From Church Choir to Nashville Sessions: Pete Price's Musical Journey

0:00 Welcome to the Living the Dream Podcast with Curveball, if you believe you can achieve. Welcome to the Living the Dream with Curveball Podcast, a show where I interview guests that teach, motivate and inspire. I interview guests that teach, motivate and inspire Today, straight from Ferguson, missouri. Born in Ferguson Missouri, I am joined by singer-songwriter Pete Price. Pete has been the lead guitarist of the Fries Band for 30 years, so we're going to be talking to him about his extensive musical career, everything that he's up to, who influenced him and everything that he's going to be up to in the future.

0:53 So, pete, thank you so much for joining me. It's my pleasure, curtis Nice, to be here. Why don't you start off by telling everybody a little bit about yourself? yourself. Okay, my musical career kind of started very early in singing in church and my dad was an Episcopal minister and he tried to channel me into things that were productive, because I was pretty rambunctious as a kid. And so he got me into church choir and I found out that I had a little bit of talent and I enjoyed it and so I got several solos and it kind of felt nice when the old ladies would come up after church at coffee hour and say, oh, you sounded so nice up there.

1:45 And so anyway, one thing led to another and I joined my first band in sixth grade, so I guess I would have been around 12. And I joined as the lead singer, and it was actually before my voice changed. Joined as the lead singer, and it was actually before my voice changed. So I sang many of the popular songs like Hang On, sloopy and Well Respected man, an octave higher, which was maybe a little bit weird, but it was all I could do. So I decided that because you know, when you are leading the band and being a front man, you've got a lot of responsibility to keep the party going and stuff, and I'm a little bit more of a laid back, shy kind of person and decided that, you know, fronting a band was probably not my cup of tea, but I really enjoyed being in a band.

2:43 So I started learning how to play the guitar and so I, you know, learned a bunch of folk songs and Bob Dylan and you know popular songs back in the late 60s, you know, worked my way into being able to perform on my own kind of playing that type of music. And then, you know, toward the mid to end of the Colorado, and uh, spent about 13 years out in Colorado and and played in a couple of different bands out there and uh, so that was a lot of fun.

3:35 Um, finally, in the mid eighties, uh, moved back to Ohio and uh, uh, I had a young family at that point and so I was out of music for a while but, you know, still had the love for it and so, probably around you know, I would play as a solo at open stages and that sort of thing. And then, around 1990, I had an opportunity to join the Fry's band and the Fry's band started out as like an acoustic trio but we specialized in vocal harmonies, kind of like Crosby, stills and Nash in the stripped down version of their act, kind of like Crosby, stills and Nash in the stripped-down version of their act and very acoustic-oriented.

4:28 But we were very popular during the unplugged era back in the 90s and eventually we kind of gravitated toward more of an electric sound, toward more of an electric sound, and now we're a five-piece band that still has the emphasis on vocal harmonies but we're a lot more versatile and we play a lot more, a lot larger shows. Now. You know a lot of community concerts and you know shows where we're playing to anywhere from 1,000 to 5,000 people.

5:10 So that's been a great lot of fun for me. And about five years ago a friend of mine and I that I went to school with decided to start a duo and there were songs that I wasn't able to play in the Fries and I was starting to write a lot more music. So he and I started a duo called the Fairview Stringers and we played up until this year and he wound up moving to Wisconsin. So I've started a new duo with a member of the Fries, henry Mays, and we call ourselves 39 North.

5:55 So we're actually playing tomorrow night as a matter of fact, but it's a duo and Henry's a very versatile musician. But it's a duo and Henry's a very versatile musician. He plays keyboards, banjo, mandolin, acoustic guitar and just is really, really amazing Blows. We weren't able to play any kind of gigs and so I got back into my songwriting quite a bit. I had a friend that we went on a cycling trip over to Italy, cycling trip over to Italy, and we found out that we were both musicians and he was a more established songwriter than I at that point.

6:53 But you know, we sort of promised that if we wrote anything good we would share it with one another. And so I wrote a song called Before I Go and that song is on my first album which is called Department of the Interior. Before I Go. I sent off to James Mills, who was my buddy, and he liked it a lot. He asked if he could make some modifications to it and turn it from a five-minute song into about a, you know, three-minute-plus song to make it more commercially viable. And I said, sure, that's fine.

7:34 You know, the song was probably not going to go anywhere with the connections I had at that point, the connections I had at that point. And so he revamped the song and sent it to me and I liked it and he said I'm going to take this to Nashville because I'm working on an album and if you'd like, you can drive down and attend the session. So I was all over that. I mean, you know, I hadn't actually, you know, seen a very professional recording session like a Nashville recording session with a lot of the heavy hitters on the different instruments.

