Peter Buck facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Peter Buck
Buck in 2022
Background information
Birth name	Peter Lawrence Buck
Born	(1956-12-06) December 6, 1956 (age 68) Berkeley, California, U.S.
Genres	Alternative rock, folk rock, punk rock
Occupations	Musician, songwriter
Instruments	Guitar, mandolin, banjo, bass guitar
Years active	1976–present
Associated acts	R.E.M. Hindu Love Gods The Minus 5 Tuatara The Baseball Project The Venus 3 Eels Mark Eitzel The Replacements Tired Pony Saint John and the Revelations Filthy Friends Corin Tucker The Decemberists Amaral

Peter Lawrence Buck (born December 6, 1956) is an American musician and songwriter. He is best known as a co-founder and the lead guitarist of the famous alternative rock band R.E.M.. Besides playing guitar, he also played the banjo and mandolin on some R.E.M. songs.

Throughout his long career with R.E.M. (from 1980 to 2011) and after, Peter Buck has been part of many other music groups. These groups include Arthur Buck, Hindu Love Gods, The Minus 5, Tuatara, The Baseball Project, and Filthy Friends. Each of these groups has released at least one full music album. He also played with an experimental group called Slow Music, which released a live concert CD.

Peter Buck has also worked as a record producer for other bands. He has helped create albums for groups like Uncle Tupelo, The Feelies, and The Jayhawks. He has also played as a session musician, meaning he plays on other artists' recordings, for bands like The Replacements and Eels.

Early Life and Music Beginnings

Peter Lawrence Buck was born on December 6, 1956, in Berkeley, California. His family moved around, living in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Atlanta. He finished high school in 1975.

Later, Peter moved to Athens, Georgia, a city known for its music scene. While there, he worked at a record store called Wuxtry Records. This is where he met Michael Stipe, who would become the lead singer of R.E.M. They also met Bertis Downs, who would become R.E.M.'s manager.

Peter Buck's Music Style

Buck on stage in Naples, Italy, in 2008

Peter Buck has a unique and easy-to-recognize guitar playing style. He often uses open strings while playing chords. This creates a special "chiming" sound that makes R.E.M.'s pop melodies memorable.

His sound, especially during R.E.M.'s most popular years, is often linked to Rickenbacker guitars. He famously used a black Rickenbacker model 360. As R.E.M. grew and experimented, he used many other instruments too.

Buck with Arthur Buck in 2018

Peter Buck has produced many bands. Some of these include Dreams So Real, The Fleshtones, and The Feelies. He has also played on albums for other musicians like Billy Bragg and The Decemberists.

Other Music Projects

Peter Buck, along with R.E.M. bandmates Mike Mills and Bill Berry, recorded an album with musician Warren Zevon. They called themselves Hindu Love Gods. This was one of many names R.E.M. members used when playing music in Athens.

Buck also continued to play live in local bars with a group called the Normaltown Flyers. They played country and rock songs.

In 2005, Peter Buck joined a group called Slow Music. This band included R.E.M.'s studio drummer Bill Rieflin and King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp. They played improvisational music, meaning they made up the music as they went along.

In 2008, Peter Buck became the bass player for a new band called The Baseball Project. This group was formed by Scott McCaughey and Steve Wynn.

Solo Work and Collaborations

After R.E.M. stopped playing together in 2011, Peter Buck started working on his own music. He released his first solo album, titled Peter Buck, in 2012. He released his second solo album, I Am Back to Blow Your Mind Once Again, in 2014. In 2015, he released his third solo album, Warzone Earth.

In 2017, Peter Buck started a new project called Filthy Friends. This group included his long-time friends Scott McCaughey, Bill Rieflin, and Corin Tucker from the band Sleater-Kinney. They released their first song, "Any Kind of Crowd," that year.

He also formed another group called The No Ones with Scott McCaughey and members of the Norwegian band I Was A King. They released an EP called Sun Station.

In 2018, Peter Buck released an album with singer-songwriter Joseph Arthur under the name Arthur Buck. They both wrote songs for the album. In 2019, he worked with Luke Haines on an album called Beat Poetry for Survivalists.

Personal Life

Peter Buck has twin daughters, born in May 1994. He is known for knowing a lot about music and has a very large collection of records. In the late 1990s, he estimated he had about 25,000 records, including vinyl singles, LPs, and CDs.

He has lived in the Pacific Northwest (Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, Washington) and also in Todos Santos, Mexico.

Discography

See also

In Spanish: Peter Buck para niños