David Petie
David picked up a guitar when he was 12 and has never looked back. His father still curses the day the instrument came into the house. "I had to put up with you learning to play", he says. "When you got any good you left home".
Jazz was the genre that initially interested David, and he and Russell Grant of C-City used to play in the clubs and bars round Merseyside when they were still teenagers. Now Russell is a respected jazz guitarist with his own successful band, whilst David plays bluegrass, country and folk music.
Now David combines virtuoso playing with song writing. He is a fine mandolin player, bringing his skills across from playing jazz guitar when he was younger. Recently David went out and bought a tenor banjo, which has apparently strained many a marriage. He was inspired by the amazing Irish tenor banjo player Enda Scahill who he saw at the Johhny Keenan Banjo Festival in Ireland.