CCM EXCLUSIVE: Andrew Greer Reflects on ‘Tune My Heart 2’

CCM EXCLUSIVE: Andrew Greer ‘Tune My Heart 2’

My peace is the legacy I leave to you … Do not let your heart be troubled or fearful. —John 14:27

In March of 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent safer-at-home orders swept the globe, singer/songwriter Andrew Greer, along with a roster of well-known musician friends, released a collection of songs themed by the timely motif of peace. Tune My Heart…Songs of Rest and Reflection (Lucid Artists/MA’M Recordings), became a melodic counter to our cultural confusion, playlisting songs to placate hearts paralyzed by fear and soothe communities impounded by chaos with musical calm and quiet.

Naturally resonating with people’s plight for peacefulness, the comforting set list remarkably topped the charts for weeks on-end and bestowed upon Greer his eighth career Dove Award nomination for Instrumental Album Of the Year.

Over a year later, with a world still reeling from the after-shock of society’s shut-down, Andrew and his celebrated production cohorts, Travis Patton and Kyle Buchanan, returned to the studio to create Tune My Heart 2…Songs of Goodness and Love, a sequel brimming with more tender tunes, augmented sweeping string arrangements, and a fresh list of lauded friends—including Grammy-nominated songstress’ Point of Grace, musical powerhouse Anthony Evans, Americana musician-extraordinaire Buddy Greene, Allan Hall of the Dove Award-winning inspirational staple Selah, and new family band Westward Road. This is a part two that takes stock of the pains of our recent past, and then compels us forward with hope for our very present future.

To commemorate the album’s recent number one seat on the Parable National Retail Chart, Greer ponders on the word that first inspired the poignant projects … “peace.” And then asks each of the album’s contributing artists the question we’ve all been asking ourselves as of late, “What does peace mean to you?”

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God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change …

A prayer I have uttered at the advent of many days, for many years, is called The Serenity Prayer. Written by American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr not long after the Great Depression left this nation’s people reeling in a destabilizing wake of fear and anxiety, his sincere petition to God for peace and sanity is now widely recited by Twelve-Step recovery groups, of which I have been a part for more than a decade. Regardless of my feelings or circumstances—when I feel at odds with God, estranged from the world around me, when the desires of my heart and the behaviors of my body war with each other—this is when I once again let these words purse my lips and pierce my heart.

God, grant me the serenity …
From what I understand so far, at least thirty-nine years in, to be at peace is to be with God. But being with God, at least for me, is tricky. Case in point, the notion that God loves me unconditionally, and is working things out for my good, well … it sounds nice. Nice, like a greeting card. Like the ones you buy for someone out of obligation. Because that’s what you’re “supposed to do.”

But acknowledging this theology of unconditional love in my mind, and so to open up my heart to the possibility of it being actually true, well … I’m still working on it.

Thank God for music.

Something stirs within that eternal space between the pluck of an instrument, the harnessing of a melody, and the wrestling down of the perfect lyric that is so real, so tangible, so easy to believe in that it’s hard to explain it as anything but the language, and the love, of he who created us. I think it’s why so many people of so many backgrounds and so many beliefs and hurts and hardships hear a song and feel, sometimes for the very first time, like they are finally home.

The older I get, in spite of all my lingering doubts, the more convinced I am that to be at peace is to be with God. And to be with God is to be at home.

During this time of cultural confusion, here are some thoughts on peace, from my friends to you. Read on and for a few precious moments, let’s be at peace, at home, together.

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“’Peace’ can mean many different things to many different people. On a macro, global scale, one could say that it is the absence of war, and something that all of us would love to see happen, of course. But for my own personal, micro view, peace usually goes hand-in-hand with contentment. And contentment, for me, means wanting what you have, not having what you want. I am always trying my best to continually cultivate this outlook in my own life.”  —Allan Hall of Selah

“Ultimate peace comes from taking intentional and purposeful steps to build emotional, physical, mental and most importantly, spiritual health. Like a ship built with the storm in mind, ultimate peace isn’t determined by our external circumstances. Peace is defined by knowing that you will remain steadfast in spite of external circumstances. Jesus offers that kind of innate and intrinsic peace, and we take hold of it when we fully take hold of Him.”  —Anthony Evans

“With the loss of my precious father and father-in-law over the past few months, peace represents something quite different for me than it has in the past. Peace is the absence of physical pain and suffering, and the presence of one day reuniting with those we love so deeply.”  —Leigh Cappillino of Point of Grace

“Music is a carrier. The beauty of how it’s delivered, it makes you listen more. I think that’s one of the most powerful things about it. I can get lost in a 50-minute sermon. It’s just too complicated. You lost me on Point Four. But something in the economy of a song … it brings you in. You almost become a part of the song.”  —Buddy Greene

“Peace, to us, is resting in the fact that no matter what we face in life, God will never fail to provide for our needs. It may come with a time of uncomfortable learning, but on the other side there is always peace. We have come to know that we can rejoice even in the process. This is peace to us.”

“We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. (Romans 5:3-5 NLT)”  —Scott Roberts of Westward Road

Watch the trailer:

Tune My Heart 2 Playlist: