“Guitar is probably my favorite instrument when it's played by a master and Peter Calo is a master. On stage, I get so caught up in what he is doing sometimes that I almost forget to sing. I wish I could play like that!”

The Boston Globe has described Peter Calo as “a master musician.” London ’s Time Out magazine has dubbed him “one of the most engaging performers in the biz.” Peter Calo does it all as guitarist, producer, composer, arranger, songwriter, recording artist, and performer. Whether you are a long-time Linda Eder fan who remembers him from his time with Linda’s regular band or a more recent fan, you have been privileged to witness Peter’s incredible talent most recently through his presence in The Other Side of Me (TOSOM) band as guitarist and vocalist. The EDER-tors of THE VOICE recently spoke to Peter from his home in New York to discuss his career and his work with Linda.

VOICE: Did you always know you wanted to be a musician from an early age?

PETER: Music was always a part of my family even though there were no professional musicians in the family. I remember I always enjoyed music, but I became obsessed with it in high school. I never thought about making a living at it because I never knew anybody who made a living off of it. I never really thought of it. Of course, I had dreams like everybody else. I’d think, “Wouldn’t it be great to be one of the Beatles?” But I didn’t seriously think that would ever happen to me.

VOICE: Was guitar your first instrument?

PETER: Umm, that’s a good question. When I was young, I had the typical experience where I’d try a new instrument every year.

VOICE: That’s certainly a good way to get to know what instrument you’d prefer to concentrate on seriously. Do you play any other instruments besides guitar?

PETER: I play piano, bass, mandolin, banjo… recorder. (All laugh!) I do a lot of production work here at home and I try to sing. I shouldn’t say that in a newsletter that features Linda Eder, but I try to sing.

VOICE: We’ve heard you sing, and you are great! Did you have formal musical training?

PETER: Not really. I took some lessons, but for the most part I’m self-taught.

VOICE: That’s amazing given the level of your talent! We know you were born in Canada. What brought you to the United States ?

PETER: My father was a country doctor in Alberta, Canada, and he just needed to get out of that environment. My family moved to Boston when I was in my late teens. That’s where I started playing and becoming a musician.

VOICE: You mentioned you became obsessed with music during high school. Did you play in a band during those years?

PETER: Yes, near the end of high school I was asked to play in bands and join in jams, and before I knew it I was performing. When high school ended I continued that, but at the same time I was playing in a funk band, I was also playing blues and classical music. I actually did a chamber work competition during high school and came in second.

VOICE: That’s very cool! Do you remember your first live performance?

PETER: The first formal gig I remember was for the Classical Musical Society at Kresge Auditorium on the campus of M.I.T. (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). I performed a repertoire of solo classical guitar music.

VOICE: When did you make the move to the New York area?

PETER: I moved to New York in the mid 90’s. I met my wife, Marianne, in Boston in 1990 and we started dating. She was from England and was here in the United States as an au pair. We actually met a month before she was scheduled to return to England , so we had a long distance relationship before we got married. She went back to England to study nursing. When we decided to get married, she told me she would rather live in New York and so we moved down here.

VOICE: And the rest is history, so they say.

PETER: Coincidentally, at that time I had just started working with New York Voices and Carly Simon, who was living in New York at the time. So for me, I thought it was the obvious move. That’s how the move to New York happened and it’s been a great decision.

VOICE: When did you first meet Linda? How did you become part of her original band?

PETER: I first met Linda when she sat in and sang a song for Peter Eldridge, one of the original members of New York Voices. I was a friend of Peter’s before I even moved down to New York. That night Jeremy Roberts came up to me and told me he was working with this phenomenal singer. I didn’t know her name at that time. I hadn’t moved to New York yet, so I was not familiar with Broadway and the names associated with the shows. He told me about all the projects he was working on with her. He gave me his card and I filed it away. I was meeting so many different people when I was coming down to New York that I had forgotten about my conversation with Jeremy.

VOICE: When did Linda’s name come up again?

PETER: About a year later around the time Linda was working on IT’S TIME, Jeremy called. He told me Linda remembered me and wanted me to come to do a gig at The Supper Club in New York City , and that’s when I first began playing with Linda.

