Jason Anderson is my hero. While I spend my life feeling like I’m waiting in an airport terminal, he makes it his mission to live completely in the moment. While I am so tuned in to the passage of time that I begin to experience nostalgia and regret over events as they unfold, his conversational vocabulary is filled with words like beautiful, wow, tremendous, (really, really) excellent, happy, fun, thankful, awesome and love.

I first experienced the singer-songwriter’s presence at the inaugural “Freedom Rocks!” concert, held in Prescott Park on July 3, 2006. I say “experienced” because what happened that night was incredible to behold. Fireworks briefly interrupted the show, and Anderson was closing a day of music that had begun early in the afternoon. As the hands of the North Church steeple approached 11 p.m., he led his band through a version of “Twist and Shout” that lifted every last member of the audience off the grass—first onto their feet to dance and then, it seemed, someplace higher. “Is this YOUR night?” Anderson screamed.  “Is this YOUR freedom?”  Knowing the city’s noise ordinance would be enforced before the last echo of the bells, he then asked the audience not only to crowd the stage, but to come onto the stage. Audience members complied without a second’s hesitation. I will never forget the vision of folk musician Dan Blakeslee scampering up a wooden ladder and soft-shoeing across the top of the starry set of “Oliver!” Nor will I forget the communal sense of joy created by that moment—by Anderson.

Set to release his sixth album, “Tonight,” on Aug. 21 (following a release party at The Red Door the night before), Jason Anderson wants you to be happy and to remember how amazing it is to be alive. I recently spoke with Anderson, who lives in South Sutton, about his relationship with the audience and the unwavering, genuine feeling of optimism he transmits to them. 

How important is the audience to what you do? 

Oh man, so important. I really feel like there is no real divide between the two, no difference between onstage and off. I think the audience is just as important as the band, maybe more important. Every single person at the show matters. We are all united with the goal of having a phenomenal time and experiencing something completely of the moment. 

Your shows are like revivals. Do you ever get fans that are too into it, that get scary?  At a recent show, I saw a guy leap onto the stage at the end of one of your songs and embrace you.

There is no bigger compliment or sense of “We did it!” than a post-show hug. I don’t think there is such a thing as being “too into it.” The aim is complete release, exhaustion, triumph and catharsis. Everyone I meet on the road is a friend first and a fan second.

What inspires the intense optimism you display at your shows?

Friends and life, mostly. Loving both those things. Wanting to make people happy, wanting to have fun. Wanting to communicate and connect and share. It’s time to remember how powerful, joyful and inspiring music can be. And even more so than music, just how powerful friendship and community can be, and getting a bunch of people into the same space and sharing something. My goal is to pump people up, to make them happy, even if it’s just for the hour of the show, for all of us to connect, to sing and dance and just feel in love with life. It’s such an awesome, awesome thing to leave your cares behind, to drop thoughts of job or your bills or your homework or whatever is stressing you out. Just leave it at the door and have this hour or so where you’re in a place with friends, where the only thing you have to be concerned with is feeling this music, feeling this connection with everyone around you, this positive energy that reminds you that, ‘Hey, I’m alive!  And that’s a cool thing, despite all the stuff that can bum me out from time to time.’

Do you ever have to fake it at shows?  Are you ever just in a bad mood and not up to being so positive?

People actually pay their money to come see you play and I really think you should give everything you have to give to those people, that you should strive to make an awesome, meaningful experience, whether it’s just a handful of listeners or a packed room. We shape our experience in this world and literally anything can be the most or least important thing. It’s that push-pull of nothing matters versus everything matters. What we do with our time on this planet is either totally meaningless or totally everything and it can be argued back and forth and back again. So, why not simply drop the debate and enjoy this time while we have it, do what we can to make others happy and try to live the best we can with the time we have?

But doesn’t that good feeling always wear off after a show? 

Life is full of ups and downs, but the ups are so good. And the ups give us perspective on the downs, help us remember that the best night of the week, the month, or even the year can be just around the corner if we’re ready for it. These nights find us. These nights keep us going.

In my experience, it seems that a really great experience, or even a tragic one, fills you with a kind of joy and hope in the short term—a gratitude for being alive. The colors are richer, the birdsong more beautiful when you are in that state of heightened awareness.  But, then you get back to your routines and the spell wears off.

