Meet Your Neighbors: The Peterson Brothers
With nearly seven years of residency at The Continental Club, Glenn and Alex Peterson have become young pillars of Austin’s blues scene. “We didn’t come from a musical family. You know, there’s no musicians in our church, we didn’t go to a music school, nothin’ like that,” says Alex Peterson. “It was just me and [my brother] Glenn just picking stuff up and figuring it out musically.”
I caught up with Glenn, Alex, and Michael (drummer) after their usual Monday night show at The Continental Club. As music from legends like Eric Clapton and Bob Dylan blared from the stage, we discussed influences, favorite musicians and dreams.
They’ve found mentors in Gary Clark Jr. and Kenny Wayne Shepherd, who’ve taken the Peterson Brothers on tour multiple times, giving them enough exposure to eventually play at the Chicago Blues Festival, ACL, and Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival. Besides playing guitar well beyond their years, what makes the Peterson Brothers special is the pure joy in their stage presence. “Our life is music,” Glenn says, “no matter what age, no matter what race, [music is] the one place people can come to agree on.”
They smile for the entirety of each show, and it’s contagious. My face hurt after their two-and-a-half hour set at the Continental Club. People poured in all night, tightly packing into the venue. The brothers closed making their signature lap around the venue, walking through the crowd and onto South Congress while playing the guitar--a move they learned from Buddy Guy.
Their credentials alone--not to mention taste, style and arrangement--are those of a much older band. The Peterson Brothers have opened for Buddy Guy, the late BB King (at Gruene Hall), Willie Nelson, Gary Clark Jr., and Los Lonely Boys. Playing shows with these guys makes you feel like “you’re meant to do this,” Glenn says. “They just make you feel that way, and even just to be in some of those rooms is self affirmation--this is where I’m supposed to be--and with my family too. You can’t beat that.”
It’s hard to believe their first live music experience was just over a decade ago. Glen and Alex’s older brother took them to Austin’s Batfest, where they vibed with The Wailers (Bob Marley’s band). At 9 and 11, Alex and Glen were diving in the deep end of music discovery. They absorbed “anything soul,” Earth, Wind & Fire, The Brothers Johnson, and B.B. King from records their mom and grandmother found at garage sales. Just a few years after seeing their first show, Glenn and Alex began playing their own show at bars around Austin. Glenn says “the people who have come and watched us grow up over the years have come to be like family.”
The Peterson Brothers’ whole operation centers on family--their parents haven’t missed a show in ten years. When we met at The Continental Club, they’d just returned from a two week tour with Gary Clark Jr., and the brothers’ most dedicated roadie--dad--drove every second of the way. “Mom’s always on the phone trying to find gigs and route tours,” Alex says, “it’s about the whole family.” The band is so tight knit that Michael even made the Peterson family Christmas card. Michael says, “they’re pretty much my brothers and my family now.”
The collective music IQ of the band “helps us connect with everybody,” Glenn says. “What is crazy is how many different age groups are [at our shows]. Even tonight there was a mix of age groups. We have all ages, all races. We almost like live sample; we’ll just put random songs in the middle of all these either original jams or old school jams. We grew up on that stuff and had a foundation going from the 60s all the way to today. At the same time we’re 20 and 22, so we listen to other artists from today.”
Even though they often have more shows than days off in a week, the Peterson Brothers continue to deliver fresh takes on old school blues. “These days I’m looking at everything beyond guitar playing,” says Glenn. “For example, there’s a couple times tonight where I’ll take songs from SZA. I’ll take vocal lines and play them as melodies inside of a solo or horn parts or stuff that’s not guitar.”
“We plan to do this for the rest of our lives,” Alex says. I hope he’s true. We all need more people like Alex, throwing an eye-watering trumpet rendition of “Amazing Grace” into the middle of an energetic guitar set. Our community of close friends, rowdy strangers, hippies, artists, students and barflies needs musicians challenging our expectations and uniting us in sonic wonder. “If you haven’t been to a show,” Glen says, “you’ll definitely experience the love, the happiness and the smiles in the room.” Walking out I overheard a similar sentiment from two ladies laughing that the party hasn’t started until their dad is dancing around the crowd with the tip jar.
Check out The Peterson Brothers show schedule here.