Winterville

Winterville - Biography:

The 15,000 strong audience at the Stanley Blues festival in England’s North East knew they were witnessing something special when 15 Year old blues guitar prodigy Peter Shoulder and his band made their debut appearance at the venerable event in the summer of 2000.

With a voice reminiscent of some of the greatest British blues singers of the 60’s and 70s, as well as a truly remarkable talent for playing the electric blues guitar, no one who was lucky enough to be in attendance was in any doubt that they were experiencing the birth of an extraordinary new artist. What was even more remarkable was that when Peter’s band made their appearance at Stanley that summer, the young man was already something of a veteran on the live circuit, having played his first show at the tender age of 13.

So how did a teenager growing up in the UK in the 90’s, surrounded by the disposable pop and dance music culture of that era, develop a talent for The Devils Music?

“When I was growing up, like most of the other kids at my school, I was much more interested in football than music. That is until I was 11 and I came home one day and heard my sister listening to “Nevermind”, and that was it. I was hooked. Once I got started I didn’t look back, and before long I’d discovered my Dad’s record collection. He was a big fan of 60’s and 70’s rock and blues and had loads of great stuff including Neil Young, Crosby Stills and Nash, Cream, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin and Free, all of which I soaked up. I remember being captivated by the guitar playing of guys like Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimi Hendrix, Carlos Santana, Paul Kossoff, Peter Green and Jimmy Page. Before my parents realised what was happening I had nagged them into buying me an acoustic guitar and that was that”.

It wasn’t long before the young man needed an outlet for his burgeoning talent and he soon began gigging, first with “The Blue Shoulders” and latterly as “The Peter Shoulder Band”. This period culminated in 2002, with a second critically acclaimed appearance at the Stanley Blues Festival, followed by a sold out show at Durham’s Gala Theatre. Local interest in the young man was intense, with one critic even going as far as writing “I saw Clapton at 17, and this guy is better”.

Peter however had become increasingly unhappy with the direction his music was taking and was becoming restless for a change…

During the course of his various musical adventures Peter had been introduced to two other prodigious musical talents, in the form of Carlisle based bassist Joss Clapp and Belgian drummer Mario Goossens. Joss had been working with the reknowned folk band Tarras playing accoustic bass and mandolin, while Mario was manning the drum stool for Belgian trip-hoppers Hooverphonic, having graduated from the hard school of the local Death Metal scene. Despite their diverse musical backgrounds, these two shared exactly the same passion to make innovative music, as well as demonstating a similar mastery of their respective crafts.

In the spring of 2003, having decided on the direction he wanted his music to take, Peter was ready to go back to work. He spent the summer writing a new batch of songs and having done so, wasted no time in contacting Mario and Joss. Finally on a sunny day in September, at the legendary Northern Recordings in Consett, Winterville was born. After a week of rehearsals there they moved on to Chapel Studios in Lincolnshire and began work in earnest on what was to become their first commercial release. 7 songs were put down in just 5 days: Mr 3 %, Nobody, Angels, Under My Skin, Hole Through My Head, Breathe and Never See The Day. In a little over 3 months with the help of his new band mates, Peter had finally succeeded in getting down what had been in his head for almost two years. His vision had become a reality.

Interestingly, it was not only here in the UK that the Peter’s talent was finally being recognised. During the summer of 2003 whilst writing the material for the Winterville sessions, he was contacted by well-known Nashville producer Jon Tiven, who asked him to contribute to the new album from blues hall of famer Little Milton that Tiven was producing. Milton, a contemporary of BB King, and a blues guitarist of some distinction himself, had heard some of Peter’s work from an earlier writing session and asked if he would be prepared to write 3 songs for his new record. Remarkably, having heard Peter’s guitar playing on the demos, he also invited the young man to play both Rhythm and Lead Guitar on the three tracks. The three tracks: “Thinking of you”, “Second hand love” and “Gonna find me somebody to love” will appear on Milton’s new LP due for release in early 2005.

During late 2003 and early 2004, the band finally got to play their first live shows, initially as the opening act for enduring blues rockers Thunder on their 2003 tour, and latterly at pubs and clubs the length and breadth of the UK. Inevi