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Roots and Rhythm: A Life in Music
A beautifully crafted memoir unveiling the ancestral, musical, and spiritual roots of Grammy Award-winning music producer Charlie Peacock.
In this artful memoir, Grammy Award-winning music producer Charlie Peacock flexes his literary chops and gives readers the gritty backstage stories they artist anecdotes, geeky trivia, and how the hits were written and recorded. Threaded throughout is Peacock's unique ancestral and spiritual story—the roots. Like Coltrane, Dylan, and Bono before him, Peacock reveals a Christ-affection while warning genre purists he’s no Christian musician.
Peacock, the great-grandson of a Louisiana fiddler, is an American musical polymath. He’s been the young jazz musician sitting at the feet of trumpeter Eddie Henderson and pianist Herbie Hancock; the singer-songwriter plucked from the Northern California punk/pop underground by legendary impresarios Bill Graham and Chris Blackwell; a pioneering, innovative contributor to the nascent rise of gospel rock in the 1980s; and the genre-busting producer behind such diverse artists as Al Green, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Chris Cornell, Audio Adrenaline, The Civil Wars, Switchfoot, Turtle Island Quartet, and John Patitucci.
Roots and Rhythm includes Peacock’s seminal NorCal days, the story of indie labels Exit and the Nashville Christian music scene (1989–1999), and his essential role in the 21st-century folk/Americana boom (The Civil Wars, Holly Williams, The Lone Bellow). While his exploits and achievements grace the book (including the story of Amy Grant’s “Every Heartbeat” and the evergreen “In the Light”), Peacock is hardly the only character. Instead, he writes as a Joan Didion-style essayist, weaving together a quintessential American story. Beat poet Gary Snyder, evangelist Billy Graham, producer T Bone Burnett, saxophonist Wayne Shorter, and writers Wendell Berry and Isabel Wilkerson all appear in this sweeping tale where ancestry, migration, teenage love, Jesus, and Miles Davis collide.
The book is an embrace the roots and rhythm of our own lives, letting the music and God’s insistent love lead us to gratitude and wonder.
In this artful memoir, Grammy Award-winning music producer Charlie Peacock flexes his literary chops and gives readers the gritty backstage stories they artist anecdotes, geeky trivia, and how the hits were written and recorded. Threaded throughout is Peacock's unique ancestral and spiritual story—the roots. Like Coltrane, Dylan, and Bono before him, Peacock reveals a Christ-affection while warning genre purists he’s no Christian musician.
Peacock, the great-grandson of a Louisiana fiddler, is an American musical polymath. He’s been the young jazz musician sitting at the feet of trumpeter Eddie Henderson and pianist Herbie Hancock; the singer-songwriter plucked from the Northern California punk/pop underground by legendary impresarios Bill Graham and Chris Blackwell; a pioneering, innovative contributor to the nascent rise of gospel rock in the 1980s; and the genre-busting producer behind such diverse artists as Al Green, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Chris Cornell, Audio Adrenaline, The Civil Wars, Switchfoot, Turtle Island Quartet, and John Patitucci.
Roots and Rhythm includes Peacock’s seminal NorCal days, the story of indie labels Exit and the Nashville Christian music scene (1989–1999), and his essential role in the 21st-century folk/Americana boom (The Civil Wars, Holly Williams, The Lone Bellow). While his exploits and achievements grace the book (including the story of Amy Grant’s “Every Heartbeat” and the evergreen “In the Light”), Peacock is hardly the only character. Instead, he writes as a Joan Didion-style essayist, weaving together a quintessential American story. Beat poet Gary Snyder, evangelist Billy Graham, producer T Bone Burnett, saxophonist Wayne Shorter, and writers Wendell Berry and Isabel Wilkerson all appear in this sweeping tale where ancestry, migration, teenage love, Jesus, and Miles Davis collide.