8:16 So I drove down there and watched one of my songs come to life and that just lit a fire under me and I came back home and just sort of exploded with creativity and wrote over the course of the next nine or ten months I wrote enough songs and material to complete an album, enough songs and material to complete an album. And so I started recording my own album much at the same studio down there in Nashville. Better Image Studio and Department of the Interior came out I believe in 2021.

9:02 And it was pretty successful. It had a good run. And I decided I put together a band and we couldn't figure out what to call it and the bass player said, well, why don't we just call it the Price Brothers? And I said, well, if that's the best you can come up with, I'm okay with it. And so the Price Brothers to come in and record all the parts for my second album, which is called Pictures in Time, and Pictures in Time came out last year and so far it's doing pretty well, I think that it's to me.

10:02 I really like the songs. I don't think that it's gotten quite the approbation that the first album had gotten, but I'm really happy with it and it sort of tells a story about a protagonist who is going through life and is in his early stages. He's having a lot of problems with relationships and time management and you know, family issues and stuff like that. And so the first four songs or so on the album deal with, you know, just starting to figure it out. And then the middle four songs are about, you know, really having some successes and interpersonal successes and you know, forming relationships and things like that.

10:53 And then the final four songs are, you know, kind of having it figured out but also knowing that you know there's a whole lot in life that you'll never know and you just always have to a whole lot in life that you'll never know and you just always have to be a student of life. So it kind of is a chronology of a person's life, sort of a spiritual seeker's life in trying to become a better person and to live a better life. So, and you know, live a better life.

11:35 So and you know I'm still playing my solo stuff I have a engagement coming up where I'm going to be opening for John Batdorf, who was very popular in the 70s and 80s in a duo by the name of Batdorf and Rodney, and so I have an opportunity to open for him in May, and then 39 North has quite a few gigs this summer and into the fall, and then the Fry's band is very busy throughout the summer and into the fall as well. So I've got a very full schedule of musical performances and really no plans at this point to begin a new album, although you know it's always on the horizon and hopefully, you know some of the inspiration will hit me at the odd time.

12:23 So that kind of brings you up to date. Absolutely. It sounds like you're a very busy man. Yeah, I sure love playing music and you know it's nice to see those faces out there and you know, when you play something that they really like, it kind of hits you in a good spot. Yeah, absolutely. Well, tell us about. You know if somebody walked up to you and said hey, pete, you know what genre is your music and you know the overarching genre is Americana.

13:12 And I, you know, I've been doing some reading about folk music and I've always considered my writing to be sort of in the folk, folk rock vein, but narrowly defined. You know, folk music is more of a traditional kind of music and is, you know, songs that have been around for generations. So I think that musically my songs sound like that but lyrically it's really like to me.

13:54 I've lived a pretty long life now and I've gained some insights on how to be successful in, you know, living and managing a life. And so often you know I'll build a song around you know, some insight that I've, some breakthrough or insight that I've learned in my life, and if just one or two people it creates a spark or, you know, turns on a light for them, then I feel like you know I've been successful. So many of my songs have these little hidden treasures in them that if people listen closely to the lyrics, you know they'll find there's a lot of good stuff in there.

14:45 But yeah, americana folk rock, you know, some of my stuff kind of moves toward maybe a little bit of light jazz and certainly blues, maybe a little bit of light jazz and certainly blues, and I guess it's all kind of like roots music and I don't write in any one particular genre consistently. I like to move around and if something hits me and it sounds better with kind of a jazz or a swing kind of rhythm, then I'll go that way and see if I can build a song out that way.

15:34 Absolutely so. Talk about some of the, because I was reading over your bio and you have a pretty good, impressive, long list of people that you were influenced by, so let the listeners know who influences you to do what you do. Okay, you know, probably my first big influences as a songwriter was Bob Dylan, and I, you know, came away from listening to Dylan thinking that you know, you can, you don't have to have the greatest voice in the world, but you really need to have something to say.

16:18 Dylan has always, you know, had something to say, and sometimes it's been kind of controversial, but he's always been his own person and he's, you know, he's sailed by his own star. So Dylan was probably one of the biggest influences on my music overall. And then other singer songwriters like Jackson Brown and James Taylor, greg Allman, john Fogerty with Creedence, you know, and Dan Fogelberg.

17:03 There's a bunch of those singer-songwriters that I just really love and it's a type of music that I still play a lot and gravitate toward as far as a songwriter is concerned. And then the Allman Brothers. They took a lot of old, older blues tunes and it was back in the early 70s when, you know, blues wasn't really that popular from a, you know, from a mainstream it. It, the Allman Brothers kind of brought the blues tour to a wider audience and they did it in a way that, you know, the songs still sounded very traditional.

