Finding Strength Through Sound: Pete Dankelson's Story

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Today's episode is brought to you by Oak Tree
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the episode description and tell them we sent
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you when you visit OaktreeProducts .com. Today
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on Hear Us Out, we're joined by Pete Dankleson,
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musician, content creator, and the man behind
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Pete's Diary. Pete has built a community by sharing
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his journey with hearing loss, music, and resilience,
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using honesty, humor, and creativity to connect
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with numerous people navigating their own challenges.
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Through his videos, music, and advocacy, he's
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helping redefine what it means to live and create
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through adversity. We look forward to hearing
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Pete's story. Pete, welcome to Hear Us Out. Yeah,
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thanks for having me on. Good to be here. Our
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pleasure. Why don't you tell us a little bit
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about your story and your history with hearing
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loss? Yeah, so I was born with a rare craniofacial
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syndrome called golden heart syndrome. And I
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guess like in terms of with my hearing, I'm missing
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my left ear. I was born without it. So I have
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the bone acher hearing aid. I got the Baja surgery
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pretty much almost exactly 10 years ago. Yeah,
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the attract system. And I love it. It's fantastic.
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Can you tell us about growing up without an ear
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and kids can be rough. Can you tell us what it
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was like for you growing up with that? In school,
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I was kind of lucky because I lived in Michigan
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at the time for elementary and middle school.
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And kind of a nice thing with that is it was
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a very small class. There was about 25 of us
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or so. per class, 50 per grade. So really from
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first to eighth grade, we all kind of grew up
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with each other, which is like looking back at
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it now is something really special. So at least
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I never had like any problems with anyone. Everyone
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was super friendly and it was pretty, you know,
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good group and, you know, very kind of tight
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together. Even like when I was like really young,
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like first grade. Like I remember mom came in
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and just kind of talked to the kids, like, you
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know, talked to us about like, you know, okay,
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he is missing his ear, but you know, he still
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wears glasses, you know, just stuff like that.
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Like just to kind of help kids understand. At
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the time I was wearing a prosthetic ear and I
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think it had fallen off at recess one time. So
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it was like, we explained how that worked and
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stuff like that. And really just over the years,
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you know, when like new people would come in,
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I think, you know. They were just kind of filled
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in with what was going on and what my story and
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condition was and no problems. It was really
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great. There were some instances outside of class
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or school, like at summer camps or something,
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if I was around people that I didn't know or
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kids that I didn't know, where they might have
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like made fun of or said something. But I mean,
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honestly, for the most part, you know, there
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were some issues, but overall not too serious
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or intense. It sounds like you were relatively
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open about your hearing loss and your situation
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from a young age. Yes. Yeah. Because I think
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when people understand something, it makes them
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less nervous or less afraid, you know, especially
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like talking about young kids, right? Especially
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like when we were all younger too, it's more
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so out of curiosity and I think maybe a little
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bit of concern. But kids are like very like blunt,
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very honest. So it's like they go, whoa, your
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ear's missing. Instead of like what happened
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to your ear. So yeah, just kind of being open
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about that and talking with them. It kind of
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helped put everyone at ease. I mean, it's still
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the same today. Being open and honest about it
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and not being afraid of it. It puts everybody
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at ease. It's carried over. Now, you had mentioned
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earlier about using a prosthetic ear when you
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were little. How did you anchor that into place?
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Let's see. It's kind of like this whole process
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in the morning getting ready for school. But
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really it was, well, I needed help. It was the
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one thing I needed help with in the morning.
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Basically, I think I haven't worn it in a long
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time. It's been quite a few years since I've
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worn it. But if I'm remembering right, we had
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the prosthetic and we had the special adhesive
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glue that we put on the back. And then if, I
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don't know, if there was like a rush in the mornings,
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mom would have a hairdryer. you know, warm air
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and help it warm up. And then we kind of line
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it up or she would really just kind of like line
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it up. There was a specific way we had to line
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it up and just kind of hold it in place for like
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30 seconds or so. I can't remember, to be honest.
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And then it would hopefully it would stay on
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for the whole day. And what led you to go away
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from using that? Let's see. I really, it was
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after high school, after I graduated high school,
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I stopped wearing it. And really, mainly the
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main thing I still wore it for at the time was
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to help hold my glasses up. Because, you know,
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kind of with glasses, they kind of tend to go
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a little crooked without the ear. But that was
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really the main reason. It wasn't really like
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to hide it or anything like that anymore. Like
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it was a confidence booster when I was younger
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that I needed at the time. By that point in my
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life, I was very comfortable in my skin, very
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confident in terms of this. So really, I just
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kind of liked it because it held my glasses up.
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But at that point, I managed to get contact.
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So I'm kind of like, you know what? Maybe it's
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time. Forget the year. What led to your decision
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to get the Baha and take that step? And how has
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the Baha been for you? What's your relationship
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with that? And how has that become part of your
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hearing journey? Yeah, so really, I had... Trial
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runs all throughout middle school, a little bit
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of elementary and middle school with the Baja.
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And I think at that point, too, at that time,
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you know, I didn't have the surgery yet or anything.
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I wore it on a headband and all that. I didn't
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quite stick with it at the time. And I actually
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can't quite remember why, if it was just being
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a scatterbrained little kid, you know, if it
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was just. Trying to keep track of it in the mic.
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Because I used the FM system at the time too.
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Just all of that, the headband and all. And I
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don't think I quite took to the headband. So
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kind of, to be honest, it was a bit of a struggle
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in middle school. But in high school, so I kind
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of went away from it starting high school. But
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at the end of my freshman year of high school
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was when I picked up the guitar and really started
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to get into music. And so... And I think I was
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kind of really open at that point too, to like,
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yeah, you know, with the music and everything,
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this might be important. Be good to try this
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again and really kind of take it seriously. So
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kind of at the end of the school year, I did
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a trial run for a while with it and kind of decided,
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yeah, you know what? I really do like this. This
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is pretty awesome. I think I would like to wear
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one all the time. And so met with the surgeon
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and he recommended the attract system instead
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of the abutment. That's what we did. I had the
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surgery. I remember it was kind of June and then
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got, you know, activation a couple weeks later.
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And I haven't looked back. I absolutely love
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it. I can't imagine my life without it now. I
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mean, of course, it helps a ton in the music,
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but it's just social, you know, settings and
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everything, too. It's great. you know helps to
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localize sound you know it's amazing you don't
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quite know what you're missing it's hard to describe
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but it's like with you know kind of having this
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my whole life it's kind of like this has always
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been my normal so it's kind of like really it
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definitely is a bit of an adjustment at first
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when you do turn it on it's like everything's
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a little bit different now so there was definitely
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like an adjustment with that I can't even remember
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when it finally like seamlessly kind of set in
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but yeah i love it and of course probably one
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of the biggest deciding factors to be honest
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with the going through the surgery was the bluetooth
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feature yes i still use it every day i mean even
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like today uh i was kind of working out and i
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had music streaming to the to my hearing aids
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so it's fantastic and even like phone calls i'll
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take phone calls with it all the time or even
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like last night i was walking to um i'm in nashville
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now and i was walking to broadway to sit in for
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an event, you know, jam out there. And just walking
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down there, you know, I had music streaming.
