Peter Corrigan

Peter Corrigan came to his love of electric blues in a somewhat backward manner. As a child during the "British Invasion" he became enamored of the Yardbirds and the Rolling Stones and the blues songs they were playing. When he heard these songs performed by the original artists; i.e.: Muddy Waters, Sonny Boy "Rice Miller" Williamson, Howlin' Wolf, Jimmy Rogers, et al, his obsession to perform music with such raw passion began. A chance encounter of Bukka White performing on his National Steel guitar on a PBS television broadcast further cemented his desire of "I want to play like that".

         Peter lived in Rochester, N.Y. from 1974 to 1979 and was a part of the blues scene there, playing with noted bassist and vocalist Joe Likely in the 59 Blues Band and occasionally sitting in with Joe Beard and his band at the Sunday night jams at the K&T Tavern. As a part of his independent study course for a B.S. degree in Photojournalism and Communication from Empire State College, Peter spent evenings in the Rochester blues bars, photographing local artists Joe Beard and Sidney Blue, and wrote an article on Rochester Blues that appeared in the Summer 1979 issue of Living Blues Magazine. "The best course I ever took in college", he likes to quip. Check out Peter's Portfolioof artists he has photographed in the past.

         Peter moved to Ballston Spa in the fall of 1979, and knocked around the local music scene. He auditioned for a slot as a guitarist in Blues Alley in 1988 but declined an offer to join the band, deciding instead to pursue his solo acoustic blues career. Over the next two years he performed at the Café Lena, The Stony Creek Inn, The Acoustic Music Series at Peggy's Restaurant, The Halfmoon Café, and on Beale St. in Memphis, Tennessee at the 1989 National Amateur Blues Competition. In 1990 when Blues Alley came calling again with an opening for a guitarist, Peter accepted.  As a member of Blues Alley in the early 1990's, he opened shows featuring Ronnie Earl, Buddy Guy, Savoy Brown, performed on a Blues Cruise and jammed with Kenny Neal, and backed up Pinetop Perkins for a set at Pauly's Hotel in Albany after an appearance by the Muddy Waters Tribute Band at the Egg.

          Peter met Paul Brisco, the co-founder of BLUES NOIR, at a blues jam at the Lark Tavern in Albany in 1994 that Blues Alley was hosting. Peter left Blues Alley in the spring of 1995 and Paul and Peter crossed paths again at a Johnny Winter concert in 1996 and decided that they would form a band together.

          Peter had written only a few songs over the years but with the birth of BLUES NOIR, the floodgates opened and Peter began writing songs at a feverish pace. Over half of the songs the band performs are originals written by Peter. The dark lyrics of certain songs are complimented by the wry sense of humor of others. Peter's songwriting idols are two masters of the genre in the blues; Sonny Boy "Rice Miller" Williamson, and Rick Estrin of Little Charlie and the Nightcats. Don Wilcock (Buddy Guy biographer and nationally noted blues writer) has stated that Peter's original songs "about big legged women and characters of the night have the grit usually only found in classic Delta and early Chicago blues legends' writing".