Eric Peters doesn't just sing, he also does dishes, cleans the bathroom and balances the checkbook. His life isn't a whole lot different than yours.

Eric is the husband of Danielle and a friend to many in Birmingham, Alabama, their new home since moving from their native Baton Rouge, Louisiana. And those that know Eric have watched him as he poured the last year of his life into his second solo release, Land of the Living (LOTL), and a whole lot of miles into his mini-van driving around the southeast to record it.

Produced by Rick Naqvi (Eric’s More than Watchmen, Forty Day Fast) in Baton Rouge, LA and Brent Milligan (Ridgely, Chasing Furies, The Elms, Ben Glover, Geoff Moore) in Nashville, TN, LOTL is a collection of 13 songs that try their hardest to ignore the typical singer/songwriter formula of same old, same old. In fact, the album is all over the musical map, bouncing from folk-rock to Cajun and back to alternative country, refusing to stagnate, either musically or lyrically.

With Land of the Living, Peters returns to the accessibility of Ridgely, while still advancing his songwriting craft.

"The mood for LOTL is much more hope-filled than More than Watchmen, which mainly had to do with production style but also, I believe, owes to the experiences that I had in the couple of years in-between projects. I wanted a sound that was more accessible to people yet remained faithful to my folk/Americana style and influences. I missed the rich harmonies. I wanted the production, though neither fully pop nor folk, to lend itself to people’s ears a little easier. So that’s what we set out for and, I believe, achieved."

That hopeful mood is evidenced by the disc’s opening track, "I Know the Mountains" and the Ridgely reunion song, "Recovery", where Peters is joined by former Ridgely band-mates Kevin Smith (acoustic, vocals) and Brian Smith (drums, vocals). Other tracks like "The Iron Did Swim" and "May Your Tenderness" exude a sense of levity and light-heartedness that easily grants Peters’ accessibility wish.

Several other tracks on the disc reveal Peters’ ability to create characters and their stories. "Mary (a Husband’s Lament)" exposes the contrite heart of an imprisoned murderer while "Spare Change" records the cries of a U.S.- coined penny fearing its insignificance in a kingdom where quarters rule. Perhaps the most impressive character, however, is the fictional account of a regretful father in "Bus 152". Based on Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, the book tells the story of a young college runaway who seeks shelter in an old abandoned school bus in the Alaskan wilderness. Peters imagines what the father must have felt when he discovers that his son has starved and frozen to death.