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So it's fantastic, yeah. And for those listening
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that aren't familiar with what Baha is, it's
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a device that allows people to hear through vibration
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through the skull. So in Pete's case, because
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he doesn't have an ear on that left side, he
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can have sound stimulating from that left side
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via that Baha device. Now, with your hearing,
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do you have a cochlea on the left side that are
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you actually hearing in your left ear or is it
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just transmitting to the right side? No, everything
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still works. The middle and inner ear all formed.
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It's just the outer part that never formed. So
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all the bone structures, the cochlea, all that
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is. So you're really having binaural hearing.
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Because sometimes people report localization
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improvement with a Baja when they have single
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-sided deafness. But for you, you're really hearing
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with both ears. To shift gears a little bit,
00:10:05.799 --> 00:10:10.389
tell us about how your, how. your journey with
00:10:10.389 --> 00:10:12.389
guitar got started how you taught yourself how
00:10:12.389 --> 00:10:16.529
your musical journey began so yeah kind of like
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what I kind of mentioned a little bit earlier
00:10:18.730 --> 00:10:20.769
I picked up the guitar at the end of my freshman
00:10:20.769 --> 00:10:24.090
year of high school and really I mean it was
00:10:24.090 --> 00:10:27.950
kind of interesting because um like elementary
00:10:27.950 --> 00:10:30.110
and middle school well I guess middle school
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really you know I was just listening to what
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everybody else was listening to at the time you
00:10:33.750 --> 00:10:35.409
know at the school you know at the school dances
00:10:35.409 --> 00:10:39.830
and all that and it was fun But really, it was
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kind of when I was moving from Michigan to Illinois
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and starting high school for the first time there.
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Just that, you know, great transition period
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in life, you know, lots of changes. Music was
00:10:50.809 --> 00:10:53.429
something that kind of helped me cope. And really,
00:10:53.509 --> 00:10:56.669
I don't quite know how I started to kind of get
00:10:56.669 --> 00:10:59.230
more interested in like hard rock and kind of
00:10:59.230 --> 00:11:01.590
all of that. But that just started to slowly
00:11:01.590 --> 00:11:04.870
kind of creep in more and more. And then really,
00:11:04.909 --> 00:11:08.299
it just... I kind of had the thought one day,
00:11:08.320 --> 00:11:10.220
oh, this might be really fun, you know, to learn
00:11:10.220 --> 00:11:13.340
how to play. So I love how they sound. I think
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especially like Billy Gibbons, I was loving like
00:11:15.419 --> 00:11:19.500
cheap sunglasses, like rain, like just as phrasing
00:11:19.500 --> 00:11:21.759
and style. I'm like, oh, this is really good.
00:11:21.980 --> 00:11:26.120
I like this. But really, it's just more or less
00:11:26.120 --> 00:11:28.539
boiled over into curiosity. I said to my dad
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one day, you know, I think I might want to learn
00:11:30.639 --> 00:11:33.919
how to play guitar. And he actually played when
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he was in middle school. And so luckily for me,
00:11:38.039 --> 00:11:40.519
he still has, you know, he had his guitar and
00:11:40.519 --> 00:11:43.600
amp kind of in storage and been played in quite
00:11:43.600 --> 00:11:45.480
a while. So he pulled all that out with like
00:11:45.480 --> 00:11:48.379
a big box of old music books and I think like
00:11:48.379 --> 00:11:51.220
a overdrive pedal. And I got started on that.
00:11:51.320 --> 00:11:53.139
And, you know, it was kind of like went on YouTube
00:11:53.139 --> 00:11:55.080
and started looking up, you know, ZZ Top and
00:11:55.080 --> 00:11:57.720
ACDC Riffs. And I'm like, okay, this is pretty
00:11:57.720 --> 00:12:00.919
cool. Yeah. What was the first guitar? What was
00:12:00.919 --> 00:12:04.539
that guitar that was in the box from him? We
00:12:04.539 --> 00:12:07.120
found a friend of mine a couple of years ago.
00:12:07.139 --> 00:12:10.480
We kind of figured out it was a 1978 Fender Music
00:12:10.480 --> 00:12:13.840
Master. For the guitar nerds out there, it's
00:12:13.840 --> 00:12:16.639
basically a kind of a Fender Stratocaster shape
00:12:16.639 --> 00:12:20.320
with one pickup. Yeah, it's really cool. It was
00:12:20.320 --> 00:12:22.940
a good way to start. Yeah, yeah. Not too many
00:12:22.940 --> 00:12:25.080
people have, you know, lucky to start on like
00:12:25.080 --> 00:12:27.559
a vintage instrument. But yeah, it was cool to
00:12:27.559 --> 00:12:31.730
kind of, yeah, have that and jam on it. We've
00:12:31.730 --> 00:12:34.710
had conversations with a lot of musicians who
00:12:34.710 --> 00:12:37.909
have hearing loss and hearing loss that was acquired
00:12:37.909 --> 00:12:41.070
through life, through time on stage, not really
00:12:41.070 --> 00:12:43.730
paying attention to hearing protection or any
00:12:43.730 --> 00:12:46.669
of that. Do you find in Nashville kind of being
00:12:46.669 --> 00:12:49.389
a part of that music scene that people confide
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in you because you have a visual hearing loss
00:12:52.289 --> 00:12:55.070
that like, oh, maybe you'll understand what they're
00:12:55.070 --> 00:13:00.220
experiencing based on years on stage? To be honest,
00:13:00.340 --> 00:13:02.500
I haven't really had that happen. I mean, I've
00:13:02.500 --> 00:13:04.820
only been here for, what, like a month and a
00:13:04.820 --> 00:13:07.159
half now. So I'm not really sure. I haven't really
00:13:07.159 --> 00:13:09.580
met, I can't recall if I've met anyone that has
00:13:09.580 --> 00:13:12.019
experienced any hearing loss. But I know like
00:13:12.019 --> 00:13:14.740
a lot of the times, I know a lot of people do
00:13:14.740 --> 00:13:16.519
take protecting their hearing pretty seriously.
00:13:16.600 --> 00:13:18.860
And like on stage a lot of the times down here,
00:13:18.960 --> 00:13:21.279
at least on Broadway that I've seen, a lot of
00:13:21.279 --> 00:13:24.259
musicians love in -ears. the stage volumes pretty
00:13:24.259 --> 00:13:27.000
well and they'll have you know in -ears and stuff
00:13:27.000 --> 00:13:29.539
that they'll use i always i mean even like if
00:13:29.539 --> 00:13:32.559
i'm not going to broadway i'll have an earplug
00:13:32.559 --> 00:13:34.240
in my pocket because there's always something
00:13:34.240 --> 00:13:37.679
yeah in the city like musically yeah it's just
00:13:37.679 --> 00:13:40.240
kind of like okay like at this point i just need
00:13:40.240 --> 00:13:42.600
to just have one on me at all times it's just
00:13:42.600 --> 00:13:44.899
kind of funny but yeah i do have an earplug on
00:13:44.899 --> 00:13:46.899
me at all times i haven't like gone down the
00:13:46.899 --> 00:13:50.179
in -ear route yet but i'm sure that's in in the
00:13:50.179 --> 00:13:53.309
very near future What do you do for stage monitoring?
