P5
April 2012
The
touring lifestyle appears glamorous. But
MoriahPeters
understands the reality of the road.
A traveling performing artist can go days without
seeing the sun through the seemingly endless buses,
hotel rooms and venues. She endures the daily grind
to do what she loves most.
Peters, a 19-year-old GCU freshman, spent much of the
spring semester touring with the Christian music Rock
& Worship Roadshow. The singer-songwriter is set to
release her first album, “I Choose Jesus,” in April following
the success of her soulful single by the same name, which
is available as a free download at
MoriahPeters.com
.
Peters said she feels connected to God through music,
likening God’s grace to the comforting glow of a reading
lamp that’s gently illuminating her path on tour and in life.
“He’s been giving me enough solid light to see just enough
of what lies ahead,” Peters said from a Rock & Worship
tour stop in Nashville.
“I just hope that lives are changed and people are
encouraged through the music, and that the music points
people to God, not to me,” Peters said. “I want people to
be drawn to the message of the song.”
Peters, a marketing major, began taking online classes in
the spring semester after living on campus and attending
campus classes in her first semester.
The California native said her songs – such as “No Shame,”
which she cast fromwatching a close friend struggle with
losing her virginity prematurely in high school – explore
the human condition and God’s forgiveness.
Peters performed in February at US Airways Center in
Phoenix as part of the Rock & Worship show. After that
tour, she plans to tour as a special guest with the Christian
rock band
MercyMe
.
Singer
Amy Grant
advised Peters about the touring
life when Peters visited Grant’s Nashville home several
months ago. Peters said the veteran singer-songwriter
counseled her about how to prevent mental or emotional
breakdown. Grant is scheduled to perform at GCU’s
graduation in May.
GCU’s campus music minister,
Gabriel Salazar
, met
Peters last semester when the freshman sang as part of
the Monday Chapel worship. He immediately recognized
the star potential.
“The tone of her voice is very intriguing,” Salazar said. “I
think that’s what draws people in. It’s not what you’re
hearing on the radio. Her personality really shines
through in her music.”
Last year, Peters was accepted as the first Fellow in GCU’s
Center for Christian Arts program. She was recruited
to GCU and the fellowship program by the Christian
marketing team, which discovered her as a staff support
person with the Rock & Worship tour.
Peters chose GCU over other Christian schools, including
some near her family’s home in southern California, based
on concerns that other institutions were too rigorous in
their religious requirements of students.
“The thing that really inspired me is that (GCU) wanted to
make Christianity available and make strengthening your
faith available, through Chapel and everything like that,
but nothing is forced,” Peters said.
“What GCU does best is encourage people in their faith
and allow them to make their faith their own.”
Freshman Moriah
Peters lets God be
her guide in music
