Interview
Pete Leonard sits in a low lit but cosy corner of his local
pub. The Old Ale House in
The blues singer’s extraordinary skill and complete absorption in the music he plays is enough to grab the attention of any audience member. Local music producer and respected critic in the Salisbury music scene, Geoff Swan explained how the singer can do this: “His Guitar playing is reminiscent of an exaggerated Nick Drake meets any classic acoustic blues artist. While vocally he doesn't exhibit a pitch perfect offering, his delivery and phrasing negates the need for any such a pristine performance.”
The 20 year old has been exposed to the gritty world of
music from a young age: “My Dad runs a blanket stall at festivals called Joe
Bananas, so I’ve always been involved in events.” Pete’s family support his
music, his mother Jeanette explained: “I could watch him play 24 hours a day.
He is very versatile, using other stringed instruments and the harmonica. Some
have questioned his age as he has the technique of someone older – he makes the
instruments work for him not the other way round.” 
He started playing in his first band ‘Red Sauce’ when he was just 13, “It was a punk thrash band and I was with them for about four months.” Pete next became lead vocalist for a band called Crippled Rook, “We were doing really well, playing a lot in London and all over The South. We split up because of differences really, it just kind of stopped working.”
Pete has just released his first solo EP called ‘When the Grass Turns Blue’ – a grainy blues record with a folk spirit that has been coursing through his veins since his birth. “There are a lot of songs which had been in my head for a while. I mostly think of them when I’m drunk and type them into my phone. I then mould them into songs, other people seem to understand them more than I do,” Pete laughs.
Pete is a well known figure in the music scene on the coast. “It’s a nice area the South. I’m thinking of moving down to Brighton,” explained Pete, “it’s pretty easy for musicians in The South because you can get to everywhere easily, like London and places like that.” Local DJ and promoter of Salisbury bands Neil Middleton ran Dirty Boots – an indie nightclub which Pete played at a number of times. Neil remembered that “Dirty Boots spread its wings a little and started running acoustic nights once a month in Bournemouth, as a firm believer of trying to push things locally, we decided to get the best of Salisbury's talent down to the first one. His style is not something that everyone has seen, he isn't your ‘run of the mill’ singer songwriter.”
Pete’s love of music touches every part of his life, “For my other job I make hi-fi cables. It’s in a warehouse and we’re all in bands, all the people who work there play an instrument.” Pete’s friend and boss Nigel said “One of the joys of sharing the same work space with him is watching him track sounds back to their originators and then inflict Woody Guthrie on his unsuspecting workmates who tend to prefer Radio One. The openness and enthusiasm with which he greets music he has not heard before is extremely unusual in one so young.”
“One of my ambitions is to sail around the world,” explains Pete, “everything else involves music really.” For someone who has been in and out of bands throughout his teens and has just released his first solo EP, his future plans are sure to include performing. Pete explained, “I want to make a proper album and play lots of gigs. My favourite genre to play is probably blues, my lyrics aren’t horrible like about losing someone I love. It’s just the rhythmical trance like state about blues that means that you can disappear when playing it. But if I didn’t make it as an artist I’d like to start my own guitar shop and café called ‘The Tumble Inn’.”