Michael Peterson

Hailing from Tucson, Arizona, Michael Peterson entered the music industry via a connection formed with a college football teammate, ultimately scoring one of country’s biggest successes of 1997. Although he was raised in Washington state, his earliest musical exposure came through his grandmother’s eclectic record collection, which featured the work of Cole Porter, Harold Arlen, Roger Miller, and Willie Nelson. After securing a football scholarship to Pacific Lutheran University and helping the team capture a national championship, he reconnected with former teammate Brad Westering, then producing for Deniece Williams and additional artists. Peterson began supplying Westering with original material and made periodic trips to Nashville.

By late 1995 he had established himself as a professional songwriter through relationships with DeWayne Blackwell, Josh Leo, and Robert Ellis Orrall. At the urging of Leo and Ellis Orrall, he cut a demo that led to a Warner Bros. recording contract. His self-titled debut arrived in mid-1997, led by the raucous single “Drink, Swear, Steal & Lie” and a duet with Travis Tritt. The follow-up album, Being Human, surfaced two years later.