VOICE: What did you think of her performance?

PETER: I really had no idea how incredible she was before then. They sent me a CD before the gig. I played “Man Of La Mancha” and I remember saying, “Wow!” That was after only hearing a recording of Linda. Then I heard her perform live. It was incredible! You can’t capture a performance like hers on a recording, although I’ll have to admit that THE OTHER SIDE OF ME really captures Linda’s voice. It’s just so hard to capture what she’s really about.

VOICE: People often make the comment that Linda “live” is more amazing than Linda “recorded.”

PETER: I agree because a lot of people aren’t half the singer she is. Linda’s so dynamic plus she’s got such an incredible personality. When you see the two come together, there’s something to be said for that presence in a room that can’t be captured. It has to be experienced live.

VOICE: Absolutely!

PETER: I loved playing with Linda in her regular band! It was a privilege for me to share the stage with her and to be present during her amazing performances.

VOICE: When there was no longer a need for guitar in this band, what did you miss most about performing with Linda and that great group of musicians?

PETER: Oh, you mean when she replaced me with a trombone! (All laugh!) Actually my role with the band was diminishing instead of expanding, which led to me parting with the band. I loved doing the gigs and I loved all the guys in the band, but it just got to the point where there was nothing for me to do. The other band members were incredible musicians individually, but as a band there was something missing for me. I like to feel that it’s about the band. You can tell that Linda feels the same way because she likes to keep the same band members together.

VOICE: What did you think when you learned that Linda was going to take a risk and record a totally different type of music than the music everybody has become accustomed to hearing from her?

PETER: I thought it was a great and clear move. I’ve known for a while that Linda gets moved by material with a Nashville slant a la Faith Hill. I positively enjoy listening to Linda do story songs and pop songs with that flavor.

VOICE: What was your reaction when you were asked to be part of The Other Side Of Me band (fondly nicknamed TOSOM)?

PETER: I was thrilled! I didn’t play on the CD, but Linda seemed to want me in the band so I was surprised. It took me a minute to find my role in the band. The good thing is that the TOSOM band is really a band. There was always great camaraderie with both bands, but the TOSOM band is much more engaging. I really think it’s the nature of the new music that makes it more of a band. I don’t know if you can tell in the audience, but as a band it’s much more of a band, if that makes sense. I love that spirit! Billy Stein is just such a nut, completely different from the way you see him on stage where he’s really mellow. In rehearsals, he keeps it light, and I believe Linda really likes being part of a band… rehearsing, joking around, coming up with stuff. To me, the TOSOM band is so much like the other bands that I work with when I play for Carly Simon and others. It’s a really nice feeling.

VOICE: The spirit is very obvious from the audience. There is such great energy with the TOSOM band and the new music.

PETER: That’s very true. It was really great back in December when we played so many TOSOM shows back-to-back. By the time we got near the end of the tour, we had gotten beyond having to think about what was coming next and we had gotten a lot looser as individuals and as a group. I began thinking, “This is really becoming fun!” Before I knew it, the tour had come to an end. I hope we can do more gigs like this where there is a series of gigs because after you get through the first few, you don’t have to think about the charts and what comes next. You’re up there just playing the music and reacting to each other. That is a blast!

VOICE: Are you having as much fun performing in this band as it looks like you’re having?

PETER: I love it! I love Linda… I love the band members… I love the songs! It’s really so much fun, and it’s getting to be more fun with each gig. I was sorry to see the run end back in December.

VOICE: Can you tell us a little about the different guitars you play in the TOSOM band?

PETER: On certain pieces I play the electric guitar. I play it on “Waiting For The Fall,” the very cool song that Linda wrote, but most of the time I play the Taylor acoustic guitar. Basically it’s kind of a backbone kind of thing in terms of the songs being very acoustic based. I also play the mandolin on one song and then I hand it off to Allison.

VOICE: The fans love “Waiting For The Fall!”

PETER: That song has a great groove, and it’s fun for me to pick up the electric guitar on it. I was actually picking up the electric on a couple more songs originally. We found that although there’s a lot of electric on the album itself, the spirit of the songs is coming more from the acoustic.

VOICE: We recently asked you for your favorite song from THE OTHER SIDE OF ME, but can you tell us your favorite Linda song ever?

