BIO
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Born and raised in New York City, Peter Gallway cut his
musical teeth at a time which fostered the talents of
the Lovin’ Spoonful, James Taylor, Richie Havens and
Laura Nyro.
Recording just out of high school with his group The
Strangers, he eventually made three albums for the
Warner/Reprise label, the first of which was with the
highly acclaimed Fifth Avenue Band. His following
two solo outings written and recorded in Los Angeles,
Ohio Knox and Peter Gallway, led to extensive
touring across the United States and Japan.
After five years in Southern California Peter re-located
to the state of Maine where he based his touring band,
honed his recording skills, and continued to write and
eventually produce projects for other artists. 1978 and
1979 saw the release of On the Bandstand for the
Vividsound label of Tokyo and Tokyo to Kokomo, an
Imagination/Rounder release in the United States.
The 1980’s brought the increased popularity of his band
and tours of Japan. His song Sunday Basketball was
featured in the film Hoopla for the Basketball
Hall Of Fame and he was voted Best Songwriter at the
Maine Music Awards. He further collaborated on three
acclaimed works of musical theater through the Maine
Festival of the Arts and through the Portland Stage
Company by way of The National Endowment for the Arts.
His sixth album Proof was released through
Fishtraks in 1985. Meanwhile his list of production
credits was growing to include multiple projects with
Devonsquare, Aztec Two-Step, Cormac McCarthy, Tom
Pirozzoli, and more.
In 1988 Peter moved back to New York City and produced
Cliff Eberhardt, Christine Lavin, Japan’s Bread and
Butter and Hawaii’s Kalapana. A second Fifth Avenue Band
collection Really was recorded in 1990 and
released on the Pony Canyon label of Tokyo and greater
involvement with US recording companies led to an A&R
consultancy with Shanachie Entertainment. Meanwhile he
produced and recorded another collection of his own
music Small Good Thing, released through the
Gadfly label in 1994. Other projects of that period
included Jim Infantino Live, Jabbering Trout,
Devonsquare, and sessions with the legendary Laura Nyro.
Shortly thereafter, he embarked on the critically
acclaimed Astor Place Recordings project Time and
Love: the Music of Laura Nyro featuring
Rosanne Cash, Jane Siberry, Jill Sobule and Patty
Larkin.1998 brought the release of his own live
anthology A Night In Time followed by 1999’s
autobiographical Redemption, both on the Gadfly
label. These were accompanied by the second conceptual
collection for Astor Place, the Grammy nominated
Bleecker Street: Greenwich Village in the 60’s
featuring Chrissie Hynde, Marshall Crenshaw and Suzanne
Vega.
The new millennium brought Peter again to Los Angeles where he worked on the Windows In the Village project with Mark Sebastian, film scoring with Erin Kamler, an A&R consultancy with TAXI, and several projects with his colleague Jon Lind at Hollywood Records. It also saw the release of Rhythm & Blues and One Summer Day A Long Time Ago in 2007, and the internationally acclaimed Freedom Is in fall of 2008. Manhattan Nocturne, 12 songs written for vocal and jazz quartet about coming of age in Greenwich Village in the 1960's was released in fall of 2009 and he is currently collaborating with acclaimed songwriter Annie Gallup as Hat Check Girl with their first release slated for September of 2010. Also released in 2010 was the Peter Gallway: Tokyo Sessions 1989 CD/DVD package on Vivid Sound Japan.
Peter Gallway has been called “a master of free verse” in the Boston Globe and “a star in the making” in the New York Post. His ever-growing body of work stands as testament to the humanity and passion in his rich, artful approach to making music. He currently resides in Santa Barbara, California.