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Howdy there! Thanks for checking out my profile. I was born and raised in Hopkins, Minnesota, and picked up the bass guitar in 1977 as a freshman at the U of M, jammin' with friends in my first band, "Local Color". I cut my teeth professionally playing with various bands in and around Minneapolis's notorious West Bank Blues scene during the early to mid 80s.
I came to the string bass during a 13 year stint with the ultra authentic 50s and Rockabilly revue, "The Fantastic Convertibles", (sorry, The Fantastic Convertibles is now history and there is no web site archived), where I soaked up pointers on developing my sparse playing style from my friend and mentor, Joe B. Mauldin of "The Crickets". thecrickets.com Working with the 'Verts also offered endless opportunities to hone my skills in the art of singing harmony and lead.
I retired from full-time touring in 1999 to finish my degree, get married, become a father and rediscover music performance as an avocation. In the years since then, I formed my own band, "Trish and the North Shore Drive" with my wonderful wife, and talented vocalist/entertainer, Trish Sisson.
trishsisson.com I also toured with Sherwin Linton’s band “The Cotton Kings” sherwinlinton.com as well as with Robby Vee’s band, “The Vee Rockets” robbyvee.com and I recorded "Songs for Elva" with the band “Cloudsplitter” featuring Kevin Malone and members of "The Big Wu". thebigwu.com (To purchase “Songs for Elva” please visit soul-flower.com soul-flower.com This is a great place to purchase all things Jam Band.)
Short but sweet was my year with "Big Spud Daddy and the Guinness Aires." bigspuddaddy.com A traditional Celtic band that played jigs, reels and tragic ballads in an absolutely authentic style. It was fun weaving the string bass into their arrangements. I miss them but they moved to Kentucky and like a love affair, band projects just don't thrive over great distances.
My most current project finds me in my third year of playing in an excellent Bluegrass band. This has always been an "un-scratched itch" for me. Consequently I'm happy to be spanking the doghouse with, "Pickin' Up Steam". This is a very fun band of top players. Stop out and see us sometime.
Pickin' Up Steam's debut CD "Waltz for Mom" is finished and out there. Please contact me if I can hook you up with a copy, or come on out to a show.
pickinupsteam.com
When I'm not playing music, I'm busy pursuing a second career as a Graphic Artist. My official title: Prepress/Finishing Technician, "Engineering Repro Systems, INC." ersdigital.com and I live in Minnetonka with Trish and our son, five year old Jay Paul.
Thanks again for the visit, I hope to see you soon!
Peace, Pete
GO AL!
I was a delegate to the 2008 Minnesota Democratic Convection in Rochester this year, where I proudly represented my Senate district and cast my vote for Al Franken. If the old adage is true that if you don't vote, you can't complain, I think I have the right to do some serious whining! I got involved big time and it was fun.
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