For a complete
discography, check out the
discography page.
My concert schedule is on
the
tour page and if you
would like to join my fan club or mailing list, just go to the
links page. Just
remember, I have always enjoyed playing for you!
Peter
Along
the way, brother Danny (remember the guitar burning incident?) had
made his own way in the music business and made up for his
pyromaniac ways by hiring me to work with a then unknown Polish
singer -
 Basia. I played on her first album which was released in
1987 to much acclaim. It went on to sell millions worldwide and
since then I have played on many tours and recordings with her.
Thanks Danny!
As
well as recording my own music, I have performed on recordings by
many of my friends, including Dave Koz, Gato Barbieri, Rick Braun,
Richard Elliot, Craig Chaquico, Jeff Golub, Lee Ritenour, Third
Force, The Rippingtons, Kirk Whalum, Boney James and Marc Antoine. I
have been part of numerous “Guitars and Saxes” tours and also have
established my annual “Peter White Christmas Tour”. This is a chance
for me and some special guests to play some of our favorite
Christmas melodies. (My Christmas CD “Songs of the Season” was
released in 1997).
I
knew by this time that music was my calling, and while all his
friends went to college, I worked factory jobs until I landed my
first musical engagement playing at an English holiday resort in the
summer of 1974. After the summer was over I briefly joined a group
by the name of “Principal Edwards’ Magic Theatre”, only to watch
them disband a few weeks later. However, one of the members of that
group recommended me to Al Stewart and I was asked to join Al’s band
for a tour of England, Scotland and then the USA, starting in 1975.
It was a very exciting time for me, being my first trip to America.
We were opening up for artists like Linda Ronstadt, Billy Joel and
Queen. To be around these musical luminaries was a great thrill for
a 20 year old! That summer saw my first studio experience at the
famed Abbey Road studio in London, working with Al Stewart on the
“Year of the Cat” album, soon to become a million seller. This was
the beginning of a musical collaboration that was to last 20 years,
during which time we wrote and recorded many songs together,
including Al’s 1978 Top Ten hit “Time Passages”.
Over
the years, I have become more comfortable as a performer. I feel a
tremendous joy when I’m able to connect with my audience. The
purpose of being up there is not to show how clever I can be, but to
simply invite everyone to have a good time. Meeting people after
shows to sign CDs and chat is also something which I like to do,
whenever possible. It’s quite different from the days when I was
just in the background getting little recognition!
I eventually got my electric guitar and furiously studied the works
of Hendrix, Clapton and Page, but my rock star dreams were soon put
on hold when my beloved axe was burned in a fire (accidentally) set
by my brother Danny. Distraught, I found solace in my old acoustic
guitar which had been gathering dust in the corner. I had no idea
that this incident, however tragic at the time, would prove to be a
turning point in my life. I started to develop a love for the
instrument, a feeling that continues to this day. Losing my electric
guitar at that time proved to be a blessing - I soon found lots of
inspiration in the music of Crosby Stills and Nash, James Taylor and
Joni Mitchell who were all playing acoustic guitar based music. I
started to carry that guitar with me everywhere I went - it became
my best friend.
Growing
up in the sleepy little English town of Letchworth Garden City in
the 1960s, I first got interested in music while listening to the
Beatles on the radio. My parents bought me an acoustic guitar when I
was about eight and I taught myself to play while simultaneously
taking lessons on the recorder, piano and then later, clarinet. My
music education was going along just fine until one day in 1967 I
heard the Jimi Hendrix song “Purple Haze”. I had never heard sounds
like that coming out of my acoustic guitar and I decided that from
that day on, the electric guitar was to be the most important thing
in my life. Now if only I could convince my parents to buy me one…
In
1990, having been a backup musician for 15 years and inspired by the
English group “Acoustic Alchemy”, I decided to start recording my
own music and released my first CD “Reveillez-Vous”, a French title
in honour of my French mother, Gilberte. It means “Wake Up”. Many
other solo CDs followed, with several songs becoming No.1 hits on
Smooth Jazz radio, such as “Midnight in Manhattan” a song I recorded
with one of my idols, Grover Washington Jr. Basia also collaborated
with me on "Just Another Day", a song from my "Caravan of Dreams"
CD.
|
MY
FIRST
BAND - PETER WITH SIBLINGS. L - R: DANNY, JOHN, MICHELE,
PETER
