I write songs about life and books about living. I lead moments of togetherness through music. I facilitate group explorations of breath, presence, and connection. And I collaborate with global organizations as a speaker for conferences and events.I share along the way on my newsletter and can be reached by email.
I'm a singer, writer, and fellow explorer, devoted to supporting deeper connection, presence, and rest.
Conferences and Events
People in today's culture feel increasingly anxious and disconnected. They feel pressure to try harder, achieve more, to constantly focus on the future. But they long to rest—to come back to the present and feel connected and centered again. A pervasive fear keeps our culture stuck in a state of fight, flight, or freeze...I've spent the past decade exploring how to "come back"—to feel present and connected again, even in times of uncertainty and upheaval. As a singer of 25 years, I have studied breath in depth—how it fuels the voice and flows through the body. Through a recent personal experience of profound loss, I learned how life flows much in the same way—not as something to be manipulated or achieved by us, but as something to be received and released; like breath, it flows through us. This connection has brought me healing in my grief, and a new freedom in life—I am learning that life does not have to feel effortful; we can let go and "trust the process." This is a major shift requiring immense courage... and it is crucial step for the continued growth of our culture today. This is why I am devoted to supporting people to make this shift. I do this using every tool I've acquired: music, speaking, writing, sensory explorations, and combinations of each. I don't script my talks or concerts; I take part in them with the audience as we invite each moment to unfold. These moments become more than inspiring thoughts; they become an experience. Once a message moves from thought to experience—beyond our head and into our bones—it can never be forgotten, available to us in every future moment. This shift can and will change us and our world for the better. And we are ready for this change....fear keeps us stuck. It tells us that we must achieve more, try harder, never slow down, or all will be lost. But the exact opposite is true: we find our life when we let it go, and realize—in our bones—that we are alive.I am here to support this realization."We're still here, we're breathing out, we're breathing in, we're alive. And maybe life is still ahead."
I am currently available for speaking engagements in 2023/24 and excited to partner with you!
Reach out for booking or questions.
"Nathan is a gifted artist who is profoundly thoughtful and capable of feeling the rhythms of the moment. His peaceful and calming presence, along with his beautiful voice, allowed our audience to open fully to what they needed and to deeply receive."— Shari O'Loughlin, CEO, The Compassionate Friends
"I greatly appreciated Nathan's contribution to our annual conference. His musical talent, honesty, and caring spirit were just what people needed."— Andy McNiel, Co-Founder and Executive Partner, The Satori Group
Concerts
Music opens a channel to the heart like nothing else can. My live concerts are a space for us to experience togetherness, healing, and rest, no matter our circumstances.I'm currently stringing together a series of concerts for helping people breathe and be together again.View my public concert schedule here.
Reach out to host a concert for your community.
↑ "Community" can be your organization, school, neighborhood, church, or any other group of people you care about.
Music
I write songs about life, loss, grief, healing, faith, and hope.
Masks is my newest single release.
I wrote it in the thick of Covid.
It’s not a pro or anti statement; it’s a song about being here for each other.
My two solo albums were recorded during and after the life of our beautiful 4th child, Olivia.
Dance Again is my latest solo album.It contains songs about grief, darkness, anger, healing, and hope... my most intimate writing to date.
So Am I is my debut solo album.4 songs about living with uncertainty,
fear, and miracles. I wrote this album during my daughter Olivia's life—she was not supposed to survive birth, but lived 14 months and changed our view of life forever.
In 1999 I started the rock band Hello Industry. We toured together for 18 years, released four albums — Matter, MaryAnn, Fooled, a collection of songs about identity and finding your Voice — and spanned several music genres including rock, alternative, folk, worship, electronic, and classical.
Matter is my latest rock album. It's is about wrestling through fear and insecurity to discover our intrinsic value as human beings.
Books
Over the course of our daughter Olivia's life, I wrote two books about grief, healing and rest.
So Am I: 14 Months of Life, Living, and Letting Go is a collection of my writings during the 14-month life
of our beautiful, terminal daughter, Olivia.
Dance Again: Grief is Healing is a book I wrote at a time in my life when I was experiencing what many of us are experiencing today: uncertainty, fear, and grief.
