Losing A Friend - A Different Kind Of Earthquake - And Angels
Posted on July 22, 2026
Hi Lovelies,
Where to begin with this update…my last note to all of you was late-May and, well, music was on my mind and community. Christchurch was moving into winter and the City vibe was one of creativity brewing alongside those famous NZ lattes.
Then, came news, really bad news of the kind that alters your perspective on living. I got a call one night in late May. My mentor and musical soul brother, Pete, was in the hospital…cardiac arrest…stable but condition unsure etc. Well, two and a half weeks went by and so much happening in between, but in the end, I lost my friend, a dear friend, one of my best of friends. He was young and vibrant and charismatic and kind and generous and non-judgmental and community-oriented and loved his children. He gave the biggest hugs and had the broadest grin imaginable, and he was a talented musician in the process of recording a solo Cd of original music.
Talk about lessons, big lessons. Talk about grief, wow, in bucket loads and in waves. But something else emerges in the spaces of emptiness. Sitting with the emptiness is hard, but it’s a time of reflection. It’s when the tears flow and the heart aches, but it’s also when the poems come or the light bulb ‘aha’ moments happen. It’s when I feel my connection to something greater and profound. The superficial veil disappears when someone close to you passes, especially one so young. It’s the nitty gritty essence of living that becomes important. Pete lived his life around his ‘Circle of Friends’. His friends were his community and he had many circles that have interwoven since his passing. We’re making music together and find ourselves reminiscing and planning the completion of his Cd. We find ourselves comforting one another and smiling and hugging more when we greet each other, knowing that is exactly how Pete would do it.
We wrote music together and performed as a duo for four years, his lead guitar backing my music, and my vocals backing his music. In January 2012, we went into the aptly named, Angels Gate Recording Studio, to begin recording tracks for his solo Cd and a special track, ‘Angel’, that was a song we had co-written several years ago, but never properly recorded. We laid the guitar and vocal tracks in January and left the song unfinished while we awaited a friend to put the final touches on the song with her delicate cello. Months passed and as Pete worked on the other songs in studio, we put ‘Angel’ aside. It wasn’t until Pete’s passing that the cello part was put down and the song completed.
Angel has just been released as a single. It is a song that speaks from the heart of despair. It's a lamentation for help from within and beyond oneself. It's a call to the Divine. It was a song that spoke to us deeply, and we played it at each gig. At the heart of our music, we have always tried to speak our truth and act with love. How simple it is. As Pete used to say, “love is the way.”
Where to begin with this update…my last note to all of you was late-May and, well, music was on my mind and community. Christchurch was moving into winter and the City vibe was one of creativity brewing alongside those famous NZ lattes.
Then, came news, really bad news of the kind that alters your perspective on living. I got a call one night in late May. My mentor and musical soul brother, Pete, was in the hospital…cardiac arrest…stable but condition unsure etc. Well, two and a half weeks went by and so much happening in between, but in the end, I lost my friend, a dear friend, one of my best of friends. He was young and vibrant and charismatic and kind and generous and non-judgmental and community-oriented and loved his children. He gave the biggest hugs and had the broadest grin imaginable, and he was a talented musician in the process of recording a solo Cd of original music.
Talk about lessons, big lessons. Talk about grief, wow, in bucket loads and in waves. But something else emerges in the spaces of emptiness. Sitting with the emptiness is hard, but it’s a time of reflection. It’s when the tears flow and the heart aches, but it’s also when the poems come or the light bulb ‘aha’ moments happen. It’s when I feel my connection to something greater and profound. The superficial veil disappears when someone close to you passes, especially one so young. It’s the nitty gritty essence of living that becomes important. Pete lived his life around his ‘Circle of Friends’. His friends were his community and he had many circles that have interwoven since his passing. We’re making music together and find ourselves reminiscing and planning the completion of his Cd. We find ourselves comforting one another and smiling and hugging more when we greet each other, knowing that is exactly how Pete would do it.
We wrote music together and performed as a duo for four years, his lead guitar backing my music, and my vocals backing his music. In January 2012, we went into the aptly named, Angels Gate Recording Studio, to begin recording tracks for his solo Cd and a special track, ‘Angel’, that was a song we had co-written several years ago, but never properly recorded. We laid the guitar and vocal tracks in January and left the song unfinished while we awaited a friend to put the final touches on the song with her delicate cello. Months passed and as Pete worked on the other songs in studio, we put ‘Angel’ aside. It wasn’t until Pete’s passing that the cello part was put down and the song completed.
Angel has just been released as a single. It is a song that speaks from the heart of despair. It's a lamentation for help from within and beyond oneself. It's a call to the Divine. It was a song that spoke to us deeply, and we played it at each gig. At the heart of our music, we have always tried to speak our truth and act with love. How simple it is. As Pete used to say, “love is the way.”