Pete Roberts

Pete Roberts lives in the small town of Kendall in the Camden Haven area on the Mid North Coast of NSW, Australia. For the last few years he has performed with his own self-built acoustic guitars to combine a truly genuine tone with his craft.

Pete’s quirky stage presence, talent and enthusiasm ensures that his audience is completely engaged from the second he strums his guitar and let's his voice soar. Pete plays acoustic & electric guitar, stomp box, foot tambourine, vocal percussion and loops with beatboxing, guitar percussion, and even kazoo. He uses alternative guitar styles switching between finger picking and energetic strumming. He also uses unconventional chords and guitar percussion to deliver a unique, fresh and unpredictable musical journey. His vocals are warm, soulful, husky and well harmonised.   

Pete’s song writing often steers away from the common rhyming lyrics and standard verse/chorus structure. His lyrics explore different aspects of self-reflection and intrinsic motivation and often use second person narrative and rhetorical questions to ponder experiences. Pete’s original music connects with the crowd, creating an intimate and special experience for all.  He truly understands that the audience is equally as important as his music, which is a noteworthy and special talent.  At times he engages the audience by instigating backing percussion or vocals. 

When playing covers, Pete strays from traditional songs, preferring old school classics by David Bowie, Motor Ace, Tonic and You Am I and he has a passion for mashups; mixing words, chords and melodies to create fresh tunes.

Born in Katoomba in the Blue Mountains NSW, Pete has moved about NSW, residing in Taree, Newcastle (where he completed his Cabinet Making Trade), Menindee near Broken Hill (where he started  teaching High School Industrial Arts/Wood) and in his last decade, has set up shop in the beautiful township of Kendall. 

Being both a qualified cabinet maker, woodwork teacher and skilled musician, he has combined these talents to hand craft his own signature steel string acoustic guitars (credit to John Buckham of Wauchope for his tuition).  He also plays Cole Clark Fat Lady model guitars. 

In Sept 2023, Pete started to share live sounds from his 2nd officially released album “NOWEVER”. The album navigates aspects of trying to live in the moment while challenging the urge to move to the next thing in life and also ponder on things in the past. In the Sept/Oct school holidays of 2023 Pete spread tunes from the album on Pt1 of an album tour. The standout session of these shows was at the Bootlegger Bar in Katoomba, where patrons readily absorbed the immediacy and intimacy of Pete's craft. In late 2023 Pete trekked to Yamba to play at the Pacific Hotel and Wobbly Chook Brewery as well as the Woopi Brewing Co in Woologoolga.

In late 2019, Pete delivered official album No.1 “Lifiatus”, a portmanteau of 'life' and 'hiatus'. The album explores concepts around the absence or presence of life.  The album features collaborations with local musicians as well as students who attended Camden Haven High School, where Pete has taught since 2015. He was extremely grateful for the musical contributions made by Jasmine O’Brien, Sam Davison and Aaron Johnson and for the visual art by friends, family and colleagues that features on the album artwork including cover art by Iean Bon of Bassic Brand.

In the years leading up to the release of Lifiatus Pete has delivered solo performances at venues in the Hastings and Newcastle regions such as The Glasshouse, Conservatorium MNC, Tapp Bar Panthers, Flow Bar, Beechwood Cafe, The Old Butter Factory, Lass O’Gowrie Hotel, Hamilton Station Hotel, Blue Water Bar,  Kendall Music Exchange, Aztec Mexican Restaurant, Bonny Hills Beach Hotel, Wauchope School of Arts, The Retro Room, Latin Loafer and Botanical Wine Garden. 

Peter has performed alongside reputable local musicians including Dan Hopkins, Andrew Cousins, Pam Hata, Emma Dykes, Katherine Bright, Sarah Marine and Chris Murray in addition to touring acts such as popular country artist Sarah Leete. In the mid 2000's Pete played with alternative rock band Geisha Blue in Newcastle and performed solo at several venues. He has participated in events spanning fundraisers, talent competitions and small festivals.