00:13:54.269 --> 00:13:58.809
I just go with the wedges. But it is interesting,
00:13:58.970 --> 00:14:00.830
a few times that I've sat in on Broadway with
00:14:00.830 --> 00:14:03.870
some bands, because they're all on in -ears,
00:14:03.970 --> 00:14:06.009
sometimes the wedges, you know, they don't even
00:14:06.009 --> 00:14:07.889
use them. So I'm kind of like, uh -oh, hang on.
00:14:09.009 --> 00:14:11.809
You need to sound check really quick. Fly by
00:14:11.809 --> 00:14:13.970
to see your pants. I'm used to that kind of thing,
00:14:14.009 --> 00:14:15.710
too. So it's kind of like, just kind of dive
00:14:15.710 --> 00:14:20.029
in at first and just go for it. rock and roll
00:14:20.029 --> 00:14:24.250
at its finest very dangerous for yeah it's fun
00:14:24.250 --> 00:14:26.570
what do you say is the most challenging part
00:14:26.570 --> 00:14:30.110
of the music business for you oh that's a good
00:14:30.110 --> 00:14:34.029
question let's see I do think I'm in there are
00:14:34.029 --> 00:14:36.529
a lot of challenges with it I know like Financially,
00:14:36.570 --> 00:14:40.090
definitely, it's not the best income. A lot of
00:14:40.090 --> 00:14:43.450
people I know out here do have second jobs sometimes.
00:14:43.970 --> 00:14:46.549
I mean, some people, like the guy I'm working
00:14:46.549 --> 00:14:48.429
with right now who's going to be fronting kind
00:14:48.429 --> 00:14:51.190
of the new lineup for Pete's Diary, he's done
00:14:51.190 --> 00:14:53.409
very well on Broadway. He's very established,
00:14:53.529 --> 00:14:56.490
has a really good thing going. And then another
00:14:56.490 --> 00:14:59.509
friend of mine, he delivers Amazon during the
00:14:59.509 --> 00:15:03.009
day. So, you know, it's kind of a mix. You know,
00:15:03.049 --> 00:15:04.529
it's kind of cool. Everybody's kind of got their
00:15:04.529 --> 00:15:06.490
own thing that they're doing. And then we'll
00:15:06.490 --> 00:15:08.970
all just get together and jam. It's fun. Yeah.
00:15:09.809 --> 00:15:12.309
Awesome. We've had some conversations lately
00:15:12.309 --> 00:15:15.429
with people who've made the transition to Nashville,
00:15:15.649 --> 00:15:19.149
kind of pursuing a career in music. And one of
00:15:19.149 --> 00:15:21.169
the consistent things we've heard is that it
00:15:21.169 --> 00:15:23.529
was very humbling. You've been there for a month
00:15:23.529 --> 00:15:26.009
and a half. Talk a little bit about that experience,
00:15:26.129 --> 00:15:29.450
transitioning from Chicago to Nashville and diving
00:15:29.450 --> 00:15:32.129
into that music scene because it's so rich down
00:15:32.129 --> 00:15:36.360
there. Oh, it's insane. I mean, I remember, well,
00:15:36.440 --> 00:15:38.539
I've been here maybe like once or twice before,
00:15:38.620 --> 00:15:42.879
but I think 2024 when I came down here and kind
00:15:42.879 --> 00:15:44.620
of walked up and down Broadway, it's just, it's,
00:15:44.620 --> 00:15:47.159
it's very humbling because everybody's so good.
00:15:47.419 --> 00:15:50.019
It's inspiring too, but it's very humbling. It's
00:15:50.019 --> 00:15:52.019
just like. Especially when you're walking down
00:15:52.019 --> 00:15:54.559
the street. I mean, you look into one bar and
00:15:54.559 --> 00:15:56.419
someone's doing these crazy chicken picking,
00:15:56.580 --> 00:15:58.820
you know, kind of, kind of Brad Paisley style,
00:15:58.899 --> 00:16:00.779
you know, chicken picking type stuff. And then,
00:16:00.840 --> 00:16:02.440
you know, there's this other guy's doing like,
00:16:02.460 --> 00:16:04.500
maybe like sweeping our patios to a metal song
00:16:04.500 --> 00:16:08.000
in another bar, you know, and it just, it's very
00:16:08.000 --> 00:16:10.279
cool. Yeah. It's very humbling because you're,
00:16:10.279 --> 00:16:11.860
you know, you watch these guys play and just
00:16:11.860 --> 00:16:16.980
go. phew I stink you know maybe not maybe not
00:16:16.980 --> 00:16:18.799
that but you know she's like I need to practice
00:16:18.799 --> 00:16:21.480
like oh my gosh yeah it's very it's very humble
00:16:21.480 --> 00:16:27.259
how do you keep going when you see your fellow
00:16:27.259 --> 00:16:30.899
musicians out there that are doing fantastically
00:16:30.899 --> 00:16:34.059
and it makes you think to yourself about as you
00:16:34.059 --> 00:16:36.429
said keeping practicing, not that you stink,
00:16:36.690 --> 00:16:40.169
but you need to keep practicing. How do you not
00:16:40.169 --> 00:16:42.789
let that defeat you? How does it turn into further
00:16:42.789 --> 00:16:46.389
motivation for you? I think a big thing is out
00:16:46.389 --> 00:16:48.929
here, everybody's so friendly. It's a very collaborative
00:16:48.929 --> 00:16:50.889
community. That was kind of something interesting
00:16:50.889 --> 00:16:54.750
too. Like when I, when my family and I were looking
00:16:54.750 --> 00:16:58.139
out here, you know, If I would be moving out
00:16:58.139 --> 00:17:01.220
here full time, just kind of what's it like out
00:17:01.220 --> 00:17:03.259
here? You know, it's kind of like, is it, you
00:17:03.259 --> 00:17:06.440
know, competitive? What's going on? It's a total
00:17:06.440 --> 00:17:08.380
opposite. It's a very collaborative community.
00:17:08.599 --> 00:17:12.420
So that was, I guess, a relief. But it is, it's
00:17:12.420 --> 00:17:14.299
really cool. Everybody's very collaborative,
00:17:14.539 --> 00:17:17.660
very welcoming, very friendly, which was, you
00:17:17.660 --> 00:17:19.619
know, super great. Especially when it's kind
00:17:19.619 --> 00:17:22.059
of... And, you know, walking into this, you know,
00:17:22.059 --> 00:17:24.799
not knowing anybody and all of that, it's very
00:17:24.799 --> 00:17:26.920
intimidating when you see someone playing that's
00:17:26.920 --> 00:17:30.180
so good. And, you know, playing with them kind
00:17:30.180 --> 00:17:33.380
of, you know, it pushes you to be better as well.
