When I was thirteen, my oldest brother David came home one night with an ugly hot pink electric guitar that somebody was trying to get rid of. Fortunately for me, the guitar was so ugly that he also wanted to get rid of it. After practicing on this guitar for several months my brother Caleb encouraged me to audition for bass guitar in high school jazz band. I was excited to make the band, and this began a long tradition of Caleb and I performing music together. After four years of being in jazz band, I earned a Louis Armstrong Jazz Award for “musical excellence”. This helped encourage me to continue to pursue music, so after high school I studied music at Judson University in my home town of Elgin, receiving a bachelor’s degree in 2007. During this time I completed my internship under award-winning composer and respected producer Michael Aukofer.
Throughout college I was in a band with my brother Caleb called "Rufus Tree". During my time in Rufus Tree we had the pleasure of performing for U.S. troops in Japan on two occasions, opening for many artists including Grammy-nominated Blind Melon and having Grammy award winning Phil Keaggy perform on two songs from our 2nd album. Dove Award winner Mitch McVicker also lent his talent on two tracks from that abum. In 2009 "Rufus Tree" went on hiatus, and two of us from the band joined a new band called "A Gain of Ten".
In January of 2011, A Gain of Ten had the privilege of headlining a show at the legendary Metro venue in Chicago. Around that time, we were asked to record a song for a CD honoring the late Deep-Purple guitarist, Tommy Bolin. This CD was later reviewed positively by many publications including Yahoo Music, CCM Magazine and Classic Rock Review. "A Gain of Ten" is the fifth band to sign with United Republic Records, home of Grammy-nominated CCM artist Jeff Anderson.
In addition to performing in bands I have also released three solo albums, featuring original guitar and hammered dulcimer instrumentals. I am currently working on my fourth album. I have also been teaching guitar now for 2 years, and enjoy passing on to students the valuable lessons that have been passed on to me, while realizing that I still have much to learn.
Thanks for reading!
Sincerely,
Pete Kruse
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