Pete Jones, 29, was born on October 6th 1980. At fifteen months Pete lost his sight due to Retinoblastoma. From an early age he was into all things musical and at the age of four had his first piano.
“I’ve always felt that my ears have made up for the loss of my sight and music has always been a big part of my life.†Pete.
Throughout his school years he took part in all kinds of musical activities – school plays, music festivals and concerts. One of the highlights of his young life was winning the junior final of BBC’s ‘Song for Christmas’ in 1988, where he met producer Bob Howes. Pete studied music and music technology and performed in bands singing and playing jazz, swing, rock and classical pieces.
He plays piano and keyboards, guitars and bass, sax, clarinet, various recorders, whistles, kit and percussion. He also writes and produces his own songs in his home studio.
On leaving school in 1999 he formed the successful duo ’2 to Go’ with friend and vocalist Emma Paine. Over the next ten years they became one of the most successful duos on the circuit performing at casinos, restaurants, hotels, corporate and charity events. During that time they were finalists in Jane McDonald’s ‘Star For A Night’ in October 2001 and ITV’s ‘The X Factor’ in 2004. They also starred in the National Arena X Factor Tour 2005 and a live radio sponsored gig at Nottingham Arena, amidst stars such as Lemar, McFly and Natasha Bedingfield.
“The tour was amazing! We played to crowds of up 15,000. Definitely a highlight of my career!†Pete.
Pete still works with Emma and other bands but is concentrating on a solo career and writing his own material. He is always keen to work with other artists and writers and experiment with new ideas. Pete went on to work with Jules Holland, Jackie Graham and Candi Staton, the legendary soul artist.
“ For as long as I can remember music is the only thing I have ever wanted to do and the only thing I was ever any good at. I’ve never found it easy to express ideas and emotions through speech. When I sing or play, however, I feel as though I am who I want to be, as if I can only be myself through my music. I believe music is a huge part of us all. Whether we play, write, produce or simply listen to it, music touches all of us. Every memorable experience we have we can relate to a song or a piece of music we heard at the time. Similarly, a composer uses their experiences to inspire their work. I think it is more important than ever to give children more opportunities to perform and experience different kinds of music. The interest music generates and its and therapeutic value in school is huge and it is a great way to bring people together. Even using virtual games (Guitar Hero, etc) can be an excellent way to have fun and focus the brain. Speaking for myself, music has certainly helped me through a few bad patches as a kid and it’s been a pretty exciting and rewarding career choice too!†Pete.
To book Pete directly please email him at [email protected]
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