17:55 And then they also wrote a bunch of their own songs, songs. So you know, and the fusion of blues with jazz and rock was kind of new at that point and it really it was something that I just really enjoyed and it helped me to become or at least aspire to be a better guitar player, to learn you know how they played those licks and you know how they made those sounds, and so it made me work a lot harder as far as a guitar player and got me out of, you know, just playing an acoustic and playing chords and singing and accompanying myself.

18:47 I became a lot more interested in being in a band and playing lead guitar and so that kind of got me started there. So those are some of the influences that I can sort of let you know that they've been important in my life. Okay, well, let the listeners know about any upcoming projects that you're working on that they need to be aware of. You know kind of talk about what expired, what it's inspired them and what listeners can expect when they listen to it. Okay, I've got a new single that's going to be released in early May from my Pictures in Time album and it's called Better Angels and the premise of the story is you know, there's this fella who went through a breakup with his girl and it's a story as old as time really.

19:50 But he went through a breakup with his girl and he just can't get over her. You know he can't get her out of his mind and you know it's been you know five, six months down the road and you know a lot of water under the bridge. But you know he decides that he's got to make an effort to try to get her back, and you know it may not happen, but he's got to at least try. And so he picks up his phone and he dials her number and you know it takes all the courage that he has to.

20:34 You know just kind of eat crow and call her up and just say, hey, honey, you know this was all my fault, this is all on me, and you know, is there any possibility that you could give us another chance? So the phone rings and you know it rings about five or six times and all of a sudden it goes to voicemail, and so you know the song is unresolved. We don't know as listeners whether he gets back, if she ever calls him back. We don't know any of those things and so it doesn't necessarily have a happy ending, but it doesn't have a sad ending either.

21:25 It's just kind of unresolved but kind of a fun song. It was a song that didn't have any kind of personal, like I didn't have any personal part in the story. I think of course everybody's broken up and tried to get back together and stuff like that. So there's a little bit of that that's personal. But I just wanted to go through the exercise of writing a story song. And also it's a little bit more country oriented. It's kind of a country rock oriented song and so I don't know.

22:10 I like it, I think it's got broad appeal and I'm hoping that the song does well, that it's well received. Yeah, and I'm definitely sure it will be Thought you'd contact them for so people can keep up with everything that you're up to. Yeah, it's real easy just to go to the website and you know everything. All the links are there to you know. Go to the YouTube page and check out the different bands that I work in and you can listen to all the music that I work in. And you can listen to all the music. There's a music player down in the lower right-hand corner so that you know you can click through and browse the songs that I've written and also learn a lot of background on.

22:58 You know why I wrote the song and what it means to me anyway. So those are all good things. And then you know, as far as other projects, like I said before, I don't really have the time right now to start another album, but I'm always getting songs that kind of bubble up and I write them down. Or, you know, maybe it's just a line or something like that and I just kind of keep all that stuff cataloged and written down so that I've got a whole bunch of not only you know melody, lines and hooks, but also you know ideas for songs.

23:45 So you know, I'm sort of in the point of just gathering information right now and, you know, hopefully in another six or seven months, when the performing season slows down, I'll have a chance to start working on putting together another 11 or 12 songs for another album, so hopefully that's on the horizon. And then you know, in the meantime I'm just going to continue playing with my duo and with the Fries band and then also take any opportunity that I can for solo appearances.

24:27 I've worked up a pretty good solo act with all my original songs now, so that's been a lot of fun and it's very rewarding. It's really fun to play your own music. And what was the website? You know, play your own music. And what was the website? It's wwwpetepricemusiccom. Perfect, close us out with some final thoughts. Maybe, if that was something I forgot to talk about that you would like to touch on any final thoughts you have for the listeners. I just want to thank you for having me on your program and thanks to all the listeners out there who have tuned in to listen to this.

25:09 Music is super important to me and I just love performing and writing and arranging and, you know, doing all the things that are involved with music. It just it gets me up every morning to go down and work on my music. So I hope everybody has something in their lives that animates them the way that music animates me. So, anyway, thanks very much for having me on Thank you for being so kind to come on. Ladies and gentlemen, petepricemusiccom, please go sure to check out everything that the Friars Band and Pete is up to and, you know, be sure to check out that new single when it comes out.

25:59 All the Americana lovers out there follow rate review. Share this episode to as many people as possible. Follow us. Leave us a review on your favorite podcast app. Go to wwwcurveball337.com for more information on the Living the Dream with Curveball podcast. Thank you for listening and supporting the show, pete. Thank you for all that you do and that great music that you put out, and thank you for joining me. You show Pete. Thank you for all that you do and that great music that you put out, and thank you for joining me. You're very welcome, Curtis. For more information on the Living the Dream with Curveball podcast, visit wwwcurveball337.com. Until next time, keep living the dream.