Peter Tickell

Peter Tickell

Musician & Composer

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Biography

Biography

Born in 1986, violinist, composer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Peter Tickell is one of the U.K’s most intrepid and dynamic young musicians and part of a breed of musicians who seek to defy genre. Raised in Newcastle he was strongly influenced by the musical landscape of his home town, neighbouring Scotland and his mother’s heartland Ireland. His musical interests are diverse and unorthodox, as he combines this innate love of folk music with strong classical foundations and also maintains a passionate interest in pop, world, jazz, glitch, abstract, electronica and anything else that grips an insatiable appetite for new music. This zealous approach to open-mindedness has led to him working with a diverse range of musicians from across the globe, including Sting, Peter Gabriel, Paul Simon, Everything Everything, Birdy, Vincent Segal, Nigel Hitchcock, The Baghdaddies, Unusual Suspects, Mr Mcfall’s Chamber, Lindisfarne’s Billy Mitchell & Fraser Fifield.

He turned professional aged 16 by joining The Kathryn TickellBand with whom he toured extensively throughout the U.K and Europe for 7 years. By the age of 18 he had already performed at some of the U.K and Europe’s largest festivals including Cambridge Festival, Celtic Connections, Manchester Bridgewater Hall, BBC Broadcasting House, St. Chartier Festival (France) & Vossa Jazz Festival (Norway).

In 2005, he first performed with Scottish Turbo-Folk-Jazz-Fusion pioneers Peatbog Faeries, as a result of a fortuitous meeting with legendary Scottish violinist Adam Sutherland in a Newcastle bar. Through this chance union he subsequently encountered saxophone virtuoso Nigel Hitchcock and trombone warrior poet Rick Taylor, who increased his awareness of jazz and improvisation with their eloquence and articulation on such a complex subject. In 2009 the PBF completed a tour of the U.K. encompassing a festival appearance at Glastonbury and performing alongside RunRig at Scone Palace in front of 20,000 people. The summer of 2010 saw the band tour Canada, thrilling dancing audiences of more than 10,000 people at high-profile festivals like Vancouver Island Music Festival, Vancouver Folk Festival, Winnipeg Folk Festival and Calgary Folk Festival. A significant compositional contribution was made to the band’s critically-acclaimed 2011 album ‘Dust’.

In 2006, he joined forces with psychobilly troubadours Maybe Myrtle Tyrtle. The band frequently piled into tiny cars to drive long distances to play in rock bars, clubs, living rooms, festivals, castles, illegal raves and just once, a double decker bus. Fronted by charismatic singer R J Humphries & heavily influenced by Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart & Bruce Springsteen, The Tyrtle’s developed a devoted and somewhat cult following, as a result of visceral, chaotic (and occasionally shambolic) live performances. Tickell’s playing features prominently on two Maybe Myrtle Tyrtle albums, ‘Bushwacka’ & ‘Hotel Fandango’.

In 2008 Peter was commissioned to compose the music for independent film company Amber Films’ ‘Pursuit of Happiness’, a film about the traveling community of County Durham, which appeared on Channel 4 television later that year, receiving positive reviews.

In 2009 he was invited to a recording session in London to play on Sting’s album, ‘If On A Winter’s Night’. Tickell’s playing featured on the album’s single ‘Soul Cake’, and he was subsequently invited to take part in a live performance of the album in the nine hundred year old Durham Cathedral. This unique concert was filmed and broadcast across the world, and was also performed to sell-out audiences in New York, Paris & Baden-Baden. At the tail end of 2009, he performed to a packed house at the Sage Gateshead alongside Sting to mark the 5^th anniversary of the buildings inception.

Formed Fatal Frontiers at the start of 2011, a trio consisting of Tickell (fiddle, vocals, guitar, keys), Dan Rogers (bass) and Martin Douglas (drums) the band entered the studio to record their debut EP. The band added a 4th member, London guitarist Rufus Miller, and evolved into The Watcher. An eponymous EP was released online.

In 2011, Pete was invited on the ‘Back 2 Bass’ world tour with an all-star 6-piece band assembled by Sting, alongside Dominic Miller, Vinnie Colaiuta, David Sancious, Jo Lawry & Rufus Miller. It was at this time that he left Peatbog Faeries (amicably) and was replaced by Ross Couper.

At the end of 2012, Tickell moved to Berlin with Scottish producer Klunks and formed Cut Lip.

During 2014-15 Tickell joined Sting & Paul Simon on their critically acclaimed world tour, entitled ‘On Stage Together’. During the summer of 2015 he toured Europe with Sting playing European rock & jazz festivals.

2016 he began working with Birdy. Summer 2016, joined ‘Rock Paper Scissors’ tour with Sting & Peter Gabriel

Quotes:

‘Jaw-dropping violin solos’ – Seattle Times

‘Charismatic fiddle player’ – New York Times

‘Electric fiddle virtuoso, … electrifying playing that wowed the crowd’ – Toronto Sun

‘Fiddler extraordinaire, the young virtuoso gave a performance that could be remembered 25 years from now’ – Chicago Daily Herald

‘Demonic fiddler’ – Rolling Stone magazine

‘neo-Paganini violinist’ theday.com

‘You may be from the North of England, but you play country music like a motherfucker’ – Laurence Fishburne

 

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