When I was 12 my oldest brother, who was a pretty decent guitar picker when he was younger, came home from St. Johns College (Annapolis) playing a bunch of songs from Ramblin' Jack Elliot's repertoire: "If I were a Carpenter" "Freight Train" and stuff like that. I was amazed at the sound and started imitating the guitar style right away. When I was 17 and in college myself at St. Johns, I wandered into the auditorium one October Saturday night and there on the stage was Ramblin' Jack in person! I saw Jack many times over the years and was always taken by his relaxed and soulful style. In 1988 we met in Los Angeles and became good friends (Jack has about 7 million "good friends," and they all probably feel just as close to him as I do!)
We hung out together quite a bit and recorded a few songs together on my home system with me playing lead guitar to Kentucky Waltz and Mule Skinner Blues among others. Those recording were lost when my home in Topanga Canyon burned down in 1993. Big Bummer! But I'd really gotten the bug to start performing, and started learning lyrics and singing whole songs for the first time in my adult life. So, thanks Jack!
Other big influences include Leadbelly (which you can probably hear in my 12-string guitar style) John Lennon, Mick and Keith, annd some of the old country and bluegrass boys like Doc Watson and Roy Acuff.
This is my solo acoustic site. Please also check out www.myspace.com/peteralexanderband to see more photos and hear demo cuts of my rock trio. Also see www.peteralexander.us
The songs above are mostly from my 2007 solo CD, In Between Blues, which you can download as individual MP3 files, or order from me directly by writing to my regular address: peter (at) peteralexander (dot) us.
I usually play solo acoustic, or with a bass player, but sometimes perform as a rock trio. Most of my material seems to work all three ways. My song-writing career started early enough--I was thirteen when I set Lewis Carrol's "Jabberwocky" to an Elizabethan melody of my own making--and in spite of having a zillion ideas, I didn't turn many of them into songs while I came to grips with growing up, having children, being real, earning money, and all that stuff. One morning a few years ago I woke up after three days of suffering a bad case of the flu, and the entirety of "Let us Try Again" was in my head. I picked up my guitar and played it from beginning to end, much to my own astonishment.
"Let Us Try Again" was a total gift to me, in that it took no work--it just popped up. I've had that happen only a few other times. Inspiration comes from many places, but I have come to accept that there's usually lots of work involved in crafting a song once an idea takes root.
If you're interested in purchasing one of my CD's, or if you'd like to be on my mailing list to be kept current on upcoming gigs, please write to me at peter (at) peteralexander (dot) us. I'd like to hear from you.
I was pleased to open for Ramblin' Jack Elliott here in Portland in August. Bob McKillop, president of the Maine Songwriter's Association, was in the audience and sent me this review:
"Peter Alexander’s writing is solid as a rock: very engaging melodies, the harmony structure is varied and interesting, and the lyrical content is vivid, narrative, and with great use of fresh ideas as hooks. Peter is a very entertaining guitar player; he obviously knows how to play the instrument from a technical point of view, but his embellishments, runs between chords, and use of the entire fretboard bring his playing to the audience in a way that makes his performance doubly entertaining.
Peter’s stage presence and engagement of the audience display his professionalism, but he does all that in a way that is personal, earnest, and sincere. Polly and I just thoroughly enjoyed Peter’s performance at the St. Lawrence (where he opened for Ramblin’ Jack Elliott), in all of these ways; we both thought his first song, about the coast of Maine, was fantastic, and it hit home with both of us, who, while not native Mainers, love this place with all our hearts..."
tour with Roger Clyne & the Peacemakers went great!!!
We have some West Coast dates comin up in the next week and then we are off for another US tour. Watch for a bunch of new dates to be announced this week!
check out our blog for road journal updates from every show we played at:
