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Having received his musical education from the likes of
Cyril Perfect, Mario Watoski and Tim Kliphuis, the young
Midlands violinist Pete Hartley set forth to London in the
early 1980s, to find fame and fortune, armed only with a
violin, a mandolin, and a youthful sense of invincibility!
Pete discovered a love of gypsy and jazz music alongside his
classical education, and when he wasn't playing session
violin for the likes of The Goodies and Not the Nine O'Clock
News, he was to be found in the capital's seediest jazz
bars, playing free-form jazz with equally seedy, free-form
people...
Pete was encouraged by the positive reception that his
crowd-pleasing gigging and busking antics were receiving and
decided to record some tapes to sell at his gigs and busking
spots. Little knowing where this would lead, he released his
first single, “Snake in the Grass” in 1985, and has since
recorded over 20 records of both original and cover material
under his own name, and worked with the very best in the
business on dozens more albums for other artists.
Pete's playing got him noticed, and he spent much of the
1980s on tour with the Olivier Award-winning Blood Brothers
theatre show, jazz outfit Barbara Thompson's Paraphernalia
and 20th Century Blues. Pete moved back to his native West
Midlands and spent several seasons at Alton Towers theme
park, helping to soothe the stomachs of queasy
roller-coaster victims. He also found time to win a heat of
the talent show New Faces, and reject the advances of the
ever-youthful Nina Myskow!
More recently, the impetuosity of youth behind him (but not
the youth itself, he hastens to add), Pete has become one of
the country's most accomplished and in-demand function and
wedding musicians, playing wedding, corporate and
governmental gigs in front of the likes of Bill Clinton,
Bertie Ahern, Princess Anne and, in a personal career
highlight, Joanna Lumley! Pete also teaches violin, mandolin
and music theory from his home in Worcestershire, using
video conferencing technology to teach students from all
over the world. Pete's first instructional DVD, “Blues
Lessons for Violin”, was released in 2005.
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