GRAMMY-winning producer, artist, and songwriter Charlie Peacock defies categorization. Paul chats with him about everything from his early days on the Norther California jazz scene, to writing hits for the Christian music world, to producing everyone from the Civil Wars to Switchfoot.
PART ONE:
Scott and Paul talk about aging, the Rolling Stones concert Scott just saw, the centrality of energetic drummers, and other fun stuff.
PART TWO:
Our in-depth conversation with Charlie Peacock
ABOUT CHARLIE PEACOCK
From jazz to pop to rock to country, gospel, and Americana, Charlie Peacock is a Grammy-winning producer, artist, and songwriter who defies categorization. In addition to his own wide-ranging work as a recording artist, he has written well-known songs such “Every Heartbeat,” which was a major pop hit for Amy Grant, and “In the Light,” which is best known for the version recorded by DC Talk. He’s responsible for developing and producing the Grammy Award-winning duo The Civil Wars and the Modern Rock band Switchfoot, including their multi-platinum Top 40 pop hit “Dare You to Move.”
Peacock launched his career as an artist on the Northern California jazz scene before recording his debut album, Lie Down in the Grass, which was released by A&M Records in the mid-1980s. After a stint with Island Records, he moved to Nashville to work as an artist and producer. His 1990 album, The Secret of Time, earned him a Grammy nomination for Best Rock/Contemporary Gospel Album. In that decade, he produced nearly 50 albums for other artists, and was named the Gospel Music Association’s Producer of the Year for three consecutive years.
The long list of artists he has produced includes Nicole Nordeman, David Crowder, Holly Williams, The Lone Bellow, Al Green, and Ladysmith Black Mambazo. He has produced a wide range of music for film and television, including the Mandy Moore film A Walk To Remember, Chris Cornell's "Misery Chain" from the soundtrack of Twelve Years a Slave, and "Hush," the title theme to the AMC drama Turn: Washington's Spies, featuring Joy Williams and Matt Berninger of The National.
As an artist, he returned to jazz with the Love Press Ex-Curio album in 2005 before embracing vocal music once again with his 2012 album No Man’s Land. In late 2015, Peacock was appointed the Director of Contemporary Music and Industry Outreach at Lipscomb University's College of Arts and Entertainment in Nashville. An author of several books, his forthcoming memoir will explore his musical life, while his latest album as an artist, Every Kind of Uh-Oh, will be released at the end of August.