"Portland has the biggest crush on Pete Kilpatrick... the new star of the [Maine] music scene," says the Portland Phoenix. And judging by the wave of success the 26-year old singer-songwriter has had in the past four years – sharing the stage with such artists as Dave Matthews Band, The Wailers, Guster, O.A.R., Ray Lamontagne, Blues Traveler and many more while also selling more than 30,000 records independently – it looks like the rest of the country is becoming more and more aware of the band. All eyes are on Kilpatrick and his band whenever they are in the Great State of Maine, with the Portland Press Herald calling him, “The Maine Artist to Watch in 2009". ThisIsModern.net praised Kilpatrick as “the best kept secret in indie music," and with a burgeoning fan base that is growing by the minute with supporters sprouting up across the country and over seas, it appears that the secret has been leaked rather massively.
Even the highly-competitive and critical Boston music scene has been embracing Kilpatrick, as he was recently nominated for a Boston Music Award for songwriting and has appeared as part of several sold-out shows in recent months. The Pete Kilpatrick Band – which features keyboardist/saxophonist Steve Morell, Matthew Cosby on bass, Nick Goodale on electric guitar, and Matt Lydon on the drums – has played over 2,000 shows in the past five years, touring throughout the country.
The wheels are rapidly spinning for the Pete Kilpatrick Band in support of the new release Hope in Our Hearts produced by Jon Wyman (Ray Lamontagne, Rustic Overtones), hitting every college and high school in their path. The album is Kilpatrick’s fourth full-length and most-accomplished work to date. Exploration has always been an innate instinct for Kilpatrick, one that he and his fellow musicians followed throughout the creation of the album. The waters were tested with their most ambitious material thus far, juxtaposed with the sounds of 70’s AM soul – cleverly weaving sounds that echo of early Hall & Oates, Travis and Guster into a brand of rock unique to Kilpatrick and his co-conspirators.
Equally important with this batch of material from the thoughtful, introspective Maine native is that these songs are succulently fresh – all written within just a few weeks from the time the record button was pushed. That was Kilpatrick’s plan all along: to keep the material rich with creativity and spontaneous impulses, rather than reaching back and reworking the older material.
“What’s most important is that the songwriting is consistently interesting, and [Kilpatrick’s] not afraid to take chances,” says Sam Pfeifle (Portland Phoenix) of Kilpatrick's Yesterday Love (which set sales records for an independent artist at New England music store chain Bull Moose Music). With Hope In Our Hearts, Kilpatrick reaches even further into the realm of chance and the result is a melodic and contagious string of songs that ebb and flow through heartache, hope, and life's experiences.
"Killer Sound" - Kings of Leon "These guys are fuckin' radical!" - Jason Mraz "My new favorite artist" - Adam Gardner (Guster) ** 2003 Portland Phoenix Best New Act** *2005 Portland Phoenix Best Jam Act**
** 2006 Portland Phoenix BEST POP / ROCK ACT * * 2006 Portland Phoenix BEST LOCAL ACT * *
**2007 Portland Phoenix BEST LOCAL ACT** **2009 Portland Phoenix BEST LOCAL ACT** **2008** Portland Phoenix BEST MALE VOCALIST** **2009 Portland Phoenix BEST MALE VOCALIST** 2006 Boston Music Awards Nominee “Best Singer-Songwriter” * **2007 Boston Music Awards Nominee "Best Male Vocalist"
