Duke Special

All Music Guide:

Northern Ireland would appear an unlikely location to give birth to a vaudeville-obsessed bohemian singer poet, but try telling that to Lisburn (near Belfast) native Peter Wilson, better known by his stage name Duke Special. The self-proclaimed creator of "hobo chic" -- a reference both to his distinctive dress style and his unusually refined spin on traditional music hall and vaudeville forms -- cuts a striking figure on-stage, often performing alone with only his piano and old, squeaky gramophone for accompaniment. When he does choose to perform with a full band, the scene can more closely resemble a lively kitchen than a pop concert, with egg beaters and cheese graters among the less traditional instruments on offer.

Following a number of low-profile stints with local bands in Swindon, England, and Belfast, Wilson began his solo career proper in 2002, taking on the name Duke Special -- "Duke" a particularly popular stage name for male vaudeville performers and "Special" a concession to the "glam" aspect of his character. His first two EPs, 2002's Lucky Me and 2004's My Villain Heart, were combined in 2005 into Adventures in Gramophone, his first full-length release, and a third EP, Your Vandal, followed later that year. Special shot from local hero to nationwide cult favorite following his performance on the fourth season of RTÉ television's Other Voices in 2006. His two-song set was deemed sufficiently impressive to be chosen above the likes of Rufus Wainwright, Trashcan Sinatras, and Bell X1 as the viewers' most requested performance during the end-of-series clip show.

Duke Special released his second album, and his first album proper, Songs from the Deep Forest in May 2006 as a set of six 7" singles on Izumi Records. The same month, he signed a recording contract with V2 Music. A CD release of Songs from the Deep Forest followed in October, and a deluxe edition, including a ten-track live disc recorded with the Ulster Philharmonic Orchestra, was packaged for release in September 2007.

Wikipedia:

Duke Special, real name Peter Wilson, is a songwriter and performer based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. A piano-based songwriter with a romantic style and a warm, distinctly accented voice, he has distinctive long dreadlocks, eyeliner and outfits he describes as "hobo chic". His live performances have a theatrical style inspired by Vaudeville and music hall, and often incorporate 78s played on an old-fashioned gramophone, or sound effects from a transistor radio. He is most often accompanied by percussionist "Temperance Society" Chip Bailey, who plays cheese graters and egg whisks, a Stumpf fiddle and a Shruti box, as well as the more typical drums and cymbals. Other musicians who perform with Wilson from time to time include Paul Pilot (guitar), Réa Curran (trumpet, backing vocals, accordion), Ben Castle (clarinet, saxophone), Ben Hales (bass guitar), Gareth Williams, "Professor" Ger Eaton (keyboards), Dan Donnelly (mandoline, backing vocals) and Serge Archibald III (saxophone, "ethereal background sounds", vibes).

His albums include Adventures in Gramophone (2005), Songs from the Deep Forest (2006), both of which were nominated for the Choice Music Prize, I Never Thought This Day Would Come (2008), Little Revolutions (2009), The Silent World of Hector Mann (2010), Mother Courage and Her Children (2010), Under the Dark Cloth (2011) and Oh Pioneer (2012).Cite error: There are <ref> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist}} template (see the help page).

Background[edit]

Wilson was born in Lisburn and grew up in Coleraine, Downpatrick and Holywood with his mother, father and three sisters. Wilson's grandmother, Mary Groves, taught his mother and her brothers and sisters to play the piano. This tradition of playing the piano was passed on to Wilson's three sisters and eventually to him also. He attended Down High School, Downpatrick and later Sullivan Upper School in Holywood.

After leaving school and a brief stint with a community arts project in Swindon, England he returned home and played piano for Brian Houston (a Belfast songwriter influenced by Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, Bruce Springsteen, Johnny Cash and Elvis) under whom Wilson apprenticed, picking up a hunger for performing and a knack of winning over an audience in the process. Several band mutations on the musical journey followed and saw Wilson front other acts composed of Belfast musicians but he was yet to hit his stride.

He currently resides in Belfast with his wife and family.

Solo work[edit]

In 2002 he went solo, adopting the name Duke Special, and began building up a following as a live performer. He released three EPs on Medieval Haircut Records, the first two of which, Lucky Me and My Villain Heart, were collected as an album, Adventures in Gramophone, released by Hag Records in 2005. The album was nominated for the 2006 Choice Music Prize. In 2006 he signed to V2 Records and released a second album, Songs from the Deep Forest, which was nominated for the 2007 Choice Music Prize. He was nominated for three 2007 Meteor Music Awards, for best Irish male, best newcomer, and best album for Songs from the Deep Forest. A third album, I Never Thought This Day Would Come, was released in Ireland in October 2008 on Universal, who had acquired V2 in 2007.

He has supported acts such as Crowded House, Van Morrison and Snow Patrol, and in 2006 toured Ireland with the Beautiful South and Europe with the Divine Comedy. In 2007 he headlined a concert with the Ulster Orchestra at Belfast's Waterfront Hall, "Orchestral Manoevres". The concert was supported by Julie Feeney and Foy Vance, who sang on one of Duke Special's songs, "This Could Be My Last Day". 2007 also saw him perform at Greenbelt festival, Glastonbury, Guilfest, Summer Sundae, Haldern Festival and the Electric Picnic among others and support Bell X1 on 2 dates; in Malahide Castle, Dublin and also as part of the Live at the Marquee series of concerts in Cork. In 2007 he performed as part of the BBC Electric Proms, supporting former Kinks lead singer Ray Davies. In 2008 he won the Meteor Music Award for Best Irish Male.

In August 2008, Duke Special appeared in the Northern Ireland children's television show Sesame Tree (a show of which his son, Ben, is a huge fan, even now, aged 15) with his band, having also written the theme music for the show. He also played on the O2 stage at Oxegen in 2009. Between September and December 2009 Duke Special and his band appeared on stage at the Royal National Theatre in London as part of a new production of Bertolt Brecht's play Mother Courage and Her Children, for which he wrote music for a number of songs. The production was directed by Deborah Warner and starred Fiona Shaw in the title role.

In January 2010 Wilson launched a campaign on Pledge Music (see Fan-funded music) whereby fans pledged for items to help fund the promotion and touring of his triple CD, The Stage, A Book & The Silver Screen (comprising Mother Courage and Her Children, The Silent World of Hector Mann and Huckleberry Finn).

On 11 September 2010 Duke Special played at the Last Night of the Proms for the BBC at Hillsborough Castle.

Duke Special presented a documentary on the life and songs of Belfast's Ruby Murray and released Duke Special Sings the Songs of Ruby Murray in January 2011.

In March 2011 Duke Special performed songs based on the photographs of Alfred Stieglitz, Edward Steichen and Paul Strand at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. These songs were subsequently released in November 2011 as the album Under the Dark Cloth performed alongside The RTE Concert Orchestra, conducted by David Brophy, with leader Joanne Quigley and arranged for orchestra by Michael Keeney.

In July 2012 Duke Special released his album "Oh Pioneer" on his own label, Adventures in Gramophone, with the help of digital distributor AWAL. It was featured on iTunes, reaching #3 on the Singer / Songwriter chart in Ireland and #7 in the UK.

He will be appearing at Camp Bestival, performing live sets in both the Big Top and in the Black Dahlia / Spiegel Tent - where he will also be debuting as a 78rpm record DJ as a guest of the Shellac Collective.

In 2013 he will headline the main stage at the Greenbelt Festival in Cheltenham as it celebrates its 40th Anniversary.Cite error: There are <ref> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist}} template (see the help page).