Message from Pete and Press Clippings:
"Music means everything to me. I was very lost when I started college in the mid-eighties and music was the only thing that gave me a sense of purpose and a direction. Springsteen, The Band, Bob Dylan, Tom Waits...these heros of mine along with others became role models where there were none. As hard as it has been having these distant voices on record giving me guidance they really filled a void. Along the way I have had the pleasure and privilege of working with some top notch producers and players and have learned this craft of music production first hand. I love to play and hope to do so for you real soon."
Pete Minda
"Pete Minda's singing can easily stand up to any one of his folk influences. His voice is touched with that boxcar tone found in some of the early American crooners but with a more relevant passion and richer vocal and guitar tones."
Eric Shea, Listen.Com
"Here on AmericanaOK we are always being asked, “what is Americanaâ€. I used to try and give a definition which invariably left the questioner bemused. Now I say take a listen to “Long Way†by Pete Minda. It’s a collection of very fine songs that embrace many of the influences that form the genre known as Americana. But, don’t listen as an academic exercise; listen for the pure joy of hearing a collection of songs that will stay with you for a very long time. Pete Minda has come a “Long Way†from his hometown of Kansas City via Austin to Brooklyn so welcome his arrival by listening to this fine collection of songs."
Tom Fahey AmericanaOK
Fans of local heroes such as Freedy Johnston, Chad Rex and former Pedaljet Mike Allmayer will find a lot to like about Pete Minda, a Kansas City native who's been working quietly in our midst since last year. After stints in New York and Austin, Texas, Minda is making music here in his home studio. Clearly moved by such damn fine influences as Dylan and Lennon but also more than comfortable with country choices, Minda ranges from talking-blues numbers such as "Long Way" to "Four Chord Waltz," maybe the best-ever explanation of a musician's fragile love.
Mike Warren, Pitch Magazine from 2002
"Americana from Austin from a man who reminds me of one of the melancholy west coast singers/songwriters of the previous generation, such as Warren Zevon or Jackson Browne. Folk rock with a pop feeling, with a little rock and soul stirred in. The arrangements are attractive if not immediately explosive. The guitar, for example, is somewhat hidden in the mix, but only with repeated listens is it noticeable just how good the guitar playing (keyboard playing, drums) in fact is. A rather introverted album that only reveals its secrets -- as is often the case with this sort of disc after repeated listenings. An old-fashioned disc that grows on you with ten excellent, self-composed, songs. Nice!"
Holly Moors, MazzMusikas Free-zine formerly RootsTown Music