The book is an embrace the roots and rhythm of our own lives, letting the music and God’s insistent love lead us to gratitude and wonder.
- GenresNonfiction
389 pages, Hardcover
Published February 4, 2025
8 people are currently reading
67 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 6, 2025
After a negative childhood experience with church, I'd pretty much given up on it when I discovered Christian punk rock music.
Years later, I'll be the first to admit that the Christian punk rock music I found was more along the lines of pop-punk. However, it reached me where I was at and introduced me to a different faith than I'd ever known.
What does this have to do with Charlie Peacock, who is definitely NOT punk?
Along the way to rediscovering my faith, I also discovered a series of musical artists who influenced it including Peacock and his mid-80's "Lie Down in the Grass." My faith has grown up with Peacock, now a six-time Grammy Award-winning music producer in three genres (Folk, Country, and Rock Gospel) and a three-time recipient of the Gospel Music Association's Producer of the Year award. Billboard's Encyclopedia of Record Producers named him as one of the 500 most important producers in popular music history and, quite simply, whether you know his name or not you very likely know music he's produced including such artists as The Civil Wars, Amy Grant, Sarah Masen, Switchfoot, and a host of others.
If you're expecting a traditional memoir from Peacock with "Roots and Rhythm: A Life in Music," I'd alter your expectations a bit. "Roots and Rhythm" has a rhythm all its own. In fact, it reads like more of a cultural memoir as Peacock takes us through his ancestral, musical, and spiritual roots and how they've all contributed to the music he's created, the life he's lived, the family he's loved, and the faith that is ever-present.
There's a soulfulness to "Roots and Rhythm" that's hard to describe, however, you can't help but feel like you're getting the real Charlie Peacock as you read the stories of his musical experiences over the years in a business that can be notoriously fickle and yet a business in which he's built a strong reputation for both his musical talent, producing, and even his being the founder and Director Emeritus of the Commercial Music Program at Lipscomb University.
In "Roots and Rhythm," Peacock feels like the man I always imagined him to be and that isn't some perfect ideal but a human being who has lived his faith yet also found tremendous musical success across genres and in a variety of settings. One of my other attractions to Peacock was that he's long been an artist drawn to social justice working directly with International Justice Mission, and being instrumental to bringing light to the ONE Campaign in 2002 when he and his wife hosted co-founder Bono in their home.
"Roots and Rhythm" isn't a straightforward chronological memoir. It's a storyteller's journey with gritty backstage stories, music biz woes, artist revelations, vulnerable interpersonal tales, occasional snark, and an abundance of faith. Unless you're a true Peacock diehard, I'd imagine there's much you're going to learn here about his life from NoCal to Nashville and from Bono to Ladysmith Black Mambazo to Chris Cornell to a whole lot more.
"Roots and Rhythm" is an immersive read about a man whose own daughter answered the question "Is your dad famous?" with the hilarious response "Not famous. Well known."
Indeed. After reading "Roots and Rhythm," he'll be even more well known and recognized for his decades of contribution to music and for his integrity of artistry, faith, and to his fellow musicians.
I can't imagine an up-and-coming musician who shouldn't read "Roots and Rhythm," a lesson in embracing one's roots and unique rhythms and toward living a life of faith, gratitude, and wonder.
I can't wait to read it again.
Years later, I'll be the first to admit that the Christian punk rock music I found was more along the lines of pop-punk. However, it reached me where I was at and introduced me to a different faith than I'd ever known.
What does this have to do with Charlie Peacock, who is definitely NOT punk?
Along the way to rediscovering my faith, I also discovered a series of musical artists who influenced it including Peacock and his mid-80's "Lie Down in the Grass." My faith has grown up with Peacock, now a six-time Grammy Award-winning music producer in three genres (Folk, Country, and Rock Gospel) and a three-time recipient of the Gospel Music Association's Producer of the Year award. Billboard's Encyclopedia of Record Producers named him as one of the 500 most important producers in popular music history and, quite simply, whether you know his name or not you very likely know music he's produced including such artists as The Civil Wars, Amy Grant, Sarah Masen, Switchfoot, and a host of others.