00:17:33.599 --> 00:17:35.359
So there's always that kind of thing, too. Like
00:17:35.359 --> 00:17:36.700
when you're playing with people that are better
00:17:36.700 --> 00:17:38.980
than you, it pushes you a little bit more, too.
00:17:39.099 --> 00:17:43.259
So that's in a good way. It's very fun. Is there,
00:17:43.299 --> 00:17:46.640
for positive or negative, an effect of the Baha
00:17:46.640 --> 00:17:49.700
when you're going to a new place that I could
00:17:49.700 --> 00:17:52.319
see it being a curiosity for some people? That's
00:17:52.319 --> 00:17:54.220
something certainly we hear from our patients.
00:17:54.480 --> 00:17:57.400
And I could also see it being an icebreaker as
00:17:57.400 --> 00:18:00.799
here's a, when you're comfortable talking about
00:18:00.799 --> 00:18:03.059
it, here's an automatic conversation starter
00:18:03.059 --> 00:18:06.380
that can just make meeting people a little bit
00:18:06.380 --> 00:18:10.720
easier. I'm curious for you, how the device impacts
00:18:10.720 --> 00:18:14.019
your... establishing relationships and connections?
00:18:15.660 --> 00:18:17.799
Yeah, I haven't really had too many people come
00:18:17.799 --> 00:18:20.420
up and like bluntly say, hey, what's happening
00:18:20.420 --> 00:18:25.460
here? But, you know, it's usually kind of like
00:18:25.460 --> 00:18:27.259
further along in a conversation with someone,
00:18:27.380 --> 00:18:29.279
we'll go, hey, you know, what, if you don't mind
00:18:29.279 --> 00:18:31.339
me asking, what is that? And, you know, you just
00:18:31.339 --> 00:18:33.400
kind of explain what it is. And typically it's
00:18:33.400 --> 00:18:35.759
like, oh, cool. You know, it is kind of a little
00:18:35.759 --> 00:18:38.180
bit of a icebreaker. But I guess, again, it's
00:18:38.180 --> 00:18:39.880
more of like what I mentioned earlier with kind
00:18:39.880 --> 00:18:43.059
of curiosity. A lot of times people are like,
00:18:43.220 --> 00:18:45.119
yeah, just for the most part curious about it.
00:18:45.160 --> 00:18:49.500
But I think, too, they're a little bit more common
00:18:49.500 --> 00:18:52.500
nowadays. I think it's kind of a little bit more
00:18:52.500 --> 00:18:55.900
out there, you know, what it is. So that definitely
00:18:55.900 --> 00:18:59.740
helps. You say your relationship with sound and
00:18:59.740 --> 00:19:03.200
music, how has that evolved or changed over time
00:19:03.200 --> 00:19:07.440
based on both the Baja itself, but also just
00:19:07.440 --> 00:19:10.160
life experience and the musician you've come
00:19:10.160 --> 00:19:14.589
to be? Yeah, well, I guess with the hearing loss,
00:19:14.750 --> 00:19:17.890
one of the only downsides that I'm kind of bummed
00:19:17.890 --> 00:19:20.450
about is I can't really hear in stereo. So, you
00:19:20.450 --> 00:19:23.650
know, let's just take ACDC, for example. If you
00:19:23.650 --> 00:19:26.750
have the headphones on, you have Angus lead guitar
00:19:26.750 --> 00:19:29.470
on the right side. You have his brother Malcolm
00:19:29.470 --> 00:19:31.789
on the left side doing all the rhythm stuff.
00:19:32.009 --> 00:19:33.630
If you're listening in headphones, you can hear
00:19:33.630 --> 00:19:36.619
those two distinct guitar parts going. And especially
00:19:36.619 --> 00:19:38.400
in the context of that band, you know, how they
00:19:38.400 --> 00:19:40.759
kind of play together. It was a very full, very
00:19:40.759 --> 00:19:44.160
awesome sound. And then some guitar players will,
00:19:44.319 --> 00:19:46.759
you know, if it's like a one guitar player band,
00:19:46.880 --> 00:19:48.859
sometimes they'll just record on the left side.
00:19:48.920 --> 00:19:50.740
Or not record, but, you know, they'll have the
00:19:50.740 --> 00:19:53.400
mix panned, guitars panned to the left side.
00:19:54.079 --> 00:19:57.160
Yeah, it's kind of like Van Halen 1, or I guess
00:19:57.160 --> 00:19:59.380
a lot of the early Van Halen stuff. Eddie recorded
00:19:59.380 --> 00:20:01.400
pretty much all of his guitar parts that I can
00:20:01.400 --> 00:20:04.160
think of on the left side. So I remember... I
00:20:04.160 --> 00:20:06.099
had, you know, streaming the first Van Halen
00:20:06.099 --> 00:20:08.740
album to my hearing aid one day and I'm listening
00:20:08.740 --> 00:20:10.259
to Running with the Devil and all of a sudden
00:20:10.259 --> 00:20:11.900
you could just kind of hear reverb on the right
00:20:11.900 --> 00:20:14.220
side. I'm like, I know for a fact that's when
00:20:14.220 --> 00:20:16.160
the riff comes in. I'm like, what's going on?
00:20:16.240 --> 00:20:18.799
It's like I crank up the volume and I could just
00:20:18.799 --> 00:20:20.859
hear a little bit of reverb and the echo of the
00:20:20.859 --> 00:20:24.240
guitar in the distance. I'm like, oh. So that
00:20:24.240 --> 00:20:26.440
is a little bit of a downside, but I did figure
00:20:26.440 --> 00:20:30.710
out a way. If I sit in between two stereo speakers
00:20:30.710 --> 00:20:33.329
and I kind of position myself in the right way,
00:20:33.369 --> 00:20:35.569
I can kind of get a little bit of that kind of
00:20:35.569 --> 00:20:39.930
stereo effect. So that's kind of the only negative
00:20:39.930 --> 00:20:41.829
that I'm like, oh man, this would be really cool
00:20:41.829 --> 00:20:44.470
to have that I wish I could fully experience.
00:20:46.309 --> 00:20:48.809
So you've mentioned some, but talk a little bit
00:20:48.809 --> 00:20:52.690
more about your musical influences and what maybe
00:20:52.690 --> 00:20:55.269
led you to initially pick up the guitar when
00:20:55.269 --> 00:20:59.420
you decided to do that. Yeah, really when I picked
00:20:59.420 --> 00:21:02.799
up the guitar, yeah, it's kind of influenced.
00:21:03.019 --> 00:21:05.240
I mentioned like Billy Gibbons earlier, some
00:21:05.240 --> 00:21:07.660
ZZ Top riffs I really liked at the start. Like
00:21:07.660 --> 00:21:09.759
The Grinch was one of the first riffs I figured
00:21:09.759 --> 00:21:11.920
out. You could play it on one string, you know,
00:21:11.980 --> 00:21:14.680
it's kind of a start. But really ACDC was the
00:21:14.680 --> 00:21:17.019
big one for me. That was when I heard Angus's
00:21:17.019 --> 00:21:19.460
playing and the riffs and everything. And of
00:21:19.460 --> 00:21:23.359
course the performance, you know. Yeah, that.
