Playing at The Cellar Bar turned out to be a real treat of a night with the launch of 2 new songs, a 3 hour set with great sound engineering by Andy Razz, a great review from Tim Heywood, Livewire Live Hopefm, some loyal fans and some new friends.

Tim Heywood’s Bournemouth Music Blog

Two Sets of An Evening With…

04 DEC 2011

by Tim Heywood in Chaplins & Cellar Bar Tags: Bournemouth, Music, Pete Christie

My Sunday night started with “An Evening With….Blowing Your Cover” at the church tonight, as we prepare for our launch of this popular church training & equipping course. Afterwards dash over to The Cellar Bar, where Pete Christie is performing. Pete is my favourite performer; I consider him to be one of the absolute best on this circuit. A music session is more like An Evening With…Pete Christie, since the constructed songs are interspersed with both inane banter and insights into Pete’s life.

This starts as I walk in with digs at myself and another notable punter from the scene, before regaling us with a slight on a certain capo from a certain internet supplier. The capo broke 11 months after purchase and he’s heard diddly-squat from the firm. He then splurges into Dancing Diamonds. The next story is 5 minutes about a gig in Swindon, the only kebab shop open there at midnight, and a stool that’s just the right height for him, before he plays a short song from his Skavengers era about trouble, making much use of harmonics on the guitar.

I’ve previously referred to Pete as Magic-Fingered; while there hasn’t been much evidence of this so far, his voice is in fantastic form, as demonstrated by his high wails in staple Lost, which also provides for his first flicker-fingered instrumental break of the night. He next plays his version of Beeswing, which I’ve missed pretty much every other time I’ve seen him play due to walking in late. Its everything I’ve come to expect of Pete’s entertainment, and more…

Along the way, many of his songs are changed and mucked about on the spot; lots of seeming improvisation and spontaneous invention. After one cover he segues into a little instrumental involving the same chord progression, yet thowing in some slide action, even slipping into lap steel mode with the slide for a moment. Good stuff.

Playing at The Black Swan Inn in Swanage is always a fun event.

The crowd ebbed and flowed throughout the evening but 3 men from Gloucestershire stayed glued to my acoustic roots and folk set and offered a wonderful praise comparing my original anglicana songs, fingerstyle guitar and loopstation technique by saying ‘I was in a league of my own’, as they had originally planned to see award winning Martin Simpson, who has been nominated 23 times in eleven years of BBC Radio 2’s Folk Awards, again. Thanks guys! High praise indeed.

Maybe it is time I played in Gloucestershire again!

You could hear a pin drop when I sang ‘Waiting in the Wings‘ I love how this song touches so many people. It has become one of my classics; ‘Waiting in the Wings’ has on occasion changed the course of people’s lives after taking on the sentiment of the lyrics ‘that life is not a rehearsal and to make the most of it by doing what you want to do, now’.

Swanage Folk Festival, Swanage, Dorset

“A weekend of concerts, dance, sessions, workshops, a ceilidh, a craft fair, children’s entertainments, trade stalls, around 50 traditional dance sides in a grand parade Saturday afternoon through the town and ending on the sea front.” 9th – 11th September 2011

Local pubs hosted a number of informal sessions, with music for all to join in with. According to The Daily Echo, Swanage expected to attract thousands of revellers to the seaside town for the Swanage Folk Festival annual folk festival.

Shot taken at Dancing Ledge, a cliff-top beauty spot on the Isle of Purbeck.

See the Pete Christie Music map to local music events.

After years on the road, touring around London and the Southern UK, it was time to play at home on The Isle of Purbeck again.

So the ideal venue in Purbeck to play is The Bankes Arms Purbeck Beer Festival in Studland. Playing to over 1,000 people at lunchtime is a great feeling. I played a lively set to get the audience going for the day, with the help of Paul Graham on sound.

As Clive Connor says “A Top quaint traditional pub, with great sea views and real ale from its own Isle of Purbeck Micro Brewery”

An opportunity to demonstrate the difference wood makes in sound and tone, by day and play the handmade acoustic guitars by night.

Saturday night is MUSIC night at the Gathering by Isle of Purbeck singer songwriter guitarist Pete Christie

Really looking forward to performing and exhibiting at the Wilderness Gathering. I’ve got a few interesting things planned for the audience at night and a walk through on handcrafted guitars, demonstrating the difference the choice of wood for the soundboard of an acoustic guitar makes on the sound and tone.

The ‘Gathering‘ is a 4 Day Event 18 – 21 August 2011
Wilderness Gathering, the original Bushcraft Show, is the premier festival of bushcraft, survival and primitive living skills.

The Gathering has become a social event and brings together families and friends, all those interested in Bushcraft and Wilderness living skills to enjoy a weekend of knowledge sharing in a relaxed and family friendly atmosphere

The event is held at Bush Farm Bison Centre Farm & Woodland Gardens Native American & Wildlife Gallery, West Knoyle, Wiltshire.

Pete’s current album ‘Frank’, which received favourable and 4star reviews and interviews, was completed at the end of 2009 and launched early in 2010

The next album material is an evolution in Pete’s crafted fingerstyle guitar technique and his honest Anglicana song writing approach.

Living on The Isle of Purbeck affords Pete plenty of space to work out what the album will be about. The hardest decisions will be what to leave out as the songs just keep ‘landing on him’.

Pete is quoted as saying he wants the next able to be ‘simple’; however, if the occasion presents itself for a full-sized orchestra to be available, then don’t be surprised if it is included on one of the tracks,

Pete is dedicating much of this year to touring throughout the UK and Europe, offering his audience an opportunity to hear some of the new songs as they grow and naturally develop.