Page 29 - BiTS_08_AUGUST_2023

THE BITS INTERVIEW: Pistol Pete Wearn

Pete Wearn is a lesson in dedication to us all. He has carried the banner

of blues and roots music, steadfastly and with an admirable passion. A
dedicated acoustic player, Pete has just released his new album “Blues,

Ballads And Barnstormers” to broad accolades (see review in this edition

of BiTS by Norman Darwen—who knows a bit about this stuff). Ian

McKenzie spoke to Pete on the telephone at his home in Stafford.

BiTS: Pete? Hello. It's Ian McKenzie.

PPW: Hi, Ian.

BiTS: How are you doing?

PPW: I'm not so bad, thank you. Yourself?

BiTS: Okay, let's make a start then. Tell me
something about yourself. How did you first
get into music, for example?

PPW: How did I first get into music? Well,
my dad was a folk musician. He was a sort of
regular on the scene in Newcastle in the
1960s. So he was a big influence obviously on
me in my early years. Blues in particular, I

think I have a very vivid memory of seeing a
Levis advert with the pair of jeans in the
fridge and Muddy Waters playing in the
background when I was about six or seven, I
guess, so I think that was my entry into blues.

BiTS: When did you decide that you were
going to make music your career? Did you
have a job before you became a professional
musician?

PPW: Yes, so I worked in coffee shops up
until about 2015 and gigged on the side, and
that's been my full-time career since then. I
decided my career in coffee shops was not exactly glittering and that I didn't have a lot to lose
by trying to become a full-time musician.

BiTS: I was going to leave this until later, but I believe you've had a menu item named after you
somewhere or other.

PPW: Yes. A venue in Stafford called The Market Vaults had a Pistol Pete salad for a while. The
landlord told me he'd already used Morrissey for the burger, and I was the only other vegetarian

he could think of to name it after.