Podcast Appearances
Here are some of my favorite appearances: Open To Hope, The People of Peoria, Post Consumer Reports, Upworthy.
Workshops & Courses
I periodically lead workshops and teach courses to help us find connection through the breath and voice in singing, speaking, music and sound, songwriting, and leadership.In my workshops, participants will learn to embrace the freedom that comes when each breath is allowed to be a moment of release and receptivity—the power of presence in singing, speaking, and daily life.For ten years I have studied and practiced voice, breathing, and movement techniques from great traditions such as Alexander, Rodenberg, Linklater, and Fitzmaurice. I have studied in particular how these practices relate to music, sound, human connection, and spiritual presence.Click here for information about the different workshops I offer.I also recently launched a masterclass called 'Setting the Table,' which teaches how to clear a path for genuine connection through audio technology. Find the course here.
Reach out to inquire about booking a private workshop for your team or community.
Bio
Nathan Peterson is a singer-songwriter, author, and speaker known for his raw, emotive music and his insights on the complexities of the human experience. During his 25-year career in the music industry, Nathan has released numerous albums, his platinum solo release 'So Am I' resonating worldwide.Drawing from personal experience of profound grief, resilience, and healing, Nathan's writing, calming voice, and deep connection with audiences support a shift to presence, connection, and rest.Born in Chicago and raised in Germany, Colorado, and Illinois, Nathan's diverse journey has deeply influenced his unique voice. He resides in Chicago with his wife and five children.
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Booking, interviews, inquiries: booking@nathanpeterson.net
Licensing: licensing@nathanpeterson.net
a voice in the noise
Presentations
These presentations can provide a transformative, meaningful, and connective experience for your conference, corporate event, or community gathering, helping deepen a sense of wellness and togetherness.Here are some of the presentations I regularly offer. I also offer presentations which are tailored to a specific group or theme. Reach out for booking or questions.
Together Again: an exploration of presence and togetherness
Attendees will be supported in slowing down, allowing their nervous system to calm, and using their physical senses to find connection in the present moment with themselves, others, and life all around them.As a standalone event, this is a way to support people where they are today, on a human level. Placed toward the start of an event or conference, this can be a powerful, hopeful way to bring people together and make it easier for them to fully engage with your event.Songs may include: Marathon, So Am I, Masks
Dancing with Olivia: lessons from the life and death of my beautiful daughter
I share my story as the father of a terminal daughter who taught me how to live. I share my experience of learning to be present, and stay present before her birth, during her 14-month life, and even in grief after her passing.Together, we explore the power of choosing to be with the uncertainty and excitement of what is rather than looking for a feeling of control over what will be.Songs may include: Olivia, So Am I, Inch of Water
Workshops & Courses
Public workshops will be listed here periodically. Reach out to book a private workshop for your group or community.Here are some of the workshops and courses I regularly offer:
Freedom and Presence in Breath and Voice
For singers, performers, speakers, actors, teachers.We explore the journey of our voice — physiologically and philosophically — from inspiration all the way to the listener’s ear.We explore challenges and opportunities around finding one’s voice and sharing it freely.We address anxiety and perfectionism on stage, and how to incorporate them rather than fight them.We explore the stage as an opportunity for a truly connective and nutritive experience for the performer, and how this leads to the same for the audience.
Songwriter Workshops
For songwriters and those interested in songwriting.I lead the group in a 20-30 minute exploration of a specific aspect of writing and sharing songs. Then songwriters take turns exploring this same aspect while performing for each other.Songwriter workshops are often oriented around the mechanics of writing songs which produce a certain outcome (catchy, radio-friendly, etc)... although these can be very useful, this is not that kind of workshop. My workshops are oriented around the possibility of a song as a conduit for deep human connection, and our opportunity as songwriters and performers to lead our culture in a much-needed way.