00:21:23.960 --> 00:21:26.259
That's where it's at. Still, I'm like, yeah,
00:21:26.359 --> 00:21:29.039
he's still like the guy for me, you know? But
00:21:29.039 --> 00:21:31.920
I mean, players as well. I mean, kind of any
00:21:31.920 --> 00:21:34.880
of those kind of bluesy based hard rock guys,
00:21:35.200 --> 00:21:39.299
Angus Slash, Jimmy Page, Joe Perry, Steve Ray
00:21:39.299 --> 00:21:41.400
Vaughan, Gary Moore. I mean, a lot of those guys
00:21:41.400 --> 00:21:44.740
that I really love a lot. Yeah. I realize I have
00:21:44.740 --> 00:21:46.359
a lot of homework to do after we finish this.
00:21:46.460 --> 00:21:50.220
Yeah. We have different generations. What would
00:21:50.220 --> 00:21:52.720
you say is a musical accomplishment you're most
00:21:52.720 --> 00:21:55.400
proud of or one of your most proud of since you've
00:21:55.400 --> 00:21:59.380
been doing this? Well, definitely a big one was
00:21:59.380 --> 00:22:02.640
releasing kind of my own album. So the band is
00:22:02.640 --> 00:22:06.319
Pete's Diary. And originally, you know, we did
00:22:06.319 --> 00:22:09.200
an EP and that was fun. But really, we did like
00:22:09.200 --> 00:22:12.059
a full length record, you know, 10 songs instead
00:22:12.059 --> 00:22:14.980
of the five previous. That was very exciting.
00:22:15.079 --> 00:22:16.720
I mean, I'm kind of old school. I love listening
00:22:16.720 --> 00:22:19.079
to albums all the way through. So getting to
00:22:19.079 --> 00:22:21.220
do that in its entirety, you know, the recording
00:22:21.220 --> 00:22:25.000
process was a ton of fun. You know, we wrote
00:22:25.000 --> 00:22:28.259
the record with Keith Nelson from Buck Terry.
00:22:28.500 --> 00:22:30.660
He was one of the founding members of Buck Terry.
00:22:31.180 --> 00:22:33.099
And it was really fun to work with him. Like,
00:22:33.140 --> 00:22:36.000
you know, he's, yeah, you know, Keith's influenced
00:22:36.000 --> 00:22:38.950
by the same stuff that... I love with like the
00:22:38.950 --> 00:22:41.130
riffs and the music and all that. So working
00:22:41.130 --> 00:22:43.490
with him was a blast. And, you know, over the
00:22:43.490 --> 00:22:45.650
years he, you know, has like a great guitar collection
00:22:45.650 --> 00:22:47.230
and amp collection. So when we were recording,
00:22:47.369 --> 00:22:48.789
it was a lot of fun. You know, he brought some
00:22:48.789 --> 00:22:51.309
fun gear into the studio. So that whole process
00:22:51.309 --> 00:22:53.150
was fun, like getting to write with Keith and
00:22:53.150 --> 00:22:55.829
record. And then of course the fun stuff too
00:22:55.829 --> 00:22:58.190
was, you know, when it was done was okay, you
00:22:58.190 --> 00:23:00.700
know, now we get to. do the fun stuff with the
00:23:00.700 --> 00:23:03.200
album artwork and the track listing, what's the
00:23:03.200 --> 00:23:05.000
order going to be, all that stuff. So that was,
00:23:05.000 --> 00:23:06.839
that was a great experience. And I still love
00:23:06.839 --> 00:23:09.880
the record too. It's, it's, uh, it's a fun, fun
00:23:09.880 --> 00:23:12.259
album, fun to play, you know, fun to listen to
00:23:12.259 --> 00:23:15.339
too. And how did you connect with Keith initially?
00:23:16.259 --> 00:23:18.799
That was with, um, a friend out, uh, actually
00:23:18.799 --> 00:23:22.180
he's out here. Um, I know from, uh, Gibson, Gibson
00:23:22.180 --> 00:23:25.000
guitars, he kind of hooked us up. So that was,
00:23:25.019 --> 00:23:28.009
yeah, that, that was, uh, pretty cool. And are
00:23:28.009 --> 00:23:31.410
you generally a Gibson guy? Yeah, for the most
00:23:31.410 --> 00:23:35.250
part. I mean, I play... Yeah, yeah. I play, again,
00:23:35.410 --> 00:23:42.029
Angus Young. I'm a big ST guy. Yeah. You know,
00:23:42.049 --> 00:23:44.730
like, I have, like, a Les Paul and, like, a hollow
00:23:44.730 --> 00:23:47.420
body, but... Recently, something that was really
00:23:47.420 --> 00:23:49.539
cool, and I guess this also falls into like a
00:23:49.539 --> 00:23:52.140
really exciting accomplishment, something I'm
00:23:52.140 --> 00:23:54.619
very proud of musically, was that I just did
00:23:54.619 --> 00:23:57.039
a signature model with a company called Soul
00:23:57.039 --> 00:23:59.900
Fire Guitar Works throughout New Jersey. They'd
00:23:59.900 --> 00:24:03.680
reached out on Instagram quite a while ago. You
00:24:03.680 --> 00:24:05.599
know, they're like, hey, you know, we love your
00:24:05.599 --> 00:24:07.599
playing. We love what you're doing. You know,
00:24:07.599 --> 00:24:09.720
would you be interested in doing a signature
00:24:09.720 --> 00:24:12.640
model with us? I was like, oh, wow. That's cool.
00:24:13.240 --> 00:24:15.079
Let me think about it. I'm like, that's very
00:24:15.079 --> 00:24:18.420
cool. I didn't really know what to do at first
00:24:18.420 --> 00:24:20.220
because I'm like, what would I do for a signature
00:24:20.220 --> 00:24:22.940
model? I wasn't quite sure. And then I had the
00:24:22.940 --> 00:24:26.779
idea of basically combining kind of like almost
00:24:26.779 --> 00:24:30.740
like an SG and a Firebird type thing. And basically
00:24:30.740 --> 00:24:33.440
they had the body style kind of picked out, which
00:24:33.440 --> 00:24:36.039
is kind of SG -ish, which I'm very comfortable
00:24:36.039 --> 00:24:38.859
with. But then we had a, this is total like guitar
00:24:38.859 --> 00:24:42.259
nerd talk, but we had a... I love it. Eric loves
00:24:42.259 --> 00:24:46.839
that. It's really cool. The design that I floated
00:24:46.839 --> 00:24:48.880
to them to see if it was possible was, hey, what
00:24:48.880 --> 00:24:51.660
if we did a humbucker in the bridge and then
00:24:51.660 --> 00:24:53.619
a firebird pickup in the neck? Because I'm like,
00:24:53.680 --> 00:24:56.079
I really love, I'm a big Johnny Winter fan too.
00:24:56.599 --> 00:24:59.000
And like, you know, the intro of like Still Alive
00:24:59.000 --> 00:25:01.980
and Well and Rock Me Baby. It's just like that
00:25:01.980 --> 00:25:04.480
sound. I'm like, that's so cool. It's definitely.
