January 9 2012

Show open: special 6 p.m. broadcast

The show opens from the Pathway Studios in Johnston with the usual theme, but at an unusual hour: a special 6 p.m. edition instead of the regular 10 p.m. slot, arranged especially for that evening's guests. A host teases Dan about dressing up for the occasion.

Jessa and Jordan Anderson welcomed back; toddler life

Jessa and Jordan Anderson are welcomed back to the studio as the evening's special guests. Conversation turns to their busy life: touring, music, and a little girl who is just starting to learn to talk and keeps her parents guessing at what she wants.

Parenting banter: decoding toddlers

The studio trades parenting stories about toddlers who can't yet be understood, including one girl's chewing motion that turned out to mean she wanted water. A host jokes that his own two-year-old needs her mother as a translator.

Studio lineup: Mike absent, host's wife fills in

A host explains that Mike is absent tonight, staying home with his family before a trip out of town, and that his wife is joining the show in Mike's place. The hosts joke about her being easier to look at than Mike.

The BEC re-release of the 2010 album

• Did BEC change anything for the re-release, or just re-release the 2010 recordings as-is?

The Andersons discuss their album's journey: independently released in 2010, then picked up and re-released by BEC that September. For the re-release they re-recorded one song and added another, working with producer Pete Kipley alongside Brandon and Kevin, who shaped the album as a whole.

Raw honesty and depth in the lyrics

A host praises the raw honesty running through the album's lyrics, noting that careful listeners find real depth in nearly every song. Jessa, who calls herself a lyric writer first, talks about learning piano just to have an instrument to write with, and the hosts discuss the feedback they hear from concertgoers on the road.

Road life and writing songs as a married couple

The conversation turns to the realities of doing music as a married couple: Jordan handles all the booking, they still pack into the same car, and writing together means working through creative disagreements. They describe the push and pull of co-writing, where both arrive with strong, different ideas from a blank slate.

'Caught Me By Surprise': the host-family love story

Jessa introduces a brand-new song, 'Caught Me By Surprise,' that she and Jordan just wrote together. She tells the story behind it: they met when her university singing group stayed with Jordan's family as a host family, and married about a year later; they joke that God delivered his wife straight to his doorstep.

Performance: 'Caught Me By Surprise'

Jessa and Jordan Anderson perform 'Caught Me By Surprise' live in the studio. The transcript captures fragments of the lyric about falling in love at first meeting.

Marriage is work; why Christian music is always so deep

• Why is Christian music always so deep -- can't a song just be fun?

After the song, Jessa jokes that the happy first-week feelings in the song give way to the hard work of marriage. That leads to a discussion of a host's 14-year-old daughter's complaint that Christian music is always so deep, and the songwriter's challenge of writing songs that are simply joyful without trivializing life.

The homeschool co-op butterfly play debate

A host describes a creative disagreement with his wife over a homeschool co-op music program: he wants a play about a butterfly named Willie (after the 1970s song 'Little Willie'), while she wants the butterfly to be imaginary so nobody has to build one. The Andersons sympathize about how hard it is to be creative with another person.

Upcoming dates: youth night, the 15th concert, Florida tour

• Is the First Federated youth event on the 11th open to the public?

The hosts run through upcoming dates: a First Federated youth event on the 11th (youth only, with joking warnings that adults may look suspicious), a public concert on the 15th at 7 p.m. with Wren Collective and David Bush's album release, plus Florida dates on the 25th, 28th, and 29th and a St. Louis school chapel stop.

Squatters, house sitters, and the accidental drug house

• Is someone staying at your house while you're on tour?

A host asks whether anyone is squatting at the Andersons' house while they tour, and learns Jordan's sister and her husband are house-sitting after moving from L.A. back to Nashville. That leads to the story of a previous Nashville house that was apparently a drug house before they moved in, complete with late-night visitors offering food stamps.

Neighbor stories: possum and the CB radio

The Andersons tell neighbor stories from past houses, including one who went by the CB handle 'possum' (not his real name) whose CB radio bled through their TV, amp, and computer speakers via a shared ground wire. The giant antenna that eventually went up confirmed the source. A host jokes they should release a 'Neighbors' album and broadcast it over CB.

