Monday, February 13, 2012

About Peter Somerville


Peter is a highly regarded 5-string banjo player in Melbourne, Victoria. He has played and extensively recorded bluegrass, clawhammer and Celtic banjo in the bands Highly Strung, The Blue Mountain String BandThe Rank Strangers, The Somervilles and Uncle Bill, of which he was a founding member, and whose collaborative Smoke album, with Paul Kelly, was released to wide acclaim in 1999. Peter has performed at major festivals both nationally and internationally, including Port Fairy, Tamworth, and the I.B.M.A in Kentucky; he has also done two extended tours playing in Japan. Peter currently plays in The Pheasant Pluckers, Oh Sister and his own band, TarnationAt this point in his career he’s played on some forty to fifty recordings. Peter also plays dobro, guitar and fiddle but banjo remains his number one passion. In 2011 he compiled a book of his own arrangements, with CD: ‘Celtic and Australian tunes for Five String Banjo’. His current weapon of choice is a Deering Maple Blossom arch top.

Peter is an accomplished teacher with over 30 years of teaching experience. He develops his own teaching materials, including tablature arrangements for absolute beginners through to advanced levels, and is expert at tailoring the teaching to the needs and requirements of the individual student. He regularly runs popular workshops and group classes at banjo camps and bluegrass/ old-timey music festivals, and offers one-on-one lessons in bluegrass, clawhammer and Celtic style 5-string banjo in Thornbury and Blackburn, Melbourne.

Contact: 0439 490 716
or email.