The talented 17-year-old Lewisporte native Peter Welsh kicks off his career in style with his infectious lead single, Shutter N’ Shake

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What was your greatest accomplishment at 17 years of age? Did you win the math decathlon? Post the highest score on Pacman? Maybe started your own small business? Well Lewisporte’s musician Peter Welsh can add an impressive debut single to his resume, one that is sure to fill out in quick order once he graduates from Lewisporte Collegiate next year.

“This is really my first publication of my music,” Welsh shared with The Newfoundland Herald. “I really tried to do my best and make a good impression on people.”

Shutter N’ Shake

Welsh’s debut single Shutter N’ Shake is a rock-pop hybrid tailor-made for modern-day radio. Inspired by everything from classic rock, radio hits, and modern R&B, Welsh has all the tools to make waves, locally and abroad.

For his debut single, Welsh enlisted the aid of notable local producer Peter Newman, whose artistic endeavours earned him connections all the way to Nashville. Newman is a longtime family friend – he and Peter’s father actually performed in a band together during their younger years.

Once Welsh’s parents saw that their son had the right stuff to make a real run at this music thing, they sought out the advice, and aid, of Newman to help with professional touches.

“I released a sneak peek of a song I was working on, on my Facebook called Lost. A few music producers contacted me and told me they thought it might be a good time to put out something,” Welsh explains. “That’s when it was kind of real for my parents that they should maybe see into getting me some studio time.”

A look down Welsh’s family tree uncovers that Peter’s entrance into the music world comes as little surprise. 

“My family is really musical – my dad had a band and everything, but it’s not just him. My whole family, relatives, everyone enjoys music,” he says. “Music for me came from them. I can’t even really be certain when I picked up a musical instrument, but I know when I was eight years old I really tried to get into it. I wasn’t overly interested in it then, because I wasn’t that good at all. Where it wasn’t my main interest I didn’t get anywhere with it. It was only until I got to middle school at 12 to 13 years old where I said, ‘Yeah, there’s something cool about music.’ I’m into art anyways and pop culture, so it really clicked to me that music is that entertainment thing, it’s universal. That’s what made me go back and get into it even more. I took it even more seriously then and tried to get even better at it.”

Community Support

That built-in support system, coupled with a strong community of supporters and artistic minds (teacher and fellow artist Adam Baxter and the folks at Citadel House come to mind) have helped Welsh hit the ground running. Where he goes from here is anyone’s guess, but you can hardly lay the foundation better than what he has in such a short span.

“It’s really real to me now,” Welsh says. “When you’re younger it’s just a dream and a thought, and it’s still a dream, but it’s real to me now that I want to do this and I want to do this as a career. It might not necessarily be as a performer or writer, but I definitely want to work in the music industry in some way. I can see myself later down the line doing an audio engineering course. I’m really interested in that as well. I’m hoping to be able to network my way into the music industry from the inside.”

For more on Peter visit his official Facebook page and website peterwelshmusic.com