Spiritual Leadership Coaching
For pastors, church leaders, worship teams, and faith communities.For over twenty years I have led worship at national conferences and churches, coached worship pastors, and trained worship leaders, singers, musicians, and production teams. For 10 years I led one of America's fastest growing churches' worship ministry, building a community of musicians, leaders, and technical artists. During this time, I learned the difference between building something which "works" --- starting with the end result in mind; using volunteers to reach that goal --- and cultivating something which genuinely embodies and reveals the personality and potential of the artists and leaders of a community. My workshops and coaching give tools for achieving the latter.I have also discovered --- through my experience as a pastor and as a human being --- ways that worship is already happening in our being, without our trying, and how we can come into harmony with that kind of worship, resulting in a deeper experience of God, of ourselves, and of community. My speaking and workshops give practical tools for exploring this kind of worship.I present to church leadership teams, worship teams, and entire church communities. My presentations are anywhere from 20-90 minutes and include speaking, workshop-style exploration, and music.Click here for the specific resources I offer to churches.
Setting the Table
An online masterclass for simplified audio production.With over two decades of experience in worship ministry and audio engineering, I have developed a unique methodology called Setting the Table. This methodology removes the guesswork and frustration typically associated with volunteer, rotating audio engineer-based sound by providing a systematic and replicable approach to audio engineering, empowering faith communities to pursue genuine connection using professional audio technology, rather than fighting against it.Click here to access the course.
Church Leadership Coaching
Reach out to connect with me. I would love to support you and your community.
Leadership Coaching
For pastors and worship ministry staff.For over two decades I have worked with churches, twelve years as pastoral staff. During this time, I have seen how our understanding of the role of "leader" directly impacts our ability to promote healthy engagement and growth in the community.As leaders, we can be like builders — shaping the organization of the church to match a preconceived image. Or, we can be like gardeners — tending to the organism of the Church, helping each individual person to grow in their own unique way, watching with anticipation to see what will emerge.There is so much potential in the latter. It is not only deeply nourishing for the Church... it is deeply nourishing for you, the leader, as well.I coach pastors, leaders, and worship ministry staff in exploring this potential.
"As a Worship Director, I was lost and wondering what my purpose was. Nathan helped me to focus on the key areas of my job, and to stop putting my energies in places that were unnecessary. I can't recommend him enough. He has a unique skill set that meets the needs of the entire worship team and its leadership."—Alison Meuth, Worship and Arts Director, United Presbyterian Church, Illinois
Worship Ministry Workshops
Workshop for Singers
This workshop supports singers in finding a tangible and lasting connection between singing and worship.We explore our voice on a physiological level --- inspiration, breath, resonance --- and how this connects to the act of worship in much more than only a metaphorical way.We practice finding and releasing our true voice, allowing each breath and each note to become an invitation for the Spirit to travel deeper within us, to share these depths of our true self with the community, and in so doing to lead our community into this deeply nutritive and healing receiving and releasing as well.
Workshop for Bands
This workshop is focused on combining fundamentals of playing music together --- listening, self-mixing, balancing sound and space --- with the experience of worship.
Workshop for Audio Engineers
For volunteer and professional audio engineers and worship ministry staff.This workshop gives practical tools for volunteer and professional audio engineers to create a clear, consistent, quality, non-frustrating audio experience for their church community which not only sounds great but supports a stronger musical connection between the musicians and the congregation.We explore the foundational principles of audio engineering, following the signal from the source --- the musician's intent to make a sound --- through the entire audio system, including every wire, fader, and speaker, the room with its particular acoustic properties, and finally to the ears of the people in the room. We sort through which of these variables are worth our time and which are not, ways to "set and forget" certain parameters, and finally how to "set the table" for the musicians in a way that is consistent from week to week and which eliminates most of the guess-work for inexperienced audio volunteers.Often we will come back to a core principle: audio technology can serve music and worship, without drawing attention to itself, by supporting connection between people through the vibration we call sound.
Workshop for Music Directors
This workshop gives music directors tools for fostering a thriving community of artists in a way which places the responsibility of the worship ministry on the shoulders of the community, not only on paid staff.We talk in practical terms about many common issues for worship directors such as coordinating with senior pastors / executive leadership, handling complaints from the congregation, communicating with audio production staff/volunteers, configuring stage monitoring which supports listening, togetherness and musicianship, and how to foster a thriving artistic community rather vs managing a music program.
