Peter Tork

Presenter at 9th annual LA Music Awards

Scheduled Presenter – 10th Annual LA Music Awards 2001

Long before “Peter Tork” became a legendary part of the prefab phenomenon known as the “The Monkees,” he was a well-respected musician/artist in the burgeoning New York folk and blues scene. Peter’s gift for playing a plethora of instruments (bass, guitar, keyboard, banjo and french horn) generated high demand for his services as a sideman/back-up artist. Peter knocked around for several hungry years in the mid-60’s, hanging and performing with the likes of John Phillips, Steven Stills, Dave Van Ronk, Van Dyke Parks and Arthur Lee. The list goes on.

The fateful call, which would change Peter’s life forever, came in June of 1965. Friend and confidante, Steven Stills, not quite hitting the mark with his own audition, rung his buddy, urging him to give it a go. Twice. Stills remarks to the producers that he knew ‘just the man to fill the bill’ were spot on. Peter aced the audition for a what was to become a ground breaking multimedia project centered on a zany, young, rock/pop band – styled as THE American answer to the Beatles. The results were stellar and changed the popular music and television biz forever.

Peter, never totally satisfied with prefab fame though at the height of his pop icon status, stuck to his roots as a starving artist. He could forever be found jamming with bands, learning and honing his chops. Music legend Jimi Hendrix jammed with Peter on several occasions, calling Peter – “The most talented Monkee.”

Peter has continued his solo career through the years, performing with his own bands, writing and recording and also making numerous guest appearances on a variety of TV programs.

Peter realized a real love affair with the blues sometime during the 1990’s. The result of that love is called Shoe Suede Blues.

Defining Peter Tork and Shoe Suede Blues is akin to describing the history of popular music.

Through Peter’s band of seasoned pros, Shoe Suede Blues delivers a heartfelt soulful, uplifting and quite unforgettable mixture, divined from their vision of what music is all about.

Peter Tork and Shoe Suede Blues…witness that the heart and soul of music lives.