"Like a more edgier Steve Earle."
--Tami Kaye
"Roy is the definitive go-to guy for in your face acoustic rhythms and songs about love, death, and birds."
--fan quote
"I’ve been working with Roy for a long time. He is the most creative bass player I’ve worked with. He will not accept standard tunings, round wound strings, or picks. He can also write a damned good song."
--Thommy Berlin: guitar-incendiarist, songwriter
Roy Peak has played electric bass in more bands than he cares to remember for more years than he can remember.
Some of these bands were Soul Guardians, Radio Berlin, The Problems and Blue Veronica. He currently plays bass with Red Afternoon, Mark Williams and Blue Horse, XGeezer, Ruby Beach, and Lauren Fincham, to name a few, as well as performing his own material solo with acoustic guitar.
Preferring old beat-to-death P-basses with flatwound strings tuned down a whole step, Roy's bass playing has been described as "orchestral and driving" and "Entwistle's style with Klaus Voormann's tone." He says his influences were Rick Danko, James Jamerson, and John Cale as much as Kathy Valentine and the aforementioned Entwistle and Voorman.
His solo material--where he puts down the bass and picks up his vintage Epiphone Texan--has been likened to Hamell on Trial, an angry Jonathan Richman, Paul Westerberg, and Neil Young. Live shows often showcase eclectic cover versions of songs by Liz Phair, Randy Newman, and The Minus 5.
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