Peter and the Wolves‘ Nov. 6 show at the Slice seems like a lifetime ago as it was the last time I covered a show at the Slice before everything shut down again due to Covid. So it’s fitting Peter and the Wolves will be the first big band back at the Slice since things have reopened.

It has been a tough year-and-a half for Peter and the Wolves frontman Peter Cormier.

 

“I’m super excited to be back at the Slice,” said Cormier from Vancouver where he is combining busking with playing an underground  show at Alphabet City.

 

 He is excited to bring his new four piece band to Lethbridge, which features long time bassist Pedro, vocalist/saxophonist/ guitarist Meg Thompson and new drummer Willie Garcia.

 

“Willie is the best drummer we’ve ever had. He joined us around Halloween. And every show we‘ve played with him has been weird like behind plexiglass or wearing masks. This is the first one with hm that people will actually be able to dance at,” he said, adding he loves playing Lethbridge because audiences always want to dance and have a good time.

 

 He is enjoying playing with Meg Thompson on saxophone.

“I’m a big fan of Little Richard’s band. She really allows us to come really close to that sound. She was playing tenor saxophone, now she’s playing more alto saxophone. She’s super rhythmic so that adds that extra layer to the sound,” he enthused, adding all of the band members sing.

“Part of the reason we added Meg because we had a drummer who refused to sing,” he said.

 

 Over the course of the past few years and three official albums, Cormier has been incorporating more piano to the rockabilly / rock  and roll band’s shows.

“I’m always practicing piano. I really, really enjoy it. So the shows are about half and half. If the first have of the show  is piano, I can add a little extra pepper with the electric guitar. It just feels a little more edgy with electric guitar,” he said, adding the Lethbridge show will include three sets, plenty of piano, guitar and new songs including originals and ’50s/ ’60s rock/ pop and rockabilly covers and few blues classics.

He said surviving  during the pandemic has been challenging, but he channelled his frustration with current events and not being able to play live.

“I really just can’t wait to play live again. It’s really been hard. I feel comfortable when I play live,” he said.

 

“I’ve been doing a lot of writing,” he said adding he wrote a batch of 17 new songs with Tom  Ingram of OCL Studio, reflecting his frustrations.

“They’re a lot of stick it to the man type songs. But then I started recording six other songs. It‘s fun to get back to writing more fun songs you can dance to,” he said, adding he plans to release a few new singles in the near future including the next one called “ Let us Dance, Amen.”

“It’s about when you couldn’t dance or sing anywhere but in church,” he said.

“ It’s serious but it is still a lot of fun. It‘s a rock and roll song,” he said.

 

He is usually working on new covers, this time focusing on more of the pop side of the ‘50s and ’60s.

 

“ I’ve been working on the Drifters’ ‘Fools Fall in love,’ and  the Coasters’ Poison Ivy.’ But I don’t know if they will make it into the show,” he said.

 He is enjoying being able to play live again, even busking.

“ It seems there‘s more appreciation for busking in Vancouver,” he observed.

 Peter and the Wolves play the Slice, Friday, July 2 at 8 p.m.

 There is a $15 cover.

— by Richard Amery, L.A. Beat Editor