Lisa Michelle Anderson turns a bit of small-town Midwestern lore into a vivid character study on her new single, “Part-Time Preacher,” out Friday, September 11. Inspired by the preacher’s son in the town where Anderson grew up, the song follows a man caught—or perhaps perfectly comfortable—between two seemingly opposing worlds: preaching by day while cultivating a reputation as a motorcycle-riding rebel who lived by his own rules. “The local preacher’s son became something of a legend,” Anderson recalls. “By day, following in his father’s footsteps as a part-time preacher. He also had a rebellious streak, riding his motorcycle through town and living by his own rules. A combination of faith and freedom, virtue and temptation.” It’s exactly the kind of contradiction that makes for a great song, with Anderson finding humanity in the space between the sacred and the unruly.
“Part-Time Preacher” offers another glimpse of Anderson’s forthcoming album, Spend a Little Time, arriving September 18. Based largely on true stories, the new collection draws upon characters, relationships, memories, and experiences from Anderson’s life, filtering them through her distinctive blend of Americana, folk, and roots rock. While the previously released title track explored love, sacrifice, and the lingering question of roads not taken, “Part-Time Preacher” turns outward, capturing the mythology that can surround a colorful figure in a small town. Together, the songs reveal the breadth of Spend a Little Time: an album populated by real people and complicated lives, where virtue and temptation, love and regret, and freedom and responsibility rarely fit into tidy categories.