00:25:05.400 --> 00:25:08.299
or bird net pickup. But I'm like, what if it's
00:25:08.299 --> 00:25:10.220
just not something you see that often? It's like,
00:25:10.220 --> 00:25:12.859
well, what if we combine these two things for
00:25:12.859 --> 00:25:14.259
that? I'm like, what do you guys do that? And
00:25:14.259 --> 00:25:15.740
they were super stoked about it. They're like,
00:25:15.819 --> 00:25:17.259
yeah, that's a really cool idea. That's something
00:25:17.259 --> 00:25:18.940
kind of different, you know, kind of unique.
00:25:19.400 --> 00:25:22.680
So I'm like, yeah, awesome. So they got to work
00:25:22.680 --> 00:25:24.180
on it. It's cool. They're texting me updates
00:25:24.180 --> 00:25:26.279
of like, hey, this is what we're doing. And when
00:25:26.279 --> 00:25:28.819
the prototype was, you know, done, they sent
00:25:28.819 --> 00:25:31.000
photos and videos. They're like, hey, this is
00:25:31.000 --> 00:25:33.160
really cool. This was a really great idea. I'm
00:25:33.160 --> 00:25:36.200
like, oh, awesome. So when I was here in February,
00:25:36.519 --> 00:25:39.819
kind of in Nashville in February, kind of starting
00:25:39.819 --> 00:25:41.640
to get familiar with everything before moving
00:25:41.640 --> 00:25:44.569
here. They actually shipped the prototype down.
00:25:44.630 --> 00:25:47.390
So I got to test that all around town and kind
00:25:47.390 --> 00:25:49.430
of, you know, put it through its pace with some
00:25:49.430 --> 00:25:52.690
of the jam sit -ins and all of that. So that
00:25:52.690 --> 00:25:54.609
was really fun to do to kind of test drive it.
00:25:54.910 --> 00:25:58.309
And yeah, I love it. It's, you know, people can
00:25:58.309 --> 00:26:00.609
place an order for it now. And I still have the
00:26:00.609 --> 00:26:03.250
prototype. I love taking it out. And it's inspiring
00:26:03.250 --> 00:26:06.150
because it is a little bit different. Do you
00:26:06.150 --> 00:26:08.509
know where in Jersey they are? That's where we
00:26:08.509 --> 00:26:12.259
are. Oh, really? Yeah. For Jersey. I can't remember.
00:26:12.859 --> 00:26:14.700
I can't remember part of New Jersey they're from.
00:26:15.420 --> 00:26:18.160
But I know they're out there. That's very cool.
00:26:18.279 --> 00:26:21.180
It's a fun project to be a part of. It was. It
00:26:21.180 --> 00:26:23.960
was very exciting. Yeah. I mean, it's every kid's
00:26:23.960 --> 00:26:26.299
dream, too. You know, or every guitarist's dream.
00:26:26.460 --> 00:26:29.259
But yeah, you know, it's, you always dream about,
00:26:29.440 --> 00:26:31.440
you always think like, oh, if I could design
00:26:31.440 --> 00:26:33.339
my own guitar, what would I want to put in it?
00:26:33.420 --> 00:26:35.920
And to have that happen, you know, it's exciting.
00:26:36.140 --> 00:26:38.519
It's very cool. Eric thinks this question daily.
00:26:39.069 --> 00:26:43.230
I think all guitar players, to be honest. Yeah.
00:26:43.589 --> 00:26:45.869
Something we like to ask our guests on the podcast
00:26:45.869 --> 00:26:49.670
is, can you think of a time where you may have
00:26:49.670 --> 00:26:51.690
become part of somebody else's story or somebody
00:26:51.690 --> 00:26:54.109
may have become part of your story? So, for example,
00:26:54.690 --> 00:26:58.190
Eric and I, we're audiologists. And so we like
00:26:58.190 --> 00:27:00.210
to say that we become part of our patients journeys,
00:27:00.349 --> 00:27:02.650
that we are part of their pathway towards hearing.
00:27:02.730 --> 00:27:06.029
So can you think of a time? Where you may have
00:27:06.029 --> 00:27:08.170
influenced somebody else or somebody else may
00:27:08.170 --> 00:27:11.049
have influenced you that you've become part of
00:27:11.049 --> 00:27:14.289
one of one another. That's a tough question.
00:27:15.650 --> 00:27:18.710
I don't, I mean, I guess, you know, in terms
00:27:18.710 --> 00:27:21.730
of like, like kind of the previous iteration
00:27:21.730 --> 00:27:25.789
of the band, you know, the singer and bass, he's
00:27:25.789 --> 00:27:27.450
a great guitar player, but he was kind enough
00:27:27.450 --> 00:27:30.440
to pick up the bass. Mac. It was cool because
00:27:30.440 --> 00:27:32.240
we were originally friends at School of Rock
00:27:32.240 --> 00:27:35.240
and then we became bandmates kind of in a professional
00:27:35.240 --> 00:27:37.279
sense. So that was that was pretty cool, you
00:27:37.279 --> 00:27:40.000
know, to kind of have that friendship and kind
00:27:40.000 --> 00:27:42.059
of working relationship as well. But something
00:27:42.059 --> 00:27:44.180
really cool with the social media thing in general
00:27:44.180 --> 00:27:48.440
is you do kind of have that reach and that impact,
00:27:48.680 --> 00:27:52.349
you know. Well, even like yesterday, I mean,
00:27:52.369 --> 00:27:54.309
it's kind of funny. It's happened three times
00:27:54.309 --> 00:27:56.809
since I've been here. First, like a week after
00:27:56.809 --> 00:27:59.690
I got here, my parents and the dogs were still
00:27:59.690 --> 00:28:02.450
here. I was walking the dog back to the condo
00:28:02.450 --> 00:28:05.690
and, you know, almost back and a car was driving
00:28:05.690 --> 00:28:09.349
by and they go, hey, Pete. I'm like, what? It's
00:28:09.349 --> 00:28:11.529
like three guys with their hands out the window
00:28:11.529 --> 00:28:15.829
waving. So that was pretty funny. And then it
00:28:15.829 --> 00:28:18.650
happened. We were walking back from Mother's
00:28:18.650 --> 00:28:22.140
Day brunch. what a few weeks ago and the same
00:28:22.140 --> 00:28:24.539
thing it was like a guy was at a traffic stop
00:28:24.539 --> 00:28:27.019
as we were walking back and he goes hey and then
00:28:27.019 --> 00:28:30.019
yesterday when I was walking to this jam on Broadway
00:28:30.019 --> 00:28:32.259
you know I was about to cross the street and
00:28:32.259 --> 00:28:35.339
this guy's like halfway turned and it's kind
00:28:35.339 --> 00:28:37.579
of funny too because I thought he was saying
00:28:37.579 --> 00:28:39.680
something to there's like a group of people with
00:28:39.680 --> 00:28:41.920
suitcases I thought it was like an uber at first
00:28:41.920 --> 00:28:44.380
or something like hey so I just wasn't really
00:28:44.380 --> 00:28:46.740
kind of paying attention to be honest But he
00:28:46.740 --> 00:28:47.940
says something again. I'm like, what's going
00:28:47.940 --> 00:28:49.680
on here? And he was waving at me. And I'm like,
00:28:49.759 --> 00:28:52.480
oh, hi. So I was kind of funny. So, yeah, it
00:28:52.480 --> 00:28:55.579
is really funny kind of that, I guess, indirect
00:28:55.579 --> 00:28:57.680
impact, you know, you kind of have on people.