What's on the car radio: listening habits

• What are Jessa and Jordan listening to on the car radio right now?

Asked what's on the car radio, the Andersons name Need to Breathe's new album, Switchfoot's newest CD, a newer Coldplay album, and Nicole Nordeman's older songs for lyric inspiration. They discuss getting into Spotify as artists, trying to still buy music to support other artists, and their one car rule: never listen to themselves.

Staying grounded: church podcasts and small group

The Andersons talk about staying connected to their young, growing Nashville church plant through its podcasts and small group, which discusses the sermon each week. They laugh that fellow churchgoers often mistake them for visitors since they're on the road so much.

Hearing your own song on the radio; the Heytell messages

• Have Jessa and Jordan ever heard their own song come on the radio?

A host asks whether they've ever heard their own song come on the radio; it has happened once or twice, and friends usually text first. Jessa describes a friend who uses the Heytell voice-messaging app to record her songs off the radio and sing over them, sending back muffled, off-key covers at odd hours.

'You Go Before Us': the stolen-song story

The Andersons introduce another new song, 'You Go Before Us,' written by Jordan and happily 'stolen' by Jessa for their set -- a recurring bit, since one of his unfinished songs once appeared on her demo tracks. She describes it as a battle cry about God as a fearless, trustworthy leader who goes before his people.

Performance: 'You Go Before Us'

Jessa and Jordan Anderson perform 'You Go Before Us' live in the studio. The transcript captures only fragments of the worship lyric about God going before his people; a host's 'I love that one' closes the long segment.

Reflection: God as the steadfast sun; 1 John on light

A host reflects on the song's image of God as steadfast, describing a meditation from reading 1 John about God as the sun: constant, warming, and drawing people either toward or away from the light. Jessa adds that she enjoys bragging about the song precisely because she didn't write it.

Album plugs, merch, blog, and the thrift-store hat

The hosts plug both Anderson albums, 'Fundamentally Broken' and 'Not What I Thought,' answering a chat question from Kevin Lindgren that both are available as digital downloads on Amazon. They point listeners to jessanderson.com for music, the Tumblr blog, tour dates, and merch, and trade thrift-store stories about a giant hat from a photo shoot.

Baptism comedy: suits, waders, and the Speedo

The conversation detours into baptism comedy: a host recalls wanting a thrift-store suit to wear over fishing waders for baptisms back when he preached in his twenties. The bit escalates through swim shorts to a Speedo, with the punchline that the Speedo took away from the event and nobody remembered the baptism itself.

Gig recap and where to find the music

• Do artists get to choose which 30 seconds iTunes or Amazon use for previews?

A host recaps the key details for listeners: the public, non-creepy gig on the 15th at First Federated at 7 p.m., David Bush's album release with Wren Collective and Jess Anderson, and jessanderson.com for information and free song samples. The Andersons note they can't choose which 30 seconds Amazon and iTunes use for previews.

Guitar tabs posted by strangers; misheard lyrics

• Who posted the chord tabs for your songs online -- you or a fan?

A host asks whether the Andersons posted their own chord tabs or someone else did; fans have transcribed their songs onto sites like guitartabs.com and the Guitar Archive, with mostly accurate chords and a few wrong words. They take it as a sign of having arrived, and Jessa notes she'll have Jordan verify the chords before recommending them.

Piracy talk and the Ecuador $1 DVD market

The Andersons talk about finding their album on illegal download sites -- sad but a little flattering -- and describe a trip to Ecuador with a humanitarian organization where a mall openly sold $1 pirated DVDs. They joke about outdated cover photos of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie and note Billy Crystal's enduring Ecuadorian popularity.

'Worship the Lamb': intro and performance

The Andersons close with 'Worship the Lamb,' the song they re-recorded from their independent release and plan to send to radio in a few weeks. They perform it live in the studio, a worship song about the indescribable, unchangeable God.

Sign-off: thanks, 10 p.m. replay, Shane Vanderhart

The hosts thank Jessa and Jordan Anderson for coming in. Listeners are told the show returns at 10 p.m. with Shane Vanderhart in the studio, and that this special edition will be replayed then.