ABOUT

Welcome to "The Crickets Sound" Project

My name is Pete Carroll, a long time Buddy Holly & The Crickets fan and musician from Central Scotland.

I was first introduced to Buddy & The Crickets music on a high school trip to Melrose, in The Scottish Borders, by a fellow classmate who, in a few years later, would become an international recording artist with his brother and his band Hue & Cry. Greg Kane somehow managed to have a record player with him and he played a Buddy Holly LP in Gibson Park, in Melrose. That was in 1979.

Then some years later, the universe reminded me of that time, as I walked out of my parents house, the Buddy Holly Story was on TV in 1985. I stopped in my tracks and watched the movie and proceeded to learn everything I could about Buddy & The Crickets, and I also took up the guitar that very night. That's when my life changed and I became a musician.

I learnt to play the guitar by listening to Buddy Holly/Crickets songs intently and constantly, by playing vinyl records and the tapes I bought, then played them over and over again, continuously. I literally stayed in for a year. That continued for many many years and I ended up playing in my own bands, initially as a lead guitarist, then fronting my own combos for 15 years or so in Rock/Blues-Rock/Indie Rock genres.

Then, inspired by Buddy Holly/Norman Petty and the recording techniques they used on Buddy/Crickets recordings of all those great songs I learnt guitar to, I managed to secure places on Sound Recording & Music Technology courses at college in the early 1990's. After many years fronting my own bands, gigging around Glasgow, I now I write and record my own music (songs and instrumentals) in my home studio using Cubase and have done since 2005.

I've signed Publishing Contracts for my songs with Music Publishers in the USA previously and had some of my instrumental music used for brand advertising and short films. All thanks to Buddy Holly, The Crickets, Norman Petty and all the people/musicians related to their work/legacy, to which I am forever indebted.

In 2009, after a few years of learning to record in my home studio set up, I decided to record the songs which I cut my teeth on the guitar to, and which I loved dearly, namely the songs of Buddy Holly and The Crickets. That's when The Crickets Sound Project began and over the years I learned to record by back engineering (so to speak), the songs I loved to sing and play. This helped me immeasurably in developing my own songs, my songwriting/arranging and also guitar playing & singing, and also my skills in recording, self producing myself, which I still to to this day.

In 2011 & then 2013, former Crickets frontman (in the early 1960s) Jerry Naylor was so impressed with my Buddy/Crickets cover versions (on Reverbnation) that he asked me to go on a UK tour with him, for his then "Rockabilly Legends" project. Sadly it fell through, but it was nice to be asked. I also planned to write/record an album in 2009/10 of songs inspired by Buddy Holly/The Crickets and I asked John Pickering of The Picks (lovely man), and also Gary & Ramona Tollett (lovely people) to sing backing vocals on some songs. They all agreed, which I was humbled by. Sadly the album didn't happen and then some years later John passed away and then Gary Tollett passed away also. Gary & Ramona sang backing vocals on "That'll Be The Day" and "Im Looking For Someone To Love".

The music of Buddy Holly & The Crickets and all the other artists who recorded at Norman Petty's studios and the great artists related to their music, as well as all the artists/bands from the 1950's/1960's who have had a serious impact on my life and musicianship and also, the ones who influenced Buddy Holly, will always have a special place in my heart and I refuse to let their music and contribution to the Buddy Holly/Crickets story die off, or let their music die off and not be remembered. I will never allow them to be forgotten, and that's why I continue with my The Crickets Sound Project on Youtube and also Facebook. The Youtube channel started out as a Buddy Holly / Crickets guitar demonstration/tutorial videos channel, helping other guitarist to learn the riffs/licks Buddy & Sonny Curtis played on their iconic songs. The channel now has over 1000 Subscribers and now includes factual videos about Buddy Holly, The Crickets etc. More videos coming soon.

I had planned to set up a website some time ago, but other music projects (composing) and life got in the way. Add to that, the complete lack of any official Buddy Holly online presence on a website, so I have spent the last week or so setting up this website, to try and keep his and The Crickets name and music alive and also pull together all the other factions, clubs, books, people etc who are related/associated to Buddy Holly/The Crickets, directly or indirectly on this Info Hub, along with Authors & Researchers.

The original fans of Buddy Holly & The Crickets are all ageing now, we all are, and those fans won't always be around, so this is my effort to at least try to keep things going a little longer, and perhaps, to inform/educate younger folk about Buddy & The Crickets and all the people who were/are associated with them

If you are family members of any of the people listed on this website who would like more info about them added on, please feel free to EMAIL me

Together we won't let the music or legacy die off

Keep On Shining On !

Cheers

Pete Carroll