PETER: Ever!?

VOICE: Yes, ever! We know that has to be a difficult question.

PETER: Well, I have to say “Man Of La Mancha” was the first song I played, and that was an eye-opener for me and introduced me to her incredible “chops.” I love the way she sings “Over The Rainbow” and “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” I have to say on the new record I like “The Other Side Of Me.” I don’t know if it’s the way Linda sings it or if I just like playing it with the band. “Prayer For Love” is also fun. I like “Ghost” because it has kind of a cool vibe and “Both Sides Now” is unbelievable! Really, I don’t know if I have a favorite.

VOICE: It’s very hard for Linda’s fans to pick one favorite also. “The Other Side Of Me” seems to be one fan favorite.

PETER: That’s a very cool song!

VOICE: The arrangement used in the live show is very different from the arrangement on the CD.

PETER: Yes, we changed it around a bit. Whenever we did that song live, I would think that to me it seemed like the arrangement would get in the way of setting up the vibe of Linda’s vocal. It just didn’t make sense live so we just changed it around to frame her voice and get the vibe of the verse better. Linda didn’t want to over-sing it because of the lyric.

VOICE: It’s beautiful on the CD, but the concert version is also beautiful.

PETER: Yes, they’re both really nice arrangements. For me, I find that I am very sensitive to the vocalist and the tempo of songs. I don’t like to feel that a vocalist is breathing too much to get the words out because of the arrangement. A band can take a song five clicks faster and it will still groove, but it can make all the difference in the world to a vocalist’s delivery. Even one click of the metronome can make all the difference in the performance of words. Sometimes when a vocalist sings something a certain tempo, or a certain key or with a different arrangement in the studio, it just doesn’t work live. You have to be flexible with that.

VOICE: That makes a lot of sense. Can you tell us your thoughts about the Linda you worked with years ago versus the Linda you are working with now?

PETER: Linda has gone through a lot of changes in her life since I first worked with her. First of all, I’ve gotten to know her a lot better now than I did before, and I enjoy working with her immensely. I wish I could hang out with her more because I enjoy her as a person.

VOICE: Besides performing and recording with Linda, you have been associated with Carly Simon for quite a few years now. Please tell us about your work with her.

PETER: Working with Carly is an incredible experience. I have been her musical director for many years, but one of the greatest experiences for me was working on her latest CD, THIS KIND OF LOVE. It was wonderful being in the studio with just Carly and Jimmy Webb writing songs together. I got to know Jimmy and we started to do gigs around town together. He is one of my heroes! I co-wrote four of the songs on this CD in addition to being on the production team.

VOICE: Have you worked with Carly Simon on any other projects recently?

PETER: Let me tell you about the most recent experience I had just yesterday that involved Carly. There is a foundation that is in the process of making a CD called OUR TIME for people who have a stuttering problem. A wonderful New York vocalist and friend of mine, Everett Bradley, called and asked me to be involved with this project. I first met him when I was on the road with Carly Simon. He’s very well known in the business and has worked with such people as Hall & Oates and Bobby McFerrin. He’s amazing! Apparently he had a stuttering problem when he was a young child. He called and told me that Carly was coming into the studio to work on this project because evidently she also had a stuttering problem and overcame it through singing.

VOICE: The project sounds very intriguing.

PETER: It was a wonderful experience. Because this is a CD of many people’s songs, different teams of people would come into the studio during the session. One of Carly’s friends, John Forte from The Fugees, visited the studio and took part in the recording. He inserted a rap into an already existing song. What made it amazing is that he wrote the rap while talking to people and delivered the performance the first time flawlessly. This recording session was really like a party with so many people coming in to record. It was just an amazing day!

VOICE: You recently performed on television with Andrea Bocelli. What was that experience like?

PETER: That was one of those situations where I was called in to be part of his back-up band. Bocelli is amazing and he is music 24/7. He never stopped playing or singing the whole time I was in his presence. He is just incredible! I played the mandolin on that, and it was a lot of fun.

VOICE: You've produced a CD for a singer/songwriter by the name of Jan Horvath. Can you tell us a little about her and the work you have done with her?

