Sometimes the best music comes from good friends who get together to play. No light show. No rotating stage. No fireworks. Andrew Peterson has developed a Christmas tradition of bringing together some of his good friends on stage for a show in the round, followed by his own Christmas oratorio, set to guitar, piano, dulcimer, and strings. The cast of characters are more than just Andrew’s friends, they are some of the most talented musicians in a city that overflows with musicians. The show took place in the legendary Ryman Auditorium on a stage that has hosted a list of musicans that reads like a hall of fame.

One might not mistake this evening’s performers for a Dylan, Cash, Parton, or Cline, but for this generation, my generation, they are already leaving an indelible mark. The first half of the concert features solo performances by amazing songwriters. Andrew Peterson started off his concert with a selection from his new album The Far Country called “Lay Me Down.” I have really started to enjoy Peterson’s album and this is one of the better songs on it. I particularly enjoy the contributions by the rest of his band, comprised of Andrew Osenga, Ben Shive, and Gabe Scott. Derek Webb followed with a song from his upcoming album called Mockingbird titled “Rich Young Ruler,” a challenging song for contemporary Americans. Derek’s wife, Sandra McCracken, is also a superb musician. Accompanied by Webb, Sandra played a reworked hymn “Thy Mercy.” Another husband and wife songwriting pair was up next. Andy Gullahorn amused the crowd last year with his song “Holy Flakes” and again kept the crowd in stiches with “Roast Beef”, a song dedicated to the toe that Osenga accidently cut off while mowing the yard earlier in the year. Gullahorn’s wife, Jill Phillips, followed with her song “Great Design.” Andrew Osenga then took the stage performing a new song, “Early in the Morning.” The third husband-wife pair of the evening, Randall and Amy Goodgame performed “Bluebird” Andrew then introduced the crowd to Ron Block, a banjo player for Allison Krauss who performed “He’s Holding Onto Me” with some fantastic finger work on the banjo. Phil Madeira is a session player who has performed on hundreds of albums playing guitar, Hammond organ, and accordian. Tonight he was a songwriter, playing “Ain’t Comin’ Home for Christmas This Year”, a humorous take of a family tired of driving through the snow to the Northeast. Peterson admitted to being a huge fan of up and coming artist Mindy Smith, so he invited her to the show this year. Smith on guitar and accompanied by a mandolin player performed “Tennessee” and “Come to Jesus.” The final performer of the night was Pierce Pettis, playing “Nothing But the Wind”, a Mark Heard cover dedicated to the recently deceased Dwight Ozzard and “If It Wasn’t For the Night / The Dark Night of the Soul”, which he wrote with David Wilcox. Pettis had the hardest time of the night, breaking a string in the middle of “Nothing But the Wind” and having to borrow a guitar for the second song, but he played like a true professional. Part of the fun of the solo performances in the round is watching the other artists’ faces as someone performs. I particularly enjoyed watching Andy O. and Derek nod their heads and mouth the words as Pettis performed “Nothing But the Wind.”

After a brief intermission, Peterson returned to the stage and led the crowd in singing “Nothing But The Blood of Jesus” as the other musicans filed onto the stage. Osenga played electric guitar and Ben Shive played piano and dulcimer. Cason Cooley and Gabe Scott traded instruments from song to song. Another Caedmon’s Call member, Garrett Buell played drums while Steve Hindalong played percussion. The four piece string section was located in the back of the stage. I found it interesting that the most “successful” (in terms of album sales) musician of the evening was probably Matt Slocum (of Sixpence None the Richer) and he remained quietly hidden on cello in the back with the string quartet. The band performed the entire Christmas album Behold The Lamb of God from beginning to end when the crowd then stood to sing “O Come All Ye Faithful” as the band quietly left the stage. There were so many highlights during the show. Jill Phillips provides the perfect fragility and humanity to “Labor of Love” and your heart has to be made of stone if the room doesn’t get just a little dusty during that song. I love Andy O.’s aggressive attack on the guitar during “So Long Moses.” There’s Andrew Peterson’s deep breath and whimiscal recall of Jesus’ geneology in “Matthew’s Begats” and wonderful interplay of mandolin and violin on “The Holly and The Ivy” I also enjoy “The Theme of My Song Reprise” where the musicians replicate live the themes overdubbed on the album live on the stage.

What’s truly fun about this concert is all of the personal relationships between the musicans. These people don’t just play on stage together, they also write songs together, go to church together, visit each others’ houses, and play with each others’ children. There’s a community aspect of the concert that makes the show as enjoyable to me on a dark, cold night in an old muisc hall as memorable as any concert event in any arena.

If you haven’t purchased Andrew Peterson’s Christmas CD, Behold The Lamb of God, I can’t recommend it enough. It ranks right up there with Over the Rhine’s The Darkest Night of the Year for me. You can purchase the album here at Andrew’s online store.