I think the special moments of life are often right under our noses, if we are willing to live openly and be ready for whatever comes our way. There are always doors opening and closing. Things come and go. Everything ends. I think the fact that these moments don’t last forever is an inherent part of their beauty. They are fragile and fleeting. That’s why it’s so important to take a great meal, a great conversation, a great kiss, the way the sky looks just before dark settles in, a great game of Scrabble—take these romantic, epic, magical moments and love them for what they are, when they are.

Do you ever feel inspired to express the down times, the negatives, in your music?

I would never want to be blindly happy. Ignorance is not bliss. At the same time, I don’t think it’s healthy to linger in the negatives, when there is always positivity to be found. But it’s not like everything has to be full-tilt enthusiasm and hands-in-the-air frenzy to be legitimate. That would be silly. What I’m attracted to is sincerity, enthusiasm and from-the-heart passion, and that can manifest in many different ways. In fact, the overarching emotional content of most of my songs is one of yearning, melancholy, and wistfulness. The live shows are a celebration of the feeling that says, “We want this, we want to do or to have or to be this, and we are waiting. And yet, we shall rejoice, we shall be free!”

When did you first pick up an instrument?

I was in third grade and my grandmother taught me the piano. I played my first solo acoustic show at the age of 19.

When did the power of music first hit you?

My first record was “The Beatles 20 Greatest Hits” on vinyl. Then came Bruce Springsteen and U2. Then Guns ’n’ Roses. Oh my dear lord, “Appetite for Destruction” blew me away. So amazing to hear that in the fifth grade. Nirvana, Green Day, Elliott Smith. Some recent favorites are Mara Flynn, Strand of Oaks, Mount Eerie, the early J. Geils Band live recordings, which are consistently inspiring and intimidating. The Band is truly the best band. All eras of Stevie Wonder—with a particular fondness for the song “I Was Made To Love Her.” Both Bryan and Ryan Adams, and Little Wings, who I am constantly being humbled and blown away by.

What are your feelings about “Tonight” in relation to your other releases?

Every album I’ve made has been a moment in time, a love letter to where I was and what I was experiencing. This is an album we essentially recorded live, and I think we came very close to capturing the energy and fun I try to put into every single show. For the group vocals, I put out an open call and fifty of us sang the choruses in an old gymnasium.

Does anything else in life make you feel the way music does? Does anything give you that unbridled joy?

Yes, of course! Hanging out with my friends is number one. And eating awesome food like Thai green curry with tofu, samosas, peanut butter, fake sausage patties. Playing Ms. Pac-Man, bike riding, amazing dance parties, hiking. Hanging out with my mom and dad, my sister. Playing Sega Genesis with my brother. Laughing so hard. I love making up jokes. Being alive. Watching “Arrested Development.” Playing Taboo, the Game of Unspeakable Fun. Reading awesome books, doing crossword puzzles.

With everything going on in the world, and right here in Portsmouth, do you ever feel that to experience frequent happiness is cheating, is a lie?

I get frustrated and angry and sad just like everybody else. But I also try to stay focused, keep perspective and remember all the good things I’m lucky enough to experience. I’m certainly not immune to worrying about the future or money or even death.

Do you believe in God, or a master plan, or that everything happens for a reason?

I definitely believe that there is an energy in the universe, that things do seem to happen for a reason and that some coincidences seem too magical to be mere chance. But this debate has plagued philosophers for ages. I’m not a psychologist or, by any means, an expert on life. My beliefs are still being formed and reformed. I try to see the good in people, in this human experience and in the life I live. Like anyone, I do my best every day and simply try to go to bed happy, with no regrets. I also think guacamole and limeade are awesome.

Jason Anderson will convert you.  He will make you believe—in him, in music, in yourself. At the conclusion of his daytime slot at this year’s “Freedom Rocks!” show, a slot which saw him lure nearly all the sunbathing crowd to the front of the stage, he was screaming “You did it Portsmouth! You made it what it was!” Next Monday’s show at The Red Door will give us another chance to put our cares aside, feel good and live for the moment.