If you're expecting a traditional memoir from Peacock with "Roots and Rhythm: A Life in Music," I'd alter your expectations a bit. "Roots and Rhythm" has a rhythm all its own. In fact, it reads like more of a cultural memoir as Peacock takes us through his ancestral, musical, and spiritual roots and how they've all contributed to the music he's created, the life he's lived, the family he's loved, and the faith that is ever-present.
There's a soulfulness to "Roots and Rhythm" that's hard to describe, however, you can't help but feel like you're getting the real Charlie Peacock as you read the stories of his musical experiences over the years in a business that can be notoriously fickle and yet a business in which he's built a strong reputation for both his musical talent, producing, and even his being the founder and Director Emeritus of the Commercial Music Program at Lipscomb University.
In "Roots and Rhythm," Peacock feels like the man I always imagined him to be and that isn't some perfect ideal but a human being who has lived his faith yet also found tremendous musical success across genres and in a variety of settings. One of my other attractions to Peacock was that he's long been an artist drawn to social justice working directly with International Justice Mission, and being instrumental to bringing light to the ONE Campaign in 2002 when he and his wife hosted co-founder Bono in their home.
"Roots and Rhythm" isn't a straightforward chronological memoir. It's a storyteller's journey with gritty backstage stories, music biz woes, artist revelations, vulnerable interpersonal tales, occasional snark, and an abundance of faith. Unless you're a true Peacock diehard, I'd imagine there's much you're going to learn here about his life from NoCal to Nashville and from Bono to Ladysmith Black Mambazo to Chris Cornell to a whole lot more.
"Roots and Rhythm" is an immersive read about a man whose own daughter answered the question "Is your dad famous?" with the hilarious response "Not famous. Well known."
Indeed. After reading "Roots and Rhythm," he'll be even more well known and recognized for his decades of contribution to music and for his integrity of artistry, faith, and to his fellow musicians.
I can't imagine an up-and-coming musician who shouldn't read "Roots and Rhythm," a lesson in embracing one's roots and unique rhythms and toward living a life of faith, gratitude, and wonder.
I can't wait to read it again.
February 8, 2025
I have loved the music of multi-talented (singer, songwriter, producer, author, podcaster) Charlie Peacock’s music since his West Coast Diaries cassettes. My favorite of his albums is his 1995 Everything That’s On My Mind. In addition to pop songs, Peacock has recorded a number of jazz albums. I have seen him in concert a number of times, and also at a speaking engagement for an earlier book (At the Crossroads). I thoroughly enjoyed this new book.
Peacock tells us that the book is about one artistic life rooted in America’s soil, shame, and success. He is an excellent storyteller, and doesn’t tell his story chronologically, which can be confusing at times. He is detailed as he tells his story and the people, he has been friends and collaborators with.
As far as whether Peacock his famous, he tells the story of a friend of his daughter Molly visiting her years ago. The friend noticed the records hanging on the wall and a few trophies displayed, and asked Molly, “Is your dad famous?” Molly replied, “No. Just well-known.” But Peacock, who once opened for Bob Marley, is a Grammy-Award winning producer who’s worked with Amy Grant, the Civil Wars, The Lone Bellow, Switchfoot, and many, many more. His songwriter credits include Grant’s “Every Heartbeat” and DC Talk’s “In the Light”. He has more than one thousand credits as writer, producer and performer.
Peacock writes of his hometown of Yuba City, California, Sacramento, California and Nashville, Tennessee and his multi-racial family history and John Sutter. He writes of authors who have had an impact on him such as Jack Kerouac, Wendell Berry, Steven Garber and many more.