"Our worship team had lost its focus and vision. We were simply showing up and trying to get through each service. Nathan helped us with the technical struggles we were having as well as the spiritual. We came away from our time with him feeling bonded as a group and centered once again".—Worship Director
Audio Production Coaching
For pastors, worship ministry / production staff, and volunteer/staff audio engineers.Audio production is one of the largest sources of frustration for modern churches today, yet it is typically given a minimal amount of care.The issue is tricky: Our culture is accustomed to hearing music which is performed and mixed by the greatest professional musicians and audio engineers in the world. But very few people are aware of the amount of training and expertise involved to make music sound professional... or even passable! Consequently, there is rarely a sufficient budget allocated for decent equipment, and it is commonly accepted that any volunteer will do when it comes to running this equipment. This is a losing battle. And when we consider the amount of time and energy spent by the worship staff and musicians to play music, it is a sad reality that all of that work can be wasted by one person standing in the back of the room.In every other live-music situation, the person running audio is a paid professional; the musicians are paid professionals. In most church scenarios, no one is paid or professional, yet the underlying expectation is for professional sounding music.This scenario leads to a lot of frustration.The Church is seemingly left with two possible solutions: either hire professionals (and push out the volunteers), or put up with "bad sound." But there is a third option — a much better one in my opinion...I teach a simple method for approaching audio in church settings which allows volunteers to create great sounding mixes in a way which is reproducible and consistent from week to week.I call this method "setting the table."The key is with the musicians. Musicians do not need to be taught what sounds good. And while they may not know how to operate a sound board, they instinctively know how to change their volume and tone to "mix" with other musicians.There are certain tasks an audio engineer can carry out which will put the musicians and the sound system in a great position for creating beautiful, clear music while also addressing the common monitoring complaints from the musicians on stage. The result is a sound setup which not only sounds great to the congregation, but also sounds great to the musicians on stage, while creating a more unifying audio experience for everyone in the room."Setting the table" is easy to learn in a very short amount of time and embraces the reality of constantly changing volunteer audio engineers.
Audio Production Consulting
For pastors and worship ministry / production staff.I sit down with leadership to help sort through audio production issues and questions, clarify equipment and staffing decisions, and reframe successful audio in their church context. Almost every consultation I've done has led to fewer purchases of gear. It is so common for churches to believe that a gear purchase will make things better, when the reality is that a mindset change, and a little bit of training, will do more for them than all of the new gear in the world.
Heaven is Here
A moment of rest for the Church — for the entire church community.The church, like much of the world today, is in a state of transition.This transition, while uncomfortable and disconcerting, is a meaningful indicator of growth.In light of the pandemic and the challenging state we find ourselves in today, I lead an exploration of rest — through speaking, meditation, and music — to help church communities slow down, feel more present and deeply connected with themselves and each other, and begin to sense on a tangible level how God's Current is leading us into deeper waters.Songs may include: Rest in You, Marathon, Masks
Nathan helped us slow down, breathe, and see how breath itself is a connection with God.
—volunteer workshop attendee
Patrons
Music brings us together. It helps us connect with each other, with ourselves, and with life all around us. This connection feels crucial right now.Patronage is a way for you to partner with me in creating music, books, and spaces to support the world in coming back together.My patrons have supported me in every step along the way. Without them, I simply would not have come this far.Patrons are not only supporters; they are partners. Investors. A foundational part of the organization.Thank you for your part in my journey; I'm honored to have a part in yours. ♥️
To Become a Patron:
Choose an amount below, or send me an email stating the monthly amount you'd like to contribute and I will reply with a sign-up link.$5/mo
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All major payment types are accepted, and you can edit or cancel your support any time here.As a patron, you can expect periodic communication from me about what is happening behind the scenes, what is working, what is not working, etc. Like an investor letter. Patrons are in the most inner of circles — a truly integral part of the business with me.
Dear TCF 2023 Friends,Thank you for allowing me to be a part of these moments with you. Below are a few resources I've been asked about.Reach out with any other questions!♥️ Nathan
↑ order any sold-out items here and they'll be shipped to you next week
Songs I played at the conference: