Instructors Guitar, Vocals, Mandolin & Fiddle Guitar, Fiddle, Cittern Bass |  Gordon Peery started playing contra dance piano in the late 1970’s He was fortunate to be in the neighborhood of Bob McQuillen, who was an inspiration and mentor. Though Gordon quickly evolved his own style of playing, he was permanently influenced by Bob’s commitment to providing a solid bass line.
His strongest traditional influences were Scottish. He often played with Nelson fiddler Harvey Tolman, and while he was at the time unaware of a Cape Breton style of piano playing, he subconsciously absorbed something gave his playing that flavor. The other influence was Violet Tulloch, a Shetland piano player who was on a recording called the Silver Bow – at the time the definitive recording of Shetland music. Between 1985 and 1995, Gordon played with fiddler Kerry Elkin in the band Fresh Fish, which became a nationally prominent contra dance band. More recently Gordon enjoyed a couple of great years with a band of young musicians, Trip to Nelson.
Gordon also acknowledges that his playing is influenced by musicians outside of the traditional genre: notably Oscar Peterson, The Rolling Stones, The Byrds, The Beatles, and Brian Wilson. The combination of all of his sources of inspiration may account for why one fan described his playing as barrel house Irish.
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