Pete Thomas

Born in Reading and a graduate of the Newcastle College of Performing Arts, the first instrument that Pete learned to play was the guitar. In his early teens he discovered the bass guitar and subsequently the double bass, and these became his favoured instruments for live performance and recording. Nevertheless he is no mean player of the tenor banjo, mandolin and bouzouki and enjoys playing them whenever the opportunity arises as a change from being the “bassman”.

At the Derby Folk Festival - image by permission © Mark Steele 

His career started when he was still at school and he has performed for more than a decade professionally with many bands covering many genres: R&B and rock, English and Irish folk music, bluegrass, and gypsy jazz.

He is an old hand at performing at festivals for all these types of music and is looking forward to the 2025 season with hopefully better weather than 2024.

R&B, gypsy jazz, rock & roll and bluegrass are all remaining buoyant through 2025. PM Warson’s R&B band are working on a new album at the moment and are going on a short tour to the Netherlands in May. Bluegrass band The Vanguards have just returned from Denmark where they performed in Copenhagen where there is a vibrant bluegrass following and the band were very much appreciated. Gypsy jazz is more popular in private functions and January has been busy.

Nevertheless Pete is now reprising his folk music skills particularly performing on his tenor banjo. He used to play regularly about ten years ago particularly in pub jam sessions but also had airings on the radio at the time. He also plays mandolin and bouzouki and is currently awaiting the arrival of his latest mandolin made especially for him by Fylde Instruments. He is already playing in a couple of jam sessions and the hope is that this will develop into something much more regular and substantial.

See the Discography page on this website for details and links for all the music mentioned above.

Click for pics/clips of Jazz, Folk and Blues/Rock

See also Pete Thomas's Instagram page and YouTube account.