evident than linear plot lines. An indie movie, like a Randall Goodgame song, seems to tell itself. Rather than being rudely yanked by a chain through a sequence of contrived events, with a Randall Goodgame song, I have the sense that I’m being allowed a willing, but vicarious sneak peak into the real lives of his real characters.
Sara Groves irritates me just a little bit. With each album she makes, she moves from strength to strength and is always raising the bar with the quality, depth, and lyrical ambition of her work. And as a fellow artist, that’s just a little irritating since it means the rest of us are going to have to work harder if we hope to keep up.
I am outside on my front porch. The yellowed leaves are methodically falling from the black walnut in the yard, my breath is chalky visible in the recent cold snap, and lately I have been exploring the unpleasant nuances of the dark night of a soul - my own, to be exact. It is a strange passion we live out on this over-glorified orb of rock hurtling through space at some rate that I’m sure would astound me were I to know what it was. It is an odd series of days, I am realizing, when you question your own faith more than you question your own doubt. And, indeed, it is these nagging questions which have prompted me to share my thoughts on Andrew Peterson’s 2003 album, Love and Thunder.
11-year old Reuben Land, a character in the 2001 book Peace Like a River, provides narration that is clear-eyed and insightful, yet retains the magic, wonder, and innocence of youth. I found it easy to entrust my imagination to the author’s clever method of telling the story through the sensibilities of a pre-teen boy. An author with lesser skill would have either made the boy too smart-alecky for his own good or impossibly cute.
I just finished a book that upon closing it, I felt like it finished me in a sense. A quiet meditative book that reached down and stirred the deep waters in me. It’s Marilynne Robinson’s 2005 Pulitzer prize winner Gilead, given to me by my friend Andrew Peterson.
Eric Peters’s body of work addresses a diverse range of topics, but hope is a recurring theme that gently percolates in the midst of it all. And yet, somewhere between the 2001 masterpiece Land of the Living, and Scarce, the flavor of hope that Peters’s work emits has evolved closer to a tone that is more resolute than what came before. And though the complexion of hope has a broad range, the lyrics from Scarce–while intermittently contrite and timorous as in previous efforts, are now strengthened and bolstered by roots that have grown deeper, radiating an underlying grit and security.
Having read The Great Divorce many times over the years, I’ve found this classic from the great C.S. Lewis to be full of startling clarity and depth on the differences between Heaven and Hell. The only thing both have in common is that both begin in the human will; we can either let Heaven enter us and rule in us to blossom into love and goodness, or allow Hell to infect and reign in our hearts by the daily refusal to submit to Heaven.
Even if you haven’t heard Room to Breathe, its still likely you’ve heard Andy Gullahorn. He’s what I’d call a heavy lifter by trade. He writes lyrics, plays guitar, arranges vocals and adds production help to the work of artists like Jill Phillips and Andrew Peterson.
Allow me to preface this by telling you that I am a great despiser of gushing reviews. I’d much rather write (or read) a scathing dismemberment of the latest Brett Ratner film or Terry Goodkind book than suffer through four hundred words of overblown hyperbole about even the best of things. But when asked to write some thoughts on Frederick Buechner’s Godric, no amount of distaste for high praise was able to intervene. I hope you’ll take what I say with the understanding that I do not say it readily or lightly.
What a great way to start a Monday. Thanks Pegs.
Thanks, got my copy this morning.
And if there were Square Pegs t-shirts, I know I would buy a couple! Just a thought.
Fantastic. Thanks to Secretary Peterson, President Gullahorn, Treasurer Peters, Seargent at Arms Phillips for making this possible.
I love this idea, and I love Derek Webb. That said…..
I have a hard time when I see, or more especially, when I hear:
“This Too Shall Be Made Right”
not seeing or hearing:
“The Stew Shall Be Made Right.”
Either way, much love.
This is such a great idea. I have listened to CCM for a long time and lately I have been growing dissatisfied with much of what I am hearing. The Square Peg Alliance has restored my hope in Christians making meaningful music. I would buy the compilation if I didn’t already have most all the songs on my iPod. How about an internet radio station playing Square Pegs and friends?
What a great compilation of some amazing artists. How about an internet radio station playing Square Peg artists and friends?
Thanks for the amazing download. I promise to do my part in directing my friends to the site for the download — all the Pegs deserve to be heard!
Huh; I only own two of those (and a third that Osenga offered free). Five bucks is quite a bargain — love that low Rabbit Room overhead!
Way to bring fresh creative thinking to the business as well as the art of music. Keep hatching those Brite ideas…
Man, I have listened to my Square Peg Compilation about a 1000 times. It’s not that I haven’t heard most of the songs before, it’s something fresh about putting them together like this. Not sure if you guys have ever used the Genius feature in iTunes, but it’s really an amazing way to make playlists and enjoy tunes from your library that you might not throw together on your own. This compilation is even more genius than Genius. Thanks again.