I was born into music. My father, Harry Peterson was a working musician (lap and pedal steel) and a published songwriter. He performed live and recorded professionally from the 1940s through the 1960s and worked with some notable artists. My father has without a doubt has been one of my strongest influences.
As a guitarist, singer and songwriter, I began my professional career in 1973. I have also worked many jobs within the music industry like music stores, a record pressing plant and eventually went to work for Capitol Records at the Hollywood tower. This was a great learning experience where I was able to see how the big guys operated from the inside. I gained so much insight and experience from these jobs which has been crucial for the success of my own record companies and bands. I eventually went into record retail and managed several stores for Wherehouse Records in Southern California.
During the 1980s I worked with Don Harrison (Atlantic/Mercury) and RB Greaves (“Take a Letter Maria”) among other talented songwriters. It was a great opportunity to see how these guys approached the craft of writing songs and more importantly, how they handled their position as band leaders.
I started writing poetry and short stories when I was ten years old and wrote my first song at around 16. During the mid 1980s I began to write at a profound rate and started playing at open mic nights. I formed the Rhythm Lords in 1988 touring throughout the U.S. and Canada
My first record company, Rebecca Records produced four commercial releases with the Rhythm Lords and my solo début CD, “Full Circle”. I created my publishing company, Elad Music and joined ASCAP in 1992 which led to my music being placed in several television programs and major motion pictures.
Root 66 Recording Co. is my current record company releasing my solo projects, “Bandera” and “Son of Harry” as well as “Time Machine” with the band, Trouble No More.
I am truly grateful for the experiences I've had during my long journey playing music. It has been a great opportunity and honor for me to work in so many different aspects of the music business. I always felt it was very important for me to understand the inner workings of my chosen field in order to fully appreciate the music industry. I have followed music to wherever it has taken me. And I haven’t been disappointed yet!
- Dale Peterson