NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Initially shy and a bit of a reluctant performer, PJ Anderson gained confidence during his formative years from his first teachers, his parents. An exclusively Catholic education helped him carry inspired notes into a professional Christian music career where “life is good.”
To support his new album and strengthen connections with his St. John roots, Anderson will perform on Saturday, Sept. 7 in Our Lady of Guadalupe Plaza at the Shrine of Christ’s Passion as part of the Let Your Light Shine concert. It is his first advertised show date in the Calumet Region since 2019.
“Heart Healer,” a 10-track album. released by Anderson in June from his home-base in Nashville, showcases an honest artist willing to address personal struggles in life, yet joyfully sing about the graces from God that mend a distressed culture.
“We all have broken things in our lives, things we struggle with,” said Anderson, noting the track is inspired by Jesus’ forgiving the woman in John 8:7. “What I know is that Jesus embraces us in our brokenness … I need to give that to Him.”
Anderson remains stoked about his collaboration with Matt Maher and a talented group of musicians. The St. John the Evangelist School and Andrean High School alumnus said mentoring from the popular Catholic recording artist has helped his music become deeper and more varied. “A good friend of mine and one of my favorite songwriters, Matt Maher, executive produced (the new album),” said Anderson. “It was just a dream … all of those guys are making me creative.”
In 2010, Anderson began his initial foray into recording studios, and, by the next year, he released a polished collection of vocal and acoustic guitar numbers on the album “Lead Me To You.”
Down the line, Anderson has built a sometimes reflective, sometimes soaring and anthemic song catalog available on LPs including “Grace Beyond Strength” (2012), “Let Your Light Shine” (2013), “Rise” (2014), “Mercy, Mercy” (2016), as well as EPs and special mixes.
Some of Anderson’s tracks, such as “Too Little, Too Late,” are sung with the introspective pop stylings of a Rob Thomas (of Matchbox 20), while others build into powerful and infectious choruses such as those of For King & Country or Mumford & Sons.
“I’ve been weary and burdened,/broken and hurting. My soul has found little rest. All I want is You/All I want is Jesus. My soul finds rest in You,” is from “All I Want Is Jesus.”
“It’s not just to try to write a hit song that other people like, it’s really a prayer for me; hopefully more people can pray with it," he explained.
After graduating from Andrean in 1998, he then attended John Carroll University, a Catholic school in Ohio. After his college years, he returned to Northwest Indiana and worked in ministerial positions at St. John the Evangelist Church in St. John. He married in 2010 and he and his wife, Rachel Anderson, now have four children – two boys and two girls ranging from two to 13 years old.
Rewinding further into his history, Anderson recalled his early musical inspiration coming from among his fifth-grade teachers. A guitar-playing nun, Sister Charita, a Sister of St. Francis of Perpetual Adoration, encouraged him to sing and learn some chords.
Also at that time, a young PJ felt that his parents’ rules about participation in Mass were more enforcement than encouragement, he admitted. But those expectations, particularly mom Colleen Anderson’s liturgical lessons, have paid dividends for the singer-songwriter.
“If we didn’t sing loud enough at Mass, as everyone was exiting the church, my mom would make us stand in the last pew and sing the song a cappella – it was terrifying,” Anderson laughingly said.
A self-branded “worship leader,” crowds do not intimidate Anderson. He’s performed for thousands at World Youth Day gatherings Krakow, Poland, and Panama City, Panama, and at the Mass for Life in Washington, DC. The more hands that sway in the air at a concert, the more he’s motivated to continue.
For an artist who aspires to open eyes and ears to the redeeming power of Jesus, it is perhaps fitting that Anderson returns to the places where his journey of faith was first inspired.
“I like helping people have a connecting point,” Anderson explained. “Everybody has a different way of praying, I connect by praying with singing and emotion.”
Caption: Christian rock recording artist and St. John the Evangelist School and Andrean High School alumnus PJ Anderson walks through the audience gathered under a tent during the Let Your Light Shine concert event at the Shrine of Christ's Passion in St. John on Aug. 3, 2019. Anderson, who is based in Nashville, returns to the Shrine for a concert on Sept. 7 in support of his new album "Heart Healer." (Anthony D. Alonzo photo)