In his heart of hearts, Peter Breinholt is a songwriter. He sings. He plays several musical instruments. But "guitar, piano — those are just means to an end. It's always been about the writing. To me, that's the ultimate form of expression, to write songs."
Nor does he toss them off lightly. He has too much respect for the craft to give them anything less than his all. "I have hundreds of bits and pieces on my computer, but I won't finish a song unless I believe in it, believe that it's right."
He admits to sometimes feeling a bit jealous of those who do it quickly. But that's not him, not his approach. That's how, he jokes, he came to be "a 10-year veteran of the industry without 20 CDs to my name."
And that's why it has taken seven years to do his latest CD, "All the Color Green," which he is launching at his annual Sundance concert this weekend.
Of the concerts, he says, they are a perfect example of "the right guy in the right venue on the right night." Audiences have responded in a big way to his acoustic sound, under the moon and stars, he says. "It's become our signature show. And this year we'll also have a full moon on the first night. It doesn't get better than that."
As for the CD, which has been getting good response, he says, "it reflects where I am in the midst of a full-flung life." He and his wife, Becca, have three children, now ages 3, 4 and 7. And even though being a full-time musician is not the most conventional lifestyle, "we try very hard just to have a normal life," he says.
That feeling comes out in this latest round of songs. "It's only after I'm done with a project that I look back and see the theme," he says. "It's a subliminal thing. When I'm getting the stuff down, I don't realize it, but when I look back, I see what I'm writing about, what's going on in my mind and my life."
For example, Breinholt's first CD came out after he'd returned from his LDS mission. "I'd been in Chile, and I'd been touched by the humble people there. I think that came out in the music.
"The next one was post-college. I was a musician traveling the world, not yet married.
"On my third album, I was married and beginning to explore the idea of family.
"This one goes deeper into the theme."
But it was only when he stood back that he realized how many of the songs had references to trees. "This one is about climbing the trees to look around. It's about perspective. I'm at the stage in life where that's a trick — to get above the trees. I'm at an age where people are into their jobs, trying to excel, and it's a trick to learn to stop and climb the tree and see the forest."
Unlike many songwriters, who go in with a notion of exactly what they want to say, "I had no idea that was where I was going."
Breinholt credits his approach to songwriting to some of his early musical influences — Paul Simon, for one example. He also credits his parents and their free-ranging approach to life.
"I didn't grow up in a structured musical family," he says. As the fourth of five children, he grew up in a wooded Pennsylvania neighborhood, with parents who "wanted us to have time to get curious about things on our own; explore, develop hobbies, daydream a bit."
All his siblings ended up with very different careers, ranging from law to therapy to movie production to music. "We all have just the right careers."
For him, early on, it was music. "I remember in the second grade having a full collection of Beatles albums, and debating with a classmate over who was better, the Beatles or Elton John."
By the fifth grade, he was writing melodies. By the seventh grade, he decided it was time to become a guitar player. Although he's had music teachers, he made the most progress playing by ear, he says.
If Breinholt had to pick a genre, he would classify his music as folk, although it has a lot of other overtones and influences.
"All the Color Green" reflects another change for him. "This is the first one I didn't produce. I felt this needed a fresh approach." He brought in Scott Wiley. It was great in that "I didn't feel like I had the weight of the whole project on me," he says. But it only worked because "it was a person that I trust, like and share the vision with."
For many artists, four or five albums into a career, it's a time to redefine themselves, he says. But it shouldn't be reactionary — it should be growth. That's what he hopes for this one. That it will exceed everything he's done before, while remaining true to his inner self.
And if the album has been a journey of discovery for him, he hopes it will be for the listener as well. "There's a lot of imagery, but that's my style of writing." The songs that are deep in his heart "leave some ambiguity; things are open to interpretation. They allow for feelings, for discoveries."
If you go
What: Peter Breinholt
Where: Sundance Amphitheater, Sundance Resort, Provo Canyon
When: Tonight and Saturday, 7:30 p.m.
How much: Grass seats $12, bench seats $14
Phone: 800-429-9920
E-mail: carma@desnews.com