Peacock makes countless references to songs, albums, and artists throughout the book, either because he worked with them or they influenced him. Some of those who influenced him are John Coltrane, U2, and Bob Dylan. He tells of the significant impact of producer Brown Bannister, who would produce Peacock’s The Secret of Time album. He writes about the Warehouse and Exit Records, and the conflict about being associated as a Christian music artist.
Peacock would begin dating future wife Andi at age 15, and they would be married in 1975. He is transparent in writing that his workload when they moved to Nashville in 1989 would leave Andi lonely and taking on the majority of parenting responsibilities. He also references substance abuse, and therapy.
Peacock’s Christian faith is woven throughout his story. He and wife Andi would move to St. Louis to attend Covenant Seminary. Interestingly, I would be in a class with Andi during the January 2006 term.
I enjoyed reading about Peacock’s relationship with Bono, which began with Bono’s visit to the Art House in 2020 to support DATA (Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa), and his subsequent efforts of activism.
Peacock suffers from a neurological disorder, resulting in a constant headache.
I listened to the audiobook version of the book, well read by Peacock. I enjoyed listening to how God has providentially worked in his life. As you read the book, you will want to frequently open your favorite music streaming service and listen to some of Charlie’s songs as well as those he references in this book.
Peacock tells us that the book is about one artistic life rooted in America’s soil, shame, and success. He is an excellent storyteller, and doesn’t tell his story chronologically, which can be confusing at times. He is detailed as he tells his story and the people, he has been friends and collaborators with.
As far as whether Peacock his famous, he tells the story of a friend of his daughter Molly visiting her years ago. The friend noticed the records hanging on the wall and a few trophies displayed, and asked Molly, “Is your dad famous?” Molly replied, “No. Just well-known.” But Peacock, who once opened for Bob Marley, is a Grammy-Award winning producer who’s worked with Amy Grant, the Civil Wars, The Lone Bellow, Switchfoot, and many, many more. His songwriter credits include Grant’s “Every Heartbeat” and DC Talk’s “In the Light”. He has more than one thousand credits as writer, producer and performer.
Peacock writes of his hometown of Yuba City, California, Sacramento, California and Nashville, Tennessee and his multi-racial family history and John Sutter. He writes of authors who have had an impact on him such as Jack Kerouac, Wendell Berry, Steven Garber and many more.
Peacock makes countless references to songs, albums, and artists throughout the book, either because he worked with them or they influenced him. Some of those who influenced him are John Coltrane, U2, and Bob Dylan. He tells of the significant impact of producer Brown Bannister, who would produce Peacock’s The Secret of Time album. He writes about the Warehouse and Exit Records, and the conflict about being associated as a Christian music artist.
Peacock would begin dating future wife Andi at age 15, and they would be married in 1975. He is transparent in writing that his workload when they moved to Nashville in 1989 would leave Andi lonely and taking on the majority of parenting responsibilities. He also references substance abuse, and therapy.
Peacock’s Christian faith is woven throughout his story. He and wife Andi would move to St. Louis to attend Covenant Seminary. Interestingly, I would be in a class with Andi during the January 2006 term.
I enjoyed reading about Peacock’s relationship with Bono, which began with Bono’s visit to the Art House in 2020 to support DATA (Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa), and his subsequent efforts of activism.
Peacock suffers from a neurological disorder, resulting in a constant headache.
I listened to the audiobook version of the book, well read by Peacock. I enjoyed listening to how God has providentially worked in his life. As you read the book, you will want to frequently open your favorite music streaming service and listen to some of Charlie’s songs as well as those he references in this book.
April 25, 2025
A very enjoyable book. I was surprised that he and I share influences. He knows them personally. I mostly through books. Esther Meek, Steve Garber, Eugene Peterson, Douglas McKelvey, Christian Wiman, Twila Paris, Wendell Berry, David Brooks, and Malcolm Guite. This is good company. I was stunned to see how many projects he was a part of. It was great fun to remember some of the names.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews