Guitarist from Nashville, Tennessee
The West Coast Voice…
Guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter, Peter Mayer has been quietly and steadily building a fervent following around the globe, stepping out of the shadow of his boss, Jimmy Buffett, into his own with a fresh songwriting and performing style.
Accompanied by bassist John Eatmon from Ft. Lauderdale; drummer Roger “Scotch” Guth; and guitarist Vince Varvel from St. Louis, Missouri, Peter delivers honest revealing music that blends originality with accessibility, bound together by a virtuoso ensemble sound that makes it all seem easy.
While Peter Mayer is a portent of music for the coming millennium, he and his band are hardly fresh faced newcomers. The foursome boast between them an extensive performing and songwriting portfolio with experience in any number of styles from jazz to country, rock to classical.
Recording under the name PM, Peter released an eponymous debut album for Warner Bros. in 1988 with Elliot Scheiner (Steely Dan, Aretha Franklin, Bruce Hornsby) produced single “Piece of Paradise” reaching #8 on the Billboard chart. Despite the top ten single, major tours with both “Moody Blues” and “Chicago”, and rave national media reviews, Peter and his band got lost in the Warner Brothers bureaucracy…. perhaps a blessing in disguise.
When Scheiner was hired to produce Buffett’s “Off to See the Lizard” album, he suggested that Jimmy use PM for the recording sessions. Buffett was so impressed with their unique versatility as musicians and performers that he quickly hired them as part of his own “Coral Reefer Band”, a successful relationship that continues to date.
“I had no idea what to expect or what I was getting into,” said Mayer. “I’m not sure if it was me who brought Roger and Jim, or the other way around, but we thought it would be a fun thing to do while we shopped for a new record deal. I remember sitting in my hotel room before the session thinking, ‘I should really listen to this guy before the session,’ and put on Jimmy’s ‘Floridays’ album. ‘Creola’ came on and I thought, ‘Hey, that’s really nice.’ We went on over to the Hit Factory recording studio, and the first thing Jimmy said was, ‘So this is my new band.’
Since that first meeting, Peter has become a favorite to watch and listen to. In addition to the busy schedule with JB, Peter still manages to write and record his own band materials, made evident by such great CD’s as “Street of Dreams”, “Red Wine and Lemonade”, and the very popular “Green Eyed Radio”.
Peter hails from Tamilnadu, the far southern region of India, where his parents served as missionaries for seventeen years before returning to their Missouri roots. Musical influences from that period of his life can be heard in his playing. Peter recalls, “I can remember Indian musicians giving Christmas concerts in my parent’s house; wildly playing drums and flutes, shakers and bells…. they would go on for hours and hours.” Peter currently resides in St. Louis with his wife Patricia, and children Brendan and India.