00:28:58.339 --> 00:29:02.599
And the reach social media has. Yes, it's fun.
00:29:02.859 --> 00:29:04.599
Yeah, it's cool meeting people. I mean, just
00:29:04.599 --> 00:29:07.680
even like last week, I was walking to the bank
00:29:07.680 --> 00:29:10.180
to pick up a new debit card. And it's a very
00:29:10.180 --> 00:29:12.849
short walk. You know, it's like. The whole thing
00:29:12.849 --> 00:29:14.710
would take less than five minutes, but it's funny.
00:29:14.829 --> 00:29:16.390
It took 10 minutes because I was standing outside
00:29:16.390 --> 00:29:19.089
the bank talking to a guy that recognized me
00:29:19.089 --> 00:29:22.490
for a bit. So just stuff like that. And it's
00:29:22.490 --> 00:29:25.210
fun to meet people and kind of talk to them and,
00:29:25.210 --> 00:29:28.329
you know, nerd out about gear or guitars or music
00:29:28.329 --> 00:29:30.609
or whatnot for a minute. So, yeah, it's fun.
00:29:30.750 --> 00:29:32.309
It's really fun. And especially in Nashville.
00:29:32.690 --> 00:29:36.569
Yeah. Yeah, yeah. It's like, even, yeah, even,
00:29:36.690 --> 00:29:40.309
yeah, it's fun. In the time that you've been
00:29:40.309 --> 00:29:42.690
there, do you have any favorite venues to play
00:29:42.690 --> 00:29:45.490
yet? Oh, let's see. That's a good question. I've
00:29:45.490 --> 00:29:47.930
been playing at Bon Jovi's Bar a lot. That's
00:29:47.930 --> 00:29:50.250
a really fun place. Yeah, Shannon, I guess one
00:29:50.250 --> 00:29:52.109
of the main bands that plays there pretty often,
00:29:52.190 --> 00:29:54.250
kind of in the evenings, hand over face. They've
00:29:54.250 --> 00:29:56.210
been really fun. They've been gracious and let
00:29:56.210 --> 00:29:58.869
me hop up and play with them. And then the front
00:29:58.869 --> 00:30:01.049
man for kind of the new iteration of Pete's Diary,
00:30:01.130 --> 00:30:04.470
PJ Ferguson. He has his own project that also
00:30:04.470 --> 00:30:07.289
plays on Broadway called PJ Ferguson. And the
00:30:07.289 --> 00:30:09.109
Tennessee Strange. And I've sat in with them
00:30:09.109 --> 00:30:11.470
a bunch. And they're awesome. They're just a
00:30:11.470 --> 00:30:15.609
great party band. They're a ton of fun. But I
00:30:15.609 --> 00:30:18.269
mean, yeah. I mean, just all the bars out here
00:30:18.269 --> 00:30:22.009
are so much fun in general. I've hopped up. PJ
00:30:22.009 --> 00:30:23.829
kind of plays what they call the Tootsie Circuit.
00:30:23.970 --> 00:30:27.990
So it's like Tootsie's Bar rooftop is really
00:30:27.990 --> 00:30:31.569
cool. Honky Tonk Central. It's really fun. So
00:30:31.569 --> 00:30:36.619
yeah. It's, yeah. Lots of really fun. The stages
00:30:36.619 --> 00:30:40.220
and bars. On the flip end of that, where's a
00:30:40.220 --> 00:30:42.839
venue that you would want to play one day that
00:30:42.839 --> 00:30:46.440
you haven't yet? Oh, man. That's a good question.
00:30:46.619 --> 00:30:51.180
What venues are? Trying to think if there's like
00:30:51.180 --> 00:30:54.359
a really cool stage that I've seen. Because there's
00:30:54.359 --> 00:30:58.099
some unique ones like Kid Rocks and Bon Jovi's
00:30:58.099 --> 00:31:00.220
are almost like, I don't know, Pillars is the
00:31:00.220 --> 00:31:01.779
right word, but they're almost like stacked on
00:31:01.779 --> 00:31:05.470
top of each other. Kind of a fun setup. even
00:31:05.470 --> 00:31:07.809
outside of Nashville, if there's bucket list
00:31:07.809 --> 00:31:11.009
venues to play? Yeah. Oh, that's a good question.
00:31:11.230 --> 00:31:13.549
I mean, there's like the legendary stuff, like
00:31:13.549 --> 00:31:15.609
stuff that I feel like is way far out of reach,
00:31:15.690 --> 00:31:18.029
like in terms of like where I'm at right now.
00:31:18.369 --> 00:31:22.730
Who's to say? Well, of course, like it'd be insane
00:31:22.730 --> 00:31:25.630
to, I mean, you know, this is like dream, like
00:31:25.630 --> 00:31:28.029
talk and stuff. Like now, of course, you know,
00:31:28.049 --> 00:31:30.650
you hope to experience the possibility. You know
00:31:30.650 --> 00:31:35.220
what? There's a great place in. Right on Broadway.
00:31:35.359 --> 00:31:37.380
It's really cool because you have Broadway and
00:31:37.380 --> 00:31:39.680
then like right there you have Bridgestone Arena,
00:31:39.799 --> 00:31:42.819
which is really cool. My brother played hockey
00:31:42.819 --> 00:31:44.220
growing up, so that's cool. And I should have
00:31:44.220 --> 00:31:46.539
seen the Black Crows there tomorrow night, which
00:31:46.539 --> 00:31:48.759
I'm very excited about. But right across the
00:31:48.759 --> 00:31:51.440
street from that, kind of right next to Tootsie's
00:31:51.440 --> 00:31:55.440
is the Ryman. And that's a legendary venue. So
00:31:55.440 --> 00:31:58.720
I'm like, yeah, if there's any possibility someday
00:31:58.720 --> 00:32:00.400
of being on that stage, that'd be really cool.
00:32:00.460 --> 00:32:02.910
And of course the Grand Ole Opry. Uh, it's a
00:32:02.910 --> 00:32:06.049
legendary venue out here. Yeah. So it's like,
00:32:06.049 --> 00:32:08.470
in terms of like national and just the historical,
00:32:08.710 --> 00:32:12.029
you know, significance of those venues and the
00:32:12.029 --> 00:32:14.410
people that have played them, you know, it's
00:32:14.410 --> 00:32:16.589
like, yeah, if the day ever came, you know, where
00:32:16.589 --> 00:32:18.609
I got to play on that stage, that'd be, or, you
00:32:18.609 --> 00:32:20.549
know, any of those stages that'd be pretty cool
00:32:20.549 --> 00:32:24.829
just from a historical standpoint. Yeah. And
00:32:24.829 --> 00:32:27.730
similar to that, who would bucket list collaborations
00:32:27.730 --> 00:32:32.289
be for you? Well, okay, if we're talking, like,
00:32:32.309 --> 00:32:35.089
dream musicians, I mean, Slash is a huge influence.
