Three Decades of Guitar
Bit by the guitar bug in 5th grade, Pete studied and woodshedded during the formative years leading up to the 1980' s. His stints with Jersey bands began with JD Kucharik, "my first Stone Pony gig", and led to a five year tenure with Bob Geiger. "We were like five brothers in that band, rehearsing, gigging, recording. I learned a lot about the business during those years."
The 90's brought about shorter stays with Kucharik's Dream Child and also Ghost Town and Local 69. "About this time I also started backing singer songwriters. I had this knack for bottleneck playing, something I developed years ago. I realized it fit in perfectly with these artists. I had found my niche."
In the 90's Pete found time to study jazz with guitar legend Tal Farlow and write for Guitar Player Magazine. "The association with Tal led to the Guitar Player articles. The most important lesson I learned from Tal was the difference between ego and confidence. He was so humble yet so talented, a great man."
The following years have been spent "mixing it up". Blues gigs with guitarist Gary Cavico and pianist Jumpin' Jack filled out the blues thing. "Gary and Jack are both great at what they do, two distinct styles. It's plain fun playing with them." Along with playing Pete was teaching and doing bottleneck and looping clinics.
Solo gigs started around 2004 with the use of live looping. "I was doing all these solo shows playing instrumentals, layering parts, and people were coming up after, wanting to take home what they had just heard. Ok, I thought, time to get my ass into the studio."
In the winter/spring of 2009 with the help of engineer/co producer Greg Booker all the tracks for Seventeen were recorded.
A second solo recording, The Other Side was released in the fall of 2013."There is a personal connection in the material on both CDs. These are real people, real places that I wrote about. Writing this way makes me play from down deep, from the heart." What's next? "I can't wait to find out. I love what I do. I work with my hands. I'm a musician, a time honored trade. I'm fulfilling the dream I had in the 5th grade." - Pete Wagula