All about this artist
Biography:
Born Peter Wilson, Belfast, Northern Ireland. Wilson began writing and performing music under the alias Duke Special in 2002, when he collaborated with his producer and friend Paul Wilkinson. Wilson's musical roots can be traced back to his childhood in Northern Ireland, where he was raised in a large musical family and was exposed to traditional music, which was to greatly influence his songwriting career.
He appeared with the little known indie band from the late 90s, Booley House (later Booley), notable for their outstanding song "Bathroom Floor". With help from Wilkinson and other friends Wilson forged his alter ego's sound and image as Duke Special, and in 2004 he signed to the Irish independent label Hag, releasing two EPs, Lucky Me and My Villain Heart, whose encouraging sales prompted them being combined for the 2005 release Adventures In Gramophone, which was closely followed by yet another EP in the same year.
Signing to V2 Records in 2006, Wilson's studio album debut Songs From The Deep Forest was released, featuring some excellently produced versions of tracks from the first three EPs, along with some strong, more recent material. Wilson's gentle Irish-accented vocals combined with a melodic, old-fashioned, piano-based sound, suggests influence from artists such as Van Morrison and Tom Waits.
Taking to the stage with waist-length dreadlocked hair and eyeliner, an old crackling gramophone, and accompaniment from eccentric multi-instrumentalist Chip Bailey, he offers a brand of originality to appreciative twenty-first century audiences.