00:32:35.329 --> 00:32:38.089
That would be pretty crazy if, yeah, something
00:32:38.089 --> 00:32:42.789
happened someday, jam or whatnot. Angus Young,
00:32:42.970 --> 00:32:46.390
I mean, that's my guy. ACGC fans are very low
00:32:46.390 --> 00:32:48.490
-key. They don't do, you know, anything outside
00:32:48.490 --> 00:32:51.309
of the band, so that is pretty much slim to none.
00:32:52.150 --> 00:32:54.829
But yeah, I mean... Slash has always been a big
00:32:54.829 --> 00:32:56.650
influence. It's like, of course, that's like
00:32:56.650 --> 00:33:00.690
top of the totem pole. But yeah, that definitely
00:33:00.690 --> 00:33:03.730
would be pretty crazy if something like that
00:33:03.730 --> 00:33:06.549
happened one day. For my last question for you,
00:33:06.670 --> 00:33:10.970
when people come across your story or hear of
00:33:10.970 --> 00:33:14.210
a musician that has a Baha and is missing an
00:33:14.210 --> 00:33:18.390
ear, what are you hoping your listeners take
00:33:18.390 --> 00:33:22.740
away from you and your experience? Really, I
00:33:22.740 --> 00:33:24.859
hope, one of the main things I really hope people
00:33:24.859 --> 00:33:28.880
take away is that, and I think I've seen a lot
00:33:28.880 --> 00:33:30.680
of people kind of say this too, it's good to
00:33:30.680 --> 00:33:35.339
see, is it's given them a lot of, I guess, hope
00:33:35.339 --> 00:33:37.740
or courage to kind of take on things that they
00:33:37.740 --> 00:33:39.720
think maybe they couldn't do. Like, I guess,
00:33:39.720 --> 00:33:42.380
I don't know, from a, well, I guess even like,
00:33:42.420 --> 00:33:44.799
something that's really cool is when like a parent
00:33:44.799 --> 00:33:47.700
with a kid that might have. you know, golden
00:33:47.700 --> 00:33:49.420
heart syndrome or future college or some type
00:33:49.420 --> 00:33:52.039
of craniofacial syndrome, when a parent reaches
00:33:52.039 --> 00:33:54.559
out and really says like, hey, your story has
00:33:54.559 --> 00:33:56.319
really motivated me, seeing what you've done
00:33:56.319 --> 00:33:59.359
with playing, you know, and how you've overcome
00:33:59.359 --> 00:34:01.180
these different challenges in your life and how
00:34:01.180 --> 00:34:04.559
you're playing on Broadway in Nashville or guesting
00:34:04.559 --> 00:34:06.759
on stage with such and such, you know, kind of
00:34:06.759 --> 00:34:10.099
living out a very exciting life. It's like, it's
00:34:10.099 --> 00:34:12.480
given that parent hope for their kids and their
00:34:12.480 --> 00:34:14.539
future that, hey, they can do this, you know,
00:34:14.539 --> 00:34:17.679
especially it was a lot of uh, cranial kits,
00:34:17.940 --> 00:34:21.519
especially the beginning. I mean, in my case,
00:34:21.559 --> 00:34:25.059
uh, especially it was a lot of surgeries, lots
00:34:25.059 --> 00:34:27.960
of medical stuff going on. Um, thankfully that's
00:34:27.960 --> 00:34:30.059
kind of eased up now, but I know like for a lot
00:34:30.059 --> 00:34:32.260
of families at the beginning, there's a lot going
00:34:32.260 --> 00:34:35.719
on, especially for parents too. It's a very,
00:34:35.780 --> 00:34:39.469
very challenging world to navigate. So that's
00:34:39.469 --> 00:34:42.349
cool. It means so much when you see parents reach
00:34:42.349 --> 00:34:44.650
out and it gives them hope for their kids and
00:34:44.650 --> 00:34:49.449
what they can do in their lives. And for my last,
00:34:49.670 --> 00:34:52.730
we so often hear from people who experience hearing
00:34:52.730 --> 00:34:55.889
loss that the idea of it being an invisible disability,
00:34:56.250 --> 00:34:58.289
that people don't see it. People don't necessarily
00:34:58.289 --> 00:35:01.929
know somebody has hearing loss. In your case,
00:35:01.989 --> 00:35:04.789
there is a visual aspect to the disability because
00:35:04.789 --> 00:35:08.050
the device is there and the anatomy is what the
00:35:08.050 --> 00:35:12.349
anatomy is. Do you think there's any distinction
00:35:12.349 --> 00:35:16.110
or difficulty in people with different types
00:35:16.110 --> 00:35:18.989
of hearing loss relating to each other's experiences?
00:35:19.550 --> 00:35:22.070
That's a good question. I would think so. I mean,
00:35:22.090 --> 00:35:23.769
everybody's journey is a little bit different.
00:35:24.829 --> 00:35:27.369
So I guess it's kind of tough to say. Like, I
00:35:27.369 --> 00:35:30.980
know somebody who has a... I guess he has a,
00:35:31.000 --> 00:35:34.559
actually, I'm not quite sure what exactly the
00:35:34.559 --> 00:35:38.159
system is, but he has a type of Baha. I don't
00:35:38.159 --> 00:35:39.699
think that's exactly what it is on his right
00:35:39.699 --> 00:35:42.280
side. And, you know, he still has his two ears
00:35:42.280 --> 00:35:44.340
and his hearing loss is a little bit different.
00:35:44.460 --> 00:35:46.159
So, yeah, I guess it is kind of interesting.
00:35:46.400 --> 00:35:47.860
Everybody's story is a little bit different.
00:35:48.730 --> 00:35:51.389
Pete, thank you for sharing your story, taking
00:35:51.389 --> 00:35:55.389
your time to discuss your music, to discuss hearing
00:35:55.389 --> 00:35:57.909
loss. Why don't you tell everybody where they
00:35:57.909 --> 00:36:00.730
can connect with you and your music and find
00:36:00.730 --> 00:36:04.309
out more and follow you on social media? Yeah.
00:36:04.909 --> 00:36:07.829
Everything that people would need to know at
00:36:07.829 --> 00:36:10.309
peachdiary .com. You can find all the social
00:36:10.309 --> 00:36:13.449
media links, music links, fun stuff like merch,
00:36:13.510 --> 00:36:16.809
vinyl, CDs, all that good stuff. You can find
00:36:16.809 --> 00:36:19.769
all that on peachdiary .com. We're going to link
00:36:19.769 --> 00:36:21.630
to all that in the description of the episode.
00:36:22.110 --> 00:36:24.329
And thank you so much for coming on today. And
00:36:24.329 --> 00:36:25.949
we'll catch you next time we're in Nashville.
00:36:26.670 --> 00:36:28.010
Awesome. Yeah, thank you.