Album Notes

Peter’s music can be best explained in terms of his singing voice; it goes everywhere, but is grounded in harmony. Peter has written, promoted, arranged, conducted, and performed a cappella music for 35 years and that experience serves him in writing contemporary music in the folk rock tradition. Covering subjects as controversial as personal injury law, religion & technology, gun control, money & love, life after life, suicide, and politics on TV, Peter doesn’t always take sides but usually examines all points of view with an unusual clarity and frankness. At other times he can’t resist humorous sniping at the Starbucks culture or the American proclivity for driving large SUVs. In these instances there is no mistaking where he stands.

The "Cricket" project partnered Peter with Jim “Jiff” Hinger, a sound engineer for Boyz 2 Men, who won 4 Grammy Awards and have sold 60 million records. From guitar, pen and paper, Peter’s music has been transformed into a soulful flavor of “Laptop Folk” that incorporates traditional instruments and harmonies with cutting edge digital editing techniques and effects. Jerry Gordon, founder of Evidence Records assesses Peter’s songs on the “Cricket” CD (2010) as clever, funny, well structured, innovative, cleverly arranged, chock-full of fabulous background vocals as well as terrific (and surprisingly different!) lead vocals.“ Don Gooding, founder of acappella.com and Hot Lips Records warned Peter that he was having “way too much fun” in recording the music for “Cricket”. 2009 Kerrville Folk Award Winner Louise Mosrie says the CD keeps cracking her up and that Peter has a “funky sense of humor”.

Peter was raised in the Philadelphia area in a large Quaker family. He attended Germantown Friends School, where he began to sing and play instruments in kindergarten. He asked for a guitar for his 6th birthday. His mother had already gotten him one. He studied guitar with George Britton, a Philly Folk icon into his teens. At Friends School he learned about music theory, was introduced to tape recording and electronically generated music, performed, composed and arranged music under the guidance of an exceptional faculty. At Yale, Peter studied and composed contemporary music and continued his study of music theory. He arranged, sang, soloed and directed for two undergraduate a cappella groups, including the Whiffenpoofs.