Michael Peterson is the debut album of American country music

Country music

Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...

 artist Michael Peterson

Michael Peterson (singer)

Michael James Peterson is an American country music artist. He made his debut on the country music scene in 1997 with his self-titled debut album, which produced five Top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts, including the Number One hit "From Here to Eternity"...

. Released in 1997 on Reprise Records

Reprise Records

Reprise Records is an American record label, founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra. It is owned by Warner Music Group, and operated through Warner Bros. Records.-Beginnings:...

, it features the singles "Drink, Swear, Steal & Lie", "From Here to Eternity", "Too Good to Be True", "When the Bartender Cries" and "By the Book", all of which charted on the Billboard

Billboard (magazine)

Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs

Hot Country Songs

Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...

) charts. "From Here to Eternity" was a Number One on that chart in late 1997.

Allmusic critic Thom Owens gave the album three stars out of five, calling it an "engaging set of contemporary country, highlighted by Peterson's warm, welcoming voice." Alanna Nash

Alanna Nash

Alanna Nash is an American journalist and biographer.Nash holds a master's degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and is the author of several acclaimed books...

 of Entertainment Weekly

Entertainment Weekly

Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...

gave it a "B" rating, saying that the production was "lightweight" but that Peterson's performance and the song selection made it "a feel-good dance album."

Track listing

1. "Lost in the Shuffle" (Michael Peterson, Josh Leo
   Josh Leo
   Josh Leo is an American guitarist, songwriter, and record producer active in Nashville, Tennessee.Leo was born in Des Moines, Iowa, but was raised in Kansas City, Missouri. In 1973, he moved to Chicago, Illinois and subsequently became a guitarist of the short-lived Eddie Boy Band...
   
   , Robert Ellis Orrall
   Robert Ellis Orrall
   Robert Ellis Orrall is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Signed to RCA Records in 1980, Orrall debuted that year with the album "Fixation". His first Top 40 single was "I Couldn't Say No", a duet with Carlene Carter...
   
   ) – 3:36
2. "Love's Great" (Peterson, Arlos Smith) – 2:42
3. "When the Bartender Cries" (Peterson, Hunter Davis) – 3:43
4. "Drink, Swear, Steal & Lie
   Drink, Swear, Steal & Lie
   "Drink, Swear, Steal & Lie" is the title of a song co-written and recorded by American country music artist Michael Peterson. It was released in May 1997 as the first single from his debut album, Michael Peterson...
   
   " (Peterson, Paula Carpenter) – 3:01
5. "I Finally Passed the Bar" (Peterson, Michael Puryear, Buddy Brock) – 3:43
   • duet with Travis Tritt
     Travis Tritt
     James Travis Tritt is an American country music singer from Marietta, Georgia. He signed to Warner Bros. Records in 1989, releasing seven studio albums and a greatest hits package for the label between then and 1999. In the 2000s, he released two albums on Columbia Records and one for the defunct...
     
     
6. "From Here to Eternity
   From Here to Eternity (Michael Peterson song)
   "From Here to Eternity" is the title of a song recorded by American country music artist Michael Peterson, who co-wrote the song with Robert Ellis Orrall...
   
   " (Peterson, Orrall) – 3:36
7. "That's What They Said About The Buffalo" (Peterson, Puryear) - 3:31
8. "Too Good to Be True
   Too Good to Be True (Michael Peterson song)
   "Too Good to Be True" is the title of a song co-written and recorded by American country music artist Michael Peterson. It was released in January 1998 as the third single from his debut album, Michael Peterson...
   
   " (Peterson, Gene Pistilli) – 3:20
9. "Since I Thought I Knew It All" (Peterson, Ashe Underwood) – 3:35
10. "By the Book" (Peterson, Orrall) – 3:02
11. "For a Song" (DeWayne Blackwell) – 4:49

Personnel

As listed in liner notes.

• Michael Black - background vocals
• Mike Brignardello - bass guitar
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
  
• Max Carl - background vocals
• Dan Dugmore - steel guitar
  Steel guitar
  Steel guitar is a type of guitar or the method of playing the instrument. Developed in Hawaii in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a steel guitar is usually positioned horizontally; strings are plucked with one hand, while the other hand changes the pitch of one or more strings with the use...
  
  
• Thom Flora - background vocals
• Larry Franklin - fiddle
  Fiddle
  The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
  
  
• Paul Franklin
  Paul Franklin (musician)
  Paul Franklin is an American multi-instrumentalist, known mainly for his work as a steel guitarist. He began his career in the 1970s as a member of Barbara Mandrell's road band; in addition he toured with Mel Tillis and Jerry Reed. He has since become a prolific session musician in Nashville,...
  
   - steel guitar
• Rob Hajacos - fiddle
• John Hobbs - keyboards
  Keyboard instrument
  A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
  
  
• Dann Huff
  Dann Huff
  Dann Huff is an American musician, session musician, singer-songwriter and producer. For his work as a producer in the Country music genre he has won several awards including the Musician of the Year award in 2001 and 2004 at the Country Music Association Awards and the Producer of the Year award...
  
   - electric guitar
• Josh Leo - electric guitar
  Electric guitar
  An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
  
  
• Brent Mason
  Brent Mason
  Brent Mason is an American session guitarist and occasional songwriter. He is known primarily for his work in the field of country music. In addition to releasing two instrumental studio albums, he holds several credits as a songwriter...
  
   - electric guitar
• Greg Morrow - drums
  Drum kit
  A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
  
  
• Nashville String Machine
  Nashville String Machine
  Nashville String Machine is a musical collective comprising session musicians and has been credited on recordings as far back as 1974. The Nashville String Machine's composition varies from project to project. It has appeared as large as an orchestra, or as small as a duo.-Notable members:Being a...
  
   - string section
  String section
  The string section is the largest body of the standard orchestra and consists of bowed string instruments of the violin family.It normally comprises five sections: the first violins, the second violins, the violas, the cellos, and the double basses...
  
  
• Craig Nelson - bass guitar
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
  
• Robert Ellis Orrall - background vocals
• Michael Peterson - vocals, acoustic guitar
  Acoustic guitar
  An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
  
  
• Tom Roady - percussion
  Percussion instrument
  A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
  
  
• Scott Sanders - steel guitar
• Darrell Scott
  Darrell Scott
  James Darrell Scott known as Darrell Scott , the son of musician Wayne Scott with whom he has collaborated, is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He moved as a child to East Gary, Indiana. He was playing professionally by his teens in Southern California, later living in...
  
   - acoustic guitar, mandolin
  Mandolin
  A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
  
  
• Biff Watson - acoustic guitar

9 background vocalists on "Love's Great": Bekka Bramlett, Kim Parent, Melonie Cannon, Liana Manis, Buddy Cannon, Matt and Karen Lindsay, Karen Byrd and Gretchen Wilson

Chart performance

Chart (1997)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums	17
U.S. Billboard 200	115
U.S. Billboard Top Heatseekers	2
Canadian RPM Country Albums	13