Derek and I covered lots of topics: specifics about some of the songs, worries about making these albums that talk about war and wondering if they’ll be relevant in 20 years, packaging of the album, talk about the two One Zero discs, etc. It was a lot of fun to have this conversation, and I’m glad to bring it to you on tape.
More to come!
In part of a larger editorial discussing how the Lynchburg, VA area needs to work harder at forming community, Matt Addington and Matt Mackey of the Lynchburg News & Advance give a shout-out to the Square Pegs:
This list of names may not ring any bells to you. In fact, these names won’t ring too many bells in most places. That’s the whole point. These 13 musicians have decided to work together to change that. No corporate mumbo jumbo, no business deals, just artists with an appreciation for each other’s art.
It’s a bit disappointing that the editorial isn’t any longer, to bring together how the Pegs are an example of a community of people who appreciate the differences and love each other anyway, but hey … we’ll take the pub for the Pegs wherever it happens.
[A hearty thanks to Richard Okimoto for sending this in.]
We can confirm that Derek’s next studio recording will be titled The Ringing Bell. It is due to your hot little hands on 1 May 2007. It’ll be ten tracks, and it’s a rock record.
We have much more information about the record, but we’ll parcel that out in small doses. 
[Read in part: I'm not transcribing the 21-minute interview tonight, 'cause I just got home from Nashville and need to be up in about six hours.]
As we’ve put out these bootleg MP3s, we’ve tried to give you a flavor of things that perhaps you haven’t heard before. If you’re a Square Peg fan, chances are that you might have seen that Derek Webb guy in concert. Whether or not you have, I think that you’ll agree that this is a great rendition of “My Enemies Are Men Like Me”:
If you liked this recording, it comes from the 5 May 2006 Derek Webb concert bootleg from Columbia, SC. If you didn’t download Mockingbird off of FreeDerekWebb.com when you could, well … go buy it, or email me for a copy.
Randall just let me know that he and Eric are planning a small (3-5 shows) tour together in April, and they are looking to book more shows in the southeast (SC/NC/GA/AL…). If you’re interested in bringing them to your area, contact Randall or Eric.
In other news, it was brought to my attention today that the big changes in the Peters household have not yet been mentioned here. On Thursday, December the 21st, at 6:59 PM, Ellis Perrin Peters was born, weighing 5 lbs., 3.75 oz, and, according to Eric, “in full possession of 10 fingers, 10 toes and all necessary utilities. He is, as you might expect me to utter, absolutely stunning.”
On the 29th, after a week of little sleep, diapers, and the blurring of day and night, Eric blogged about The Endurance of Peace:
For good reason, I’ve been thinking a lot about peace over the past few days and, though none of this is fully formulated in my brain - I doubt if it ever will be concrete enough to make any sense - I’ve come to the minimal conclusion that peace on earth is not necessarily the absence of chaos; the two can and shall co-exist side by side and yet live in harmony as if one were dependent upon the other. Like night and day, pain and joy, cold and hot, the one endures the other. I am at peace for the first time in many years. Not my body, mind you, but the workings of my soul. I suspect it has everything to do with Ellis, seeing his precious body taken from the womb of a grace-filled woman one distant week ago, feeling his luxurious skin (don’t we all wish someone would say our skin felt “luxurious�) upon my pursed lips, hearing and watching him squeak and squirm, cleaning his body when he fouls himself, and serving my recuperating wife to the best of my ability. It has broken me to see her in pain. And yet there is peace. Fearing my own weak-bellied imminent collapse upon the operating room floor, there was peace. With the weak knowledge that death and grief was visiting a nearby birthing room that very same night, there was peace. Easy for me to say.
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