Pete Voss first picked up the guitar in 1996 when he was taking a break from basketball practice in Spokane, Wash. His fellow teammates turned the 6'5 16-year-old on to their Nirvana cover songs, and before he knew it, he Came As He Was and Smelled Like Teen Spirit. He traded in his lessons of pick and rolls for the pick and strumming.
The Kurt Cobain wanna-be played guitar and lead vocals in the garage Nirvana cover-garage-band, Oversoul, for a little less than a year. After leaving the band to start a four-year stint in the Marines, Pete went solo and released his first CD, Dead Wendy, in 1999. Still strong with his grunge influences, many compared the CDs sound to Nirvana: Unplugged.
But while stationed in Okinawa, Japan, Pete made friends with Japanese locals who played Beatles, Elvis, Neil Young and Johnny Cash songs on the street corners of Downtown Naha. He picked up these songs and played them himself receiving donations of pocket change from Japanese passerbys.
After a year of classic rock influence, Pete transferred bases from Okinawa to MCRD San Diego, where he upgraded his street corner performances to play at local coffee shops. He participated in many of the city's open mics, in particular Java Joes, which is known as helping jump start Jewel's career, and where Pete could be found playing alongside the now-famous singer/songwriter Jason Mraz.
Pete left San Diego in 2002 when he was honorably discharged as a Marine sergeant and he moved north to attend Washington State Universtiy in Pullman, Wash. As a freshman, Pete immediately started a weekly open mic, at which he hosted and performed. Pete would play his own songs as well as collaborating with college friend, Hunter Vissotzky, in a Tenacious D cover band they called "Ferocious V". The crowds were small at first, but exponentially grew each week and by the end of the first year it started bringing in more than a dozen performers and a hundred audience members. By his second year, Pete was regularly showcasing the local college pubs and coffee shops.
After just three years at WSU, Pete graduated with an emphasis in communications, music and film and moved to Seattle where he immediately started filling venues like Studio 7, El Corazon and the O Lounge to name a few. Within six months of performing Seattle, it was time to tour.
Hesitant to bring in management, , Pete single-handedly booked, managed, promoted and performed his first tour. For 11 days, between Nov. 6 and Nov. 17 2006, Pete performed in Seattle, Moscow (Idaho), Pullman (Wash.), Spokane (Wash.), San Diego and again in Seattle. He sold 50 CDs on his limited tour and his Spokane concert at the regionally renowned, BLVD., was telecast live on Spokane's news program, MyNews@10. While on tour, Pete performed with such artists as Daniel Cirera, Thomas Starks, Kight, Erik Smith, Ether Hour, Danny Weber, Yamn and Rebelution.
Throughout the last 10 years Pete has also performed alongside such renowned artists as Jason Mraz, Steve Poltz, Gregory Page, Anya Marina, Lighter, Action Reaction, Meg & Dia, Ronnie Day, Cary Judd, Thomas Starks, TJ Sherrill, Daniel Cirera, Gavin Wahl-Stephens and Keegan Smith. He has released four full-length CDs: Dead Wendy in 1999; Live at Java Joes in 2001; self-titled Pete Voss in 2004 and the most recent, Have You Seen Me, a LIVE CD, which he distributed on tour in November, 2006.
In April 2007, Pete took a hiatus from performing. Discouraged by the "business" part of the Music Business, Pete decided he wanted to focus on the creative side, the side that got him playing in the first place.
The next year, Pete had written eight new songs and by June 2008, he was ready to record. Friend Joel Harris invited him into his recording studio and after the initial tracks were recorded, Pete and Joel agreed to a flexible recording contract, giving Pete full creative authority and agreeing the EP would be released via iTunes in September '08. Pete is tentatively scheduled to begin touring again this Fall.
Pete's songs stem from people he knows, things he sees, places he he's been and gives a unique and interesting approach on telling these stories. If you've ever seen Pete Voss, you know he's a performer through and through and loved to share the music he wrote to the masses in an entertaining way.
