When I'm working in the song, I try to put myself in the shoes of somebody who's listening to the song.

It's like making a painting. You draw what you have, what you see.

But in here, you don't see it, you hear it and you feel it.

Welcome back to Working, I'm your host, Nate Shenen.

And I'm your other host, Isaac Butler.

Isaac, whose dulcet tones did we hear at the top of the show?

We heard the mellow and beautiful voice of Peter One.

He's an extraordinary singer-songwriter from the Ivory Coast who now lives and works in Nashville.

And why did you want to speak with Peter One?

Well, you know, here on Working, we're really focused on the creative process and craft and not as much on biography.

But I would be lying if I didn't say that his life story is part of what hooked me.

So in 1985, way back in 1985, when the Atari 2600 was the home entertainment system of Joyce,

Peter One and another singer-songwriter named Jess Sabi released an album called Our Garden Needs Its Flowers in the Ivory Coast.

And it's this really gorgeous blending of kind of West African music.

And 70s American folk country, kind of the Laurel Canyon sound, you know?

There was highly influential in West Africa. It made them big stars in that region.

Peter then moved to the United States and didn't release any music again really until this year with his latest album Come Back to Me,

which just came out.

In the meantime, he's been raising a family, he's been working in the nursing field to support them.

And, you know, so I was really interested in that and interested in what it's like to return to a creative career in your 60s.

And also the album is really beautiful and I got hooked on it.

I saw Peter One at the Big Year's Festival in Knoxville this spring.

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