After a negative childhood experience with church, I'd pretty much given up on it when I discovered Christian punk rock music.

Years later, I'll be the first to admit that the Christian punk rock music I found was more along the lines of pop-punk. However, it reached me where I was at and introduced me to a different faith than I'd ever known.

What does this have to do with Charlie Peacock, who is definitely NOT punk?

Along the way to rediscovering my faith, I also discovered a series of musical artists who influenced it including Peacock and his mid-80's "Lie Down in the Grass." My faith has grown up with Peacock, now a six-time Grammy Award-winning music producer in three genres (Folk, Country, and Rock Gospel) and a three-time recipient of the Gospel Music Association's Producer of the Year award. Billboard's Encyclopedia of Record Producers named him as one of the 500 most important producers in popular music history and, quite simply, whether you know his name or not you very likely know music he's produced including such artists as The Civil Wars, Amy Grant, Sarah Masen, Switchfoot, and a host of others.

If you're expecting a traditional memoir from Peacock with "Roots and Rhythm: A Life in Music," I'd alter your expectations a bit. "Roots and Rhythm" has a rhythm all its own. In fact, it reads like more of a cultural memoir as Peacock takes us through his ancestral, musical, and spiritual roots and how they've all contributed to the music he's created, the life he's lived, the family he's loved, and the faith that is ever-present.

There's a soulfulness to "Roots and Rhythm" that's hard to describe, however, you can't help but feel like you're getting the real Charlie Peacock as you read the stories of his musical experiences over the years in a business that can be notoriously fickle and yet a business in which he's built a strong reputation for both his musical talent, producing, and even his being the founder and Director Emeritus of the Commercial Music Program at Lipscomb University.

In "Roots and Rhythm," Peacock feels like the man I always imagined him to be and that isn't some perfect ideal but a human being who has lived his faith yet also found tremendous musical success across genres and in a variety of settings. One of my other attractions to Peacock was that he's long been an artist drawn to social justice working directly with International Justice Mission, and being instrumental to bringing light to the ONE Campaign in 2002 when he and his wife hosted co-founder Bono in their home.

"Roots and Rhythm" isn't a straightforward chronological memoir. It's a storyteller's journey with gritty backstage stories, music biz woes, artist revelations, vulnerable interpersonal tales, occasional snark, and an abundance of faith. Unless you're a true Peacock diehard, I'd imagine there's much you're going to learn here about his life from NoCal to Nashville and from Bono to Ladysmith Black Mambazo to Chris Cornell to a whole lot more.

"Roots and Rhythm" is an immersive read about a man whose own daughter answered the question "Is your dad famous?" with the hilarious response "Not famous. Well known."

Indeed. After reading "Roots and Rhythm," he'll be even more well known and recognized for his decades of contribution to music and for his integrity of artistry, faith, and to his fellow musicians.

I can't imagine an up-and-coming musician who shouldn't read "Roots and Rhythm," a lesson in embracing one's roots and unique rhythms and toward living a life of faith, gratitude, and wonder.

I can't wait to read it again.