Charlie Peacock on Music, Meaning, and Letting Go of Power

The Russell Moore Show

Christianity Today, Russell Moore

Religion & Spirituality, Christianity

4.8 • 914 Ratings

🗓️ 14 May 2025

⏱️ 48 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Is God’s will for your life more of a dot or a circle? That’s one of the questions addressed by Grammy Award–winning producer and artist Charlie Peacock, whose new memoir Roots & Rhythm explores what it means to find one’s calling in life, how to heal from the past, and how to give up the quest for holding on to power. This conversation reveals at least one middle-school-era debate over what counts as “Christian music” (spoiler: there was almost a fistfight over Amy Grant), and they explore deeper questions about fame, ambition, and why some artists burn out while others grow deeper with time. Peacock shares stories behind producing music for Amy Grant, Switchfoot, and The Civil Wars—and what he’s learned from the visible economies of success and the hidden “Great Economy” about which Wendell Berry wrote. You’ll hear thoughtful conversation on everything from Zen Buddhism and Jack Kerouac to AI and the future of music. Along the way, Peacock reflects on a note found after his mother’s death, a formative encounter with Kierkegaard, and what it means to live with grace as “an antidote to karma.” Peacock and Moore also talk about Frederick Buechner and Merle Haggard, as well as fatherhood, how to find a “circle of affirmation,” and why failing is as important as succeeding. If you’re curious about how art and faith intersect in an age of algorithms and ambition, this conversation offers a human and hopeful perspective. Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guest include: Roots & Rhythm: A Life in Music by Charlie Peacock On the Road: The Original Scroll by Jack Kerouac Distant Neighbors: The Selected Letters of Wendell Berry and Gary Snyder Special offer for listeners of The Russell Moore Show: Click here for 25% off a subscription to CT magazine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:14.4	Yes, even those we don't like.
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0:23.6	our relationships. To learn more, visit a new way to love your neighbor.com.
0:31.1	This paid message is from Thomas Nelson Publishing. Do you notice that when your body isn't moving,
0:37.0	your mind is still racing?
0:38.9	Anxiety, to-do list, and the spiral of negative thought patterns often keep us from the
0:44.2	peace we long for. In her book, present in prayer, best-selling author Jennifer Tucker
0:49.8	shares a guide to the practice of biblical meditation and invites readers to slow down and linger on
0:56.1	God's word. Learn more at presentinprayer.com.
1:00.8	I have built into my entire artistic philosophy, the need for failure, expectancy of failure.
1:07.8	And then because failure is something that I'm going to assess, then analyze
1:14.3	in order to succeed. I can look at successes, but that's only a success by the way the
1:21.2	world constructs success. Artistically or spiritually, it was an absolute failure. With Christ on the cross, everything
1:29.5	looked like failure.
1:30.5	Hello, this is Russell Moore, and you're listening to The Russellmore Show, brought to you by Christianity today.
1:48.0	Every week, we explore here conversations and questions from a Christian perspective to help you sort out how to live as a follower of Jesus in confusing times.
1:58.8	This week, we have a conversation to seek to do just that.
2:13.2	I don't invite y'all into many of my middle school fights of memory, and that's because they mostly don't exist.
2:21.3	My junior high years were relatively drama-free compared to a lot of people with one exception in my memory.
2:30.1	And it was a heated exchange that if I was going to have gotten into a fistfight, it probably would have happened then.
	...

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