From: ajw@cbnews.cb.att.com (andrew.j.whitman)
Subject: Peter Case Interview
Organization: AT&T
Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1992 13:58:54 GMT

The NPR program "Fresh Air" interviewed Christian musician Peter
Case yesterday.  For those of you unfamiliar with his work, Peter
Case is part of the L.A.-based group of Christian musicians that
includes T-Bone Burnett, Sam Phillips, Mark Heard, and Tonio K.
Pick up any of their albums and you're likely to see the other
names as well.  He recorded three albums with the early '80s
power pop group The Plimsouls and has now recorded three solo
albums - "Peter Case," "The Man with the Blue, Postmodern, 
Neo-Traditional, Fragmented Guitar," and the just-released 
"Six-Pack of Love."  

It's unusual in itself that "Fresh Air" would feature a Christian,
and Peter Case was certainly vocal about his faith.  What made the
interview even more intriguing, though, is that Peter had a lot
to say about being a Christian musician.  Given the recent "secular"
vs. "Christian" music debates on this newsgroup, I thought it 
might be interesting to share the insights of someone who's
actually making the music.  I didn't tape the interview, but I'll
try to transcribe as best I can what I heard.  If someone, by
some miracle, *did* happen to get this on tape, I'd love to stand
corrected on some of the quotes.  In the transcription that follows,
"TG" is Terri Gross, the host/interviewer of "Fresh Air," and the woman 
I'd most like to marry if I wasn't married to my wife :-).  "PC"
is, of course, Peter Case.

TG:  You're pretty outspoken in your Christian beliefs.  Could you
tell us how you came to be a Christian.
PC:  Well, it was a very gradual thing.  I grew up with no religious
beliefs at all.  My parents were scientists, and I learned at a 
very early age to distrust the supernatural.  And so I lived that
way for a lot of years, and I started making music and doing the
kinds of things that rock 'n roll stars are supposed to do, you
know, and it just felt . . . well, empty.  For a long time I felt
lousy because I wanted fame and recognition, and then I got some
fame and recognition in The Plimsouls, and started seeing my name
in music magazines, and playing to big crowds, and all of that,
and I still felt lousy.  
	Deep down I've always believed in the soul, in spite of 	
what my parents taught me, and I've always believed that the soul
was what really matters, and that everything else - the fame, the
money, whatever - was just going to pass away.  But I wasn't
living my life that way.  So basically I just woke up one day 
and said, "Man, things are out of balance here.  I'm working
like crazy so I can be in control, but I'm not in control."  That
was the start of it, and it took a long time before I came to
recognize my need for Jesus.  It's hard to articulate, you know,
because it's a really personal thing, but what it finally came
down to is repentance.  People don't like to hear about sin, you
know.  It makes 'em queasy.  But I can't talk about my faith in
Jesus without talking about sin.  Because that's where it starts.
So I repented.  I turned my life over to Jesus and He's changing
my life.  If you ask Jesus to come into your life, I'll guarantee
you that He *will* come in.  He'll change you.  

(about this time I'm in a near epileptic seizure at the very
audacity of this kind of talk on NPR, and I'm fighting to keep
my car on the road)

TG:  Do you consider yourself a "born again" Christian?
PC:  (long pause).  Well, I'm not sure how to answer that.  A lot
of people use "born again" like a slogan, like "Coke is the Real
Thing," you know.  I don't want to be a slogan.  Because slogans
trivialize people.  They put them into this neat little box.  
And if that's what you mean by "born again," then I'm not sure
I want to be associated with the term.  But if you're willing
to accept that I'm a unique human being, with unique problems and
concerns, and not some stereotype, then yeah, I'm willing to
accept that term.

TG:  You once said that your songs are about "sin and salvation."
Care to elaborate?
PC:  Yeah, well, that's what they're about.  Jesus told stories all
the time, parables, and that's all I'm doing in my songs.  I'm 
telling stories about sinners, people who screw up - basically,
all of us.  And I hope I'm doing it in a non-judgmental way
because I love these people that I sing about, you know.  They're
screw ups, just like me.  And I hope I'm dropping a few hints in
my songs that they don't have to stay that way forever, that they
can change and be changed.  Yeah, that's what I sing about.

TG:  You don't seem particularly comfortable with the evangelical
Christian culture.  You perform in bars.  You bring in both
Christians and non-Christians to play on your albums.  Do you
think that Christianity has any impact on your music?
PC:  Yeah, of course it does.  How could it not?  I mean, it has 
an impact on everything.  A lot of people try to label me as
someone who makes "Christian music."  Well, I don't.  Christian
music is this little club where everybody thinks the same.
I mean, they have their own charts and their own record stores
and music magazines.  I don't understand that.  It's like
preaching to the choir - do you know that expression?  Jesus
said not to take your light and hide it under a bushel basket,
so I'm trying not to do that.  I'm a Christian who makes music -
that's all.  And the people who come to hear me play or who buy
my records are just people.  I play rock 'n roll and tell stories.
That's what I do.  I don't preach, and I'm not an evangelist.
I'm not responsible for peoples' salvation.  I'm supposed to be
faithful with what I've been given, and what I've been given is 
apparently an ability to play some rock 'n roll.  So I play.
But yeah, because of who I am and what I believe, then the
Christian part is bound to come out.  At least, I hope it does.

TG:  I want to thank you for being part of our show today.
PC:  Thank you.

(plays an excerpt from "Put Down the Gun" on the "Blue Guitar" album)

That's what I think I heard.  

Personal commentary mode ON:  I think Peter Case is terrific.  
Here's the way he describes his recognition of his sin and his
inability to save himself in the song "Travelling Light":  "I
don't know how I got but I've got it the same/It's a feeling
that can rip you apart/It follows me around like a part of my
name/Like I'm born with a time-bomb instead of a heart/Mixed
up kid is here to join the crowd/The ones who only fit where
they're not allowed/He's out on the streets and he's feelin'
blue/Travellin' light, with a hole in his soul that the wind
blows through."  Add a boogie beat, some slamming drums, and
some rampaging guitars, and you've got it.  It's a great
song on a great album.  And I loved the interview too.

Andy Whitman
AT&T Bell Laboratories, Columbus, Ohio
att!cblpo!ajw  or
ajw@cblpo.att.com
Newsgroups: rec.music.christian