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Digging The Duke

• Stuart Baillie
• 7 Feb 07, 11:47 AM

Belfast¡¯s Royal Avenue on a damp Monday evening isn¡¯t the best prospects for Winter fun. But inside the Virgin Megastore there¡¯s a perfect glow. Peter Wilson from Duke Special is playing a bespoke gig, meeting his ever-increasing fan club and signing records. Everybody¡¯s smiling and a proper, feel-good event is in session.

It¡¯s been a tremendous time for the fella. He¡¯s done Jools Holland and TOTP2, while ¡®Freewheel¡¯ has been Radio 2¡¯s record of the week. His online messageboard is alive with new believers and satisfied, older followers. By degrees, the world is finding out about our uncommon talent. It¡¯s been many years coming, but that¡¯s been a compelling part of the story also.

As I watch him singing ¡®Brixton Leaves¡¯ amongst the record racks, I¡¯m thinking of another difficult and perilous story. If Duke Special was a book, it would be ¡®Pilgrim¡¯s Progress¡¯ by John Bunyan. It¡¯s been a long quest, battling through the slough of despond (playing covers in the local bars for rent money), and distracting times at Vanity Fair (the music biz). It¡¯s not been effortless, but that difficulty has informed the music, with those tales of peril, near death and perseverance.

The road is long and home is indeed a distant drumlin. But Peter has a good soul and an unfaltering sense of purpose. And happily, we¡¯re beginning to see the light.

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