BULLET BIO:

Born Hartford Ct., 1957; raised in Nashua, NH.

Taught himself guitar at age 10, piano at age 11.

Inspired by the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, BB King, Mike Bloomfield, Mississippi John Hurt, Fats Domino, Little Richard, Otis Spann, among many others.

1970's - Played in bands through high school playing blues, country rock and classic R&B, started writing songs.

Attended New England Conservatory, then Berklee College of Music, Boston, MA, 1978-82.

1980's - Formed original bands that played throughout New England and opened for Taj Mahal, Dave Mason and Steve Forbert.

1986 - Released “Motion” an album of original "blue-eyed soul," with 5 piece band.

1980's - Began performing more jazz, as solo, trio and with big bands.

1990's - Performed throughout New England as bandleader with trio and 6 piece swing & soul band.

1996 – Started teaching private music lessons full time.

1999 – Released “Do That,” a jazz trio CD featuring all original compositions.

2004 – Released “Swingin' the Blues,” CD of original swing, blues and jazz with 9 piece band.

2008 – Released “American Standard Blue,” CD of classic standards and blues in solo, trio and 6 piece band formats.

2012 – Released “The Wayback Machine,” songs from the birth of jazz and blues. Peter performs on all of the instruments.

2000 – present: Produces music for film & TV, Music featured on “Dateline NBC,” “Bad Girls Road Trip,” “Storage Wars,” and internationally.

2000 – present: Engineers and produces CDs and demo recordings for local solo artists, rock bands and classical musicians.

2015 – Writing, arranging and recording new original music in the style of the American standards and blues.

LONG FORM BIO:

Peter Hostage is a jazz/blues pianist/vocalist from New Hampshire, USA. He cites Ray Charles, Mose Allison, Dr. John, Bill Evans, Count Basie, Big Joe Turner and Louis Jordan among his major influences.

Mr. Hostage taught himself guitar and piano starting at the age of 10. The Beatles and Bob Dylan were his first major influences, but he was soon taken with the blues of B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Ray Charles, Paul Butterfield, Robert Johnson and Mississippi John Hurt.

Peter started gigging in his early teens as a solo guitarist/vocalist playing country blues at coffeehouses and house parties. That led to opportunities to play guitar and piano with local blues and R&B “bar” bands, though he was still under age for those kinds of gigs!

Peter attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA, as a piano/composition major from 1978 until 1982. There he found a deep appreciation for jazz and improvisational music, and started performing jazz along with blues and classic R&B.

Mr. Hostage formed his own rock and R&B band in the early '80s, and in 1986 released his first album “Motion” a collection of original “blue-eyed soul” songs. By the late '80s he had also started performing with his jazz trio, and gigging with some area jazz big bands.

In 1999 Peter released his second original album,

“Do That!” with his jazz trio. In 2001 he put together a 9 piece swing and jump blues band called the Peter Hostage Situation, and released an album, “Swingin' the Blues” of mostly original songs penned by Mr. Hostage.

“American Standard Blue,” released in 2008, features jazz standards and blues covers, performed with his working band at that time.

In 2012, Peter recorded an album of “songs from the birth of jazz and blues,” called “The Wayback Machine.” On this recording, Mr. Hostage plays all of the instruments including piano, bass, organ drums, guitar and vocals.

Mr. Hostage continues “blurring the line between jazz and blues” with his newest (2018) release “Uptown,” on which he again performs all of the instruments. This album of 12 songs is written, arranged, recorded, produced and mastered by Peter in his modest home studio.

Mr. Hostage is a full-time music instructor with over 50 students per week, so touring is not an option right now. Instead, he produces new music, performing the tracks live to video, again playing piano, guitar, bass, drums, organ and whatever else that might be laying around! The music is jazz and jazz-influenced original songs and compositions. Peter hopes to release one new piece per month.

Major Influences:

The Beatles, BB King, Otis Spann, Joe Turner, Louis Jordan, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, Bill Evans, Horace Silver, Mose Allison, Ray Charles, Dr John, Professor Longhair, Paul Butterfield, Hank Jones, Aretha, Red Garland, many more!

Records on Blue Note, Stax/Volt, Atlantic, Motown, Prestige, Minit, Impulse.