Note: (This was posted in 2004 after going back into the studio and recording two record projects. Sadly, Pete passed away from cancer on May 27, 2006 at his home in Amelia, Virginia).

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Hello Friends and Fans.

A few lines to let you know that I am still around and what I am doing these days. I've stayed out of the music business for several years but through different actions that have come about, I am working in music again.

Some things that happened to bring this about: We have a boat down on the Bay at Urbanna, VA where the famous Oyster Festival is held. A bluegrass band that I know was booked to play the Festival, so I invited them over after the show for refreshments and to play some on the back deck of the boat and they accepted.

I played with them and I did some of the old hillbilly bluegrass tunes that we use to do and it was a hit with the folks on the boat. My wife had invited a couple of friends, Dr. David White and his wife, over to spend the weekend with us, and he was just so impressed with what we were doing that he just offered to pay for it if we would go into the studio and record some of those numbers. Of course, I did not let him do this but it did start me to thinking music again.

A few weeks after this happened, some people with the Public Radio and TV network in Washington DC called me and were asking me about the type of music that we played when we did the five-day-a week TV show (Hayloft Hoedown) at WRC TV in 1954 and 1955.

I told them as far as I was concerned it was Hillbilly Bluegrass. During this discussion, it was brought up that there was so much misinformation in print, that I should attempt to write down some of the events as I remember it and I, more or less, agreed to do this, and be as factual as possible, with pictures and other facts to back it up.

In January 2004, Tom Mindt and a friend of his, came down from Maryland to interview me in regards to my working with Buzz Busby. They have hopes of writing a book about his life. About three weeks later a reporter from the Washington Post called me asking about Scotty Stoneman and my working with him.

Then a photography nut named "Crawdaddy Dave" (Dave Roye, wanted to do an interview with me for Bluegrass Unlimited magazine, so I called Pete Kuykendall, the manager of Bluegrass Unlimited, and asked if he would be interested. He was, and Dave brought in a friend of his, an award winning novelist and biographer, Kate Buford, to do the interview. The article is just about complete and Kate did a great job. We hope to have it out around January 2005.

This past year, I took the original mastered recordings from the work I did with Rebel Records and the other studio recordings I had made during the 'hillbilly days', and am currently having them re-mixed to put together a 4-cd Box Set of 'My Life in Music' ... the music I did with such great musicians as Scotty Stoneman, Buz Busby, Buster Austin, Johnny Hall, and many others.

'My Life in Music' will be released with most of the songs I have written and recorded over years and will include a booklet with photos and the history of those days when Washington DC was the "Hillbilly Music Capital". It is due to be released on Copper Creek Records hopefully in February of 2005.

Another reporter from the Washington Post also called asking about my plans, saying he would like to do a music review of 'My Life in Music'. Things keep on happening these days for me; that this is just something I needed to do to give credit where the credit is due.

I have worked with some incredible people during those early days in Washington DC, and alot of them deserve recognition as the "founders" of what is known as Bluegrass music today.

This Spring, I went into the studio with the Black Diamond Band out of West Virginia and recorded sixteen songs ... twelve of which I wrote. These have been mastered and are ready for release.

Gary Reid has agreed to release certain cuts of these recordings on his Copper Creek Label and is looking to have them out in 2005.

This is how everything stands at this time ... Crawdaddy Dave will keep you updated on this website, so check back often for new news.

Pete Pike

~ In Loving Memory to Pete Pike ~