article courtesy Bay Life
News that will be of interest to budding musicians in the Bay seeking contracts with their music that will give them access to a wider audience.
Local musician, Peter Barron, who lives in Coast Road in Pevensey Bay, by day works as a furniture restorer, but in his spare time he crafts music.
He has recently heard that there has been a take up with one of his tracks by a publisher in the States. The track, ‘Running on Empty’ comes from his latest CD, ‘Jupiter Diamond’.
His music is a kind of retro take, with a strong influence from the Marc Bolan era but reviewers also hear Tom Waits and some of the rhyming couplets in his songs have been noted as having the simplicity and sophistication of early Elvis Costello songs.
Peter himself describes the music as being ‘rooted a little in the seventies, eighties, but with its (bleeding) heart in the 21st century, the songs are mostly uptempo rock numbers with catchy hooks’.
His latest track ‘Ghost Dancers’, that will form part of his new CD, to be published in Spring 2016, has been well received. One local reviewer said “In my view, the latest track is the very best. All the songs are you, but this is you maturing and working and crafting words/music in a way that is distinct and marked”.
“The words are just peach, you are an accomplished songwriter and the way that the song is shaped is you working with your own music in a kind of synthesis that is individual and marked”.
Added to the mix in the work of Peter Barron are catchy hook lines and a raw feeling. As compositions the songs stand in their own right and have both aural and visual appeal. They are the kinds of songs that are interesting as a listen and catch you unawares with their well crafted structure.
It is possible to see them utilised as backdrops in documentaries, for example. They have a strong ‘story telling quality’ and their catchiness sees them enjoying repeated plays on specialist radio stations.
Talking to Bay Life last Friday (28 August), Peter told us; “It was only signed/confirmed the other day but I have just been offered a ‘single song contract’ from a music publisher in America (Nashville) for my track ‘Running On Empty’ from Jupiter Diamond .
“I just sent him three tracks (so he’s still yet to hear the rest of the album) and he particularly liked that song and thinks he may be able to ‘place’ it, either for film/advertising/rerecording by another artist or maybe even as it stands”.
The news will be of interest to local budding musicians whose talent often struggles to be heard in the world of streaming music that sees millions of tracks recorded but few ever reaching a wider audience.
Peter commented; “I’ve been added to his ‘songwriters list’ and will be contacted monthly with certain types of material he’s looking for. So that’s a step in the right direction”.
Peter points out that “as well as ARFM radio, I am now getting loads of plays on an online 24 hr music station called ‘The Shift Radio Station’ I sent them the Jupiter Diamond CD a few months ago and they still play about four tracks a day!”
Unassuming Peter added “If I was getting that kind of exposure on Radio 2 I’d be famous by now”.
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