Pete Henry

Location: R.A. Fountain

Multi-instrumentalist Pete Henry celebrates his birthday in Fountain, where he’s performing as part of a southeast tour that will eventually get him to Florida for most of December and January. Originally from California, he’s currently living in Wisconsin and has this year played SXSW in Austin and recorded two full-length albums. He’s literally a one-man band with guitar and mandolin his primary instruments.

Pete began playing guitar at age nine, studying with Central Valley California’s Craig Sorrenti and forming his first duo with his mother on the keys. By the time he was 13, Pete had begun playing professionally around the Stockton and Modesto areas. At 16, he was being recognized for his skills on the guitar; he won 1st prize at the Stairway to Stardom concert in 2002 with the rock group Concrete Rose. In 2004, he received the Louis Armstrong Award and Most Outstanding Jazz Soloist Award as a member of the Escalon High School Jazz Ensemble.

Pete studied early music with guitar virtuoso John Schneiderman at the University of California, Irvine, where he earned his MFA and performed in a number of esteemed musical ensembles, including the UCI, OCC, & IVC Guitar Ensembles, and the Cal State Fullerton Orchestra. Meanwhile, he maintained a love and commitment to other traditions by attending blues, jazz, and folk jams around the state.

Since graduation, has Pete stayed busy as a professional musician, settling in as a singer with an extensive international tour schedule – opening act for Cowboy Diplomacy of Austin, TX and notable performances during the SXSW 2021 Festival. Though mostly a soloist now, Pete enjoys collaborating with other musicians often while sharing his one-man band arrangements of classics and original music.

Other accomplishments: compositions and sound design for screen, and establishing the bands HIYA in 2013, the Ellenwood Kitchen Club in 2015, and the Burps in 2019. He also teaches guitar and music for the South Orange County Community College District. Now living in southern Wisconsin, he’s lately focused on guitar and mandolin transcriptions from early Americana to the latest contemporary songs, from which he takes most of the material for his performances.

Tags: acoustic Americana, alt-Americana, Concert, guitar, jazz, original

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