Mankato artist breaks world record

Emily Erck
Staff Writer

Not many people can say they’ve truly made history, but September 14, 2019 now holds a significance that it never has before in Tanner Peterson’s life. 

He now holds the record for the longest street performance at an astonishing 26 hours. 

Peterson has been a performer since high school where he played with a band and sang in the school choir; however, that is not when his music career began. 

He learned to play the guitar from his father at the young age of nine, and fell in love with everything about it. 

Although he played guitar for many years before being in a band, he did not truly start singing until he joined the St. Peter High School choir. 

Unfortunately, when he graduated, Peterson’s band split their separate ways, and he began his journey by moving to California. 

As all music-lovers, Peterson has some of his own favorite singer/songwriters. One of his top favorites includes Ed Sheeran. 

Similar to Ed Sheeran, Peterson focuses mainly on acoustics. Peterson describes his genre and music style as “good vibes music”. He writes music that makes you feel good and tends to stray away from somber, dull songs. 

He puts messages into every song he writes, and in the rare case he does write a sad song, he is sure to put in a strong message of hope or happiness. 

As a growing artist himself, he advises aspiring musicians to stay true to themselves, not care what others think, and to do what they want to do. He talks about not letting the ideas of other people and their opinions deter you from chasing after your dream and what you want to pursue.

 As well as staying true to who you are, he talks about how important the connections you make in the music industry are, as well as friends who support you from the beginning. 

“I think it’s important to have really, really strong friends to stay in touch with, no matter how far you rise, because that’s what’s going to keep you grounded,” responds Peterson. 

Now Peterson, turning 21 in just a few short weeks, wanted to do something special and memorable before his birthday. 

When asking him why he chose to break the record, he responded with, “It felt like the right thing to do.” 

In the beginning, he first thought of the idea being a cool thing to do, but not knowing where to begin.

 He recalls telling one of his best friends about the idea, and almost half-joking about it. 

Instead of his friend replying with all the faults of the idea, he supported it fully. 

Peterson recalls his friend encouraging him, and telling him how cool and remarkable it would be. 

After this conversation with his close friend, Peterson knew he had to pursue the idea and go for it—so he did. 

26 hours later, exhausted, yet fulfilled, he broke the record. 

He wants to thank everyone that came out and supported him, as well as anyone that has taken an interest in his music. 

If anyone has an interest in Tanner Peterson’s music, he asks that you check in and give his music a listen, or follow any of his social media accounts on Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube.

Header photo by Andrew Bravo | MSU Reporter.