PETER: I met Jan through pianist Phil Hall. Phil and I have done a lot of projects together. Jan has a history in Theatre, even sharing the stage with Sting in THREE PENNY OPERA. Her career took her away from acting on Broadway and more into concert performing. She has traveled the world performing with orchestras. She was in the process of recording a CD, and as it progressed, she contacted me to perform guitar on a few tracks. Eventually that grew into me producing the CD for her. It was a very positive experience, and we have grown as friends and music collaborators. The CD is called NEVER TOO LATE and features all original songs written by Jan herself. She is an excellent writer and very prolific.

VOICE: Can you tell us about being on “The Tonight Show” and “The Late Show?”

PETER: The difference between Letterman and Leno is the difference between New York and California! (All laugh!) In New York , it’s cramped and tight, and everything is quick, quick, quick! You go in there and do sound check. Then you literally have from the time they take a commercial break and come back to do your set-up and get everything going. With Leno, you come in during the morning, have coffee, chill, and hang outside because it’s California. You’ve got your own little area where you can set up, and you don’t have to break it down. There’s a curtain… it opens… and there you are! It’s such a different vibe.

VOICE: It seems like you prefer “The Tonight Show.”

PETER: In a way, but with Letterman you can walk out the back door and you’re home. That’s very cool. New York is such a walking town. I would say I liked both shows. I actually sat in with the Letterman band with Paul Schaffer. I filled in for the female guitarist, Felicia Collins, when she was sick. They kept calling for a while and that was exciting, but I haven’t done it in years.

VOICE: Have you done other television work?

PETER: I’ve probably been on all the New York morning and news shows, and I also did “Ellen” on the West Coast.

VOICE: Can you tell us about one of the highlights of work you have done for film?

PETER: I wrote the music for a movie called CONSCIENSEOUS OBJECTOR, which is an amazing story that takes place during World War II. It tells the story of a Seventh Day Adventist in the army who refused to carry a weapon because it goes against his beliefs. He still wanted to fight for his country in some way. He was stationed in the Pacific and became a hero by pulling 30 soldiers to safety while bullets were flying all around him. Not one bullet hit him, and he served his country without ever carrying a weapon.

VOICE: What an inspiring story!

PETER: It truly is.

VOICE: We know you did HAIRSPRAY on Broadway. How did that come about?

PETER: I became friends with Dave Spinozza, a well-known guitar player from New York, a few years before HAIRSPRAY. I first met him when we did a Joe Pesci record together. He’s one of the greatest guys and we became very good friends. I knew he was doing Broadway so I told him to let me know if he ever needed a sub. He was very surprised and responded, “Oh, you do Broadway?!” I hadn’t done any Broadway yet so I replied, “If it was with you I’d do it! It would be so much fun!” One November day when I was doing a gig in Boston with Linda, I was talking to Dave on the phone. During the conversation, he told me he had just given my name to John Miller, a New York contractor, because they were looking for another guitar player for HAIRSPRAY, which was going to open the following summer. I told him to count me in if he was doing it because I knew it would be fun. I said, “John Waters on Broadway… that sounds great! Maybe we’ll get a couple of weeks out of it! Who knows?”

VOICE: It sure turned out to be more than a couple of weeks!

PETER: At the time, I kind of put it out of my mind, but then I kept hearing more and more about it from different people. As it turned out, so many people I knew were scheduled to do HAIRSPRAY, including Dave Mann and Clint deGanon from Linda’s band. As time went on, I knew it was going to be fun! As it got closer to becoming a reality, the show became this phenomenon that everybody was talking about, and as we know now, it became a huge hit. I had a blast doing it! Mark Shaman, who is a great writer and also just a great guy, also pulled us in on the movie soundtrack and that also was a nice little run. I am very glad to have done it, but now I’ve moved on.

VOICE: Would you consider doing another Broadway show?

PETER: I’ve been asked by Teese Gohl to do a new musical called SPIDER-MAN, a Julie Taymor project. He and I go way back and he is involved in this production, and I had previously worked with Julie on ACROSS THE UNIVERSE. U-2’s Bono and The Edge are creating the music and lyrics. When Teese called, he told me they weren’t sure of the timeline, but they wanted me to do it. I’ll be busy doing other things, but if that comes about… great! We’ll see what happens.

