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Pete Nixon
pete@wallyrocks.com
Music was always present in Pete’s home during his childhood; his mother being the organist at the church where his father was the minister. Those early influences were largely religious: hymns being the norm; but, like every child in the 60s, Pete eventually became aware of the pop/rock music scene.
Pete says, “My friends and I would imitate the current popular rock bands by strumming tennis rackets and lip synching. It wasn’t until I started delivering papers at around age 12 that I took it seriously at all. One of my stops was Oak Park Music in Louisiana, Missouri. I often would hang around with the store manager because he was always playing guitar, working on guitars, giving guitar lessons. He gave me guitar lessons casually, while he tended store, and didn’t require me to pay. He said he enjoyed showing me stuff because I caught on so quickly. He was lead guitar player in a local band called County Soul and I really admired him.”
One of Pete’s first bands played at a junior high dance for his fellow class members, but the first real gigging band he played with was Chub Mix and the Denims. “I wasn’t yet old enough to drive and yet I was playing guitar in bars. We played a lot of country music and eventually that fizzled. I played for a period during high school with “Sundown”: some older guys from a nearby town. There were also some short-term involvements with other bands until I graduated from Louisiana High School in 1977.”
After high school, Pete tried majoring in music in college, but he soon dropped out and moved to Nashville in pursuit of music but found that making a living left little time. He returned to college and pledged the fraternity with his brother, but dropped out again and joined the band “Roadside Attraction” based in Illinois with Bob Harvey, from Toledo, Ohio and drummer Bill McGreevey from Pete’s home town. Pete later returned to mid-Missouri, played guitar and sang high lead vocals with a band called “Runner” and completed an Associates Degree in Drafting Technology. He soon joined up again with buddies from high school in the band “Country Soul”. In 1985, Pete got an offer to reunite with Bob Harvey in Toledo, playing bass and singing in the band, “The Proof.” After the move to Ohio, Pete married his hometown sweetheart, Liz; bought a house in Lambertville, Michigan; and earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering from the University of Toledo. Pete got the call to be a Beav in 2003. When Pete is not performing with Wally and The Beavs, he is employed by Sponseller Group, Inc., (an engineering consulting firm), of Holland, Ohio. Pete is licensed in Michigan and Ohio as a professional civil/structural engineer and, with what spare moments are left, dedicates his time to physical fitness and running. He and Liz now live in Temperance, Michigan with four very smart cats.
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