It's my favorite album of all time. And the live concert is even better. I'd tell you to go buy tickets, but the Cincinnati show is already sold out. I could go on and on about it, and fear not, I most assuredly will, but right now I'm going to hijack some posting from one of the artists on the tour...I hesitantly call (it) a musical about the birth of Christ. The reason "musical" doesn't really work is that when we think of a musical (about Christmas) we usually think of people dressed like donkeys and evenings full of badly delivered speaking parts.
What I wrote is a concert that tells a story. There's no speaking - only songs, some of which are intimate, some epic, some humorous, all with a purpose, which is to convey the true tall tale of the coming of God into the world.
What makes this bunch of songs unique is that I wanted to remind (or teach) the audience that the story of Christmas doesn't begin with the birth of Jesus. Many people tend to forget or have never even learned that the entire Bible is about Jesus, not just the New Testament.
So the musical begins with Moses and the symbolic story of the Passover and works its way through the kings and the prophets with their many prophecies about the coming Messiah to the awful four hundred years of silence before God told Mary she'd be having a baby. After the song... which lists the genealogy of Jesus, the story picks up in more familiar territory with Mary and Joseph and the actual birth. The final song is called Behold, the Lamb of God, which ties together the Passover and the beauty and scope of the story.
Over the years the concert has been overwhelming from a spiritual standpoint. I can honestly say that I haven't made it through one performance of the show without crying, which isn't a testimony to the concert as much as it is to the power of the story of Jesus. And it really is that story that's being told, in a new way. The audiences have expressed to me what I most want to hear, which is that they were blown away, that they got goose bumps, that they felt truly prepared to celebrate the Christmas season for what it's really worth.
Andrew Osenga is a stud musician... formerly of The Normals and currently of Caedmon's Call, he's a key cog in the BTLOG album and tour. Here's what he has to say about the unique tour on his personal site:
The show is in two halves. Andy P starts off with a song of his own then brings out the other artists, who (this year) are Bebo Norman, Sara Groves, Jill Phillips, Andy Gullahorn and myself. We do two rounds of songs, meaning everybody plays one, then goes around and plays another. People get up and sing on each other’s tunes and it’s a good time.High praise in musician-speak. My interpretation? Peterson could turn his amazing record into a cash cow, but that isn't the reason. Instead, he uses it as a means to spread the gospel, raise funds for an international ministry, and put some money in the pockets of his friends.
Then Bebo talks about Compassion International, which is an amazing organization if you’ve never looked into it, while the rest of us sneak backstage to play Speed Scrabble. Then we take an intermission, hopefully some kids are sponsored and we sell some cd’s, and then we come back out to perform Andrew’s Christmas record in its entirety, from start to finish, no stops. It’s a pretty amazing work of art and it’s an honor to get to be a part of it every year.
I was sitting on stage last night looking at yet another sold-out crowd and thinking, “What a great guy. Most artists who get this many people to a show bring out some new artist that pays to be on the tour, instead Andy brings out his friends and lets them all play and sell records, cutting into what he’ll sell.” It really is incredible of Andrew, but I think it’s what makes the show so inspiring. It’s such an obviously different kind of show than you’ll see anywhere else.
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