VOICE: It seems like it would be fun to do.

PETER: Yes, it would be a nice one. It’s funny because HAIRSPRAY was so appealing to young girls… my daughters loved it! And with SPIDER-MAN, I’d be doing a show that probably would appeal to young boys, but I’m sure they’re going to make it appeal to everybody.

VOICE: That’s probably true because in today’s economy you have to try to appeal to a wider audience to fill the theatres.

PETER: That’s very true. There were a number of other shows that were forced to close around the same time that HAIRSPRAY was closing.

VOICE: Please tell us about some of your current projects in addition to the ones we’ve already talked about.

PETER: I’ve been working on the music for a children’s DVD for Spoken Art which is based on a book called Pumpkin Eye by Denise Fleming. Spoken Art takes wonderful children’s books and creates DVDs based on them. I recently have been producing and recording with Johnny Ray in my home studio, and that’s been great fun! We take a song and record and overdub everyone on the spot. It’s just two old friends hanging out and having fun. We’ve knocked this CD in no time and I think it sounds great! It will be called SONGS FROM THE EL RAY MOTEL and should be out by the time THE VOICE is released.

VOICE: That sounds like too much fun to be considered work! Are there more current projects that are keeping you busy?

PETER: We’re going back into the studio to finish a CD for Carly Simon, which will include her hits as well as love songs arranged in a more acoustic setting with new vocal arrangements put on as well. I’ll be producing this CD with her son, Ben Taylor. I am also producing a second CD for singer/songwriter Mary Gatchell.

VOICE: Are there any personal projects in the works for you?

PETER: I am planning two CD projects for myself. I’d like to do another songwriter CD and another CD like CAPE ANN, which is an instrumental guitar oriented recording.

VOICE: Besides performing with so many talented artists, you also have your own band. When did you form your band?

PETER: I started performing with a band again just last year when I asked some neighbors, musicians I’d met through our children’s friendships, if they’d like to do a gig I booked. To my surprise, they all said yes. It’s the best band I ever had, and it’s just some friends who go out and play. It’s just loose and very enjoyable to me.

VOICE: What made you want to step out of the background and into the spotlight as the “star” of a band instead of just being “part” of a band?

PETER: I’ve always at different times in my playing career had bands and solo gigs and have put out my own CDs, so I’ve always been in the spotlight one way or another.

VOICE: Please tell us about the solo CDs you have previously recorded.

PETER: I have recorded three CDs… CAPE ANN , WIRED TO THE MOON, and COWBOY SONG, which are available through my Web site www.petercalo.com. Clint deGanon and Dave Finck can be heard playing on COWBOY SONG.

VOICE: Who or what are your musical inspirations?

PETER: That would have to be all my musician friends and musicians I’ve listened to live and on CD. This is a bit vague, but I pull ideas and inspiration from lots of different events. If you want to know what got me playing, it was my dad plus listening to Julian Bream, Buddy Guy, Thelonius Monk, Coltrane, Billy Hart, The Beatles, and actually all English Rock bands. I also love Tchiakovsky! I used to listen to him and early Renaissance music and free Jazz when I was a kid… yes, a weird kid!

VOICE: Of all the places you have traveled to perform, what is your favorite place and why?

PETER: Alaska … the air hit me and I also love the nature. It probably reminded me of where I’m from… Alberta, Canada .

VOICE: If you weren’t a musician, is there any other career you could see for yourself?

PETER: I’d be a chef!

VOICE: A chef! That's very cool! Do you cook for your family and do you have a favorite dish to make?

PETER: I'm not saying I'm a great or even a good cook. I just enjoy it. It's very relaxing and everyone loves a good cook. It brings people together. I'm mostly a vegetarian and so that's what I like. I like fresh and simple.

VOICE: What would you say is your greatest achievement in your career so far?

PETER: Feeding a family of five as a musician!

THE VOICE is pleased to present this official exclusive video clip of Peter performing with Linda at the Lenape PAC in New Jersey. (NOTE: to view the video below, you will need to allow 'ActiveX' controls if your Web browser's security settings disables them.)