Pete Shepheard is an acknowledged authority on folk song, a founder member of the Traditional Music and Song Association of Scotland (TMSA) in the mid 1960s, his enthusiasm as a singer and collector resulted in the creation of Springthyme Records in the 1970s specialising in the release of recordings of Scottish traditional song and music. His contacts with the Scottish traveller traditions of the Stewarts of Blair and Jeannie Robertson's family in Aberdeen led to exploration of traveller tradition in Ireland and England as well as Scotland. He has presented lectures and workshops based on his song collecting, on ballad repertoire in the living tradition, traditional singing style, song repertoire among the Romany gypsies in Gloucestershire and among the Scottish travelling and farming communities in Fife, Tayside and Aberdeenshire. He often accompanies his singing on melodeon with His song repertoire includes songs he has collected in England, Ireland and Scotland but, living as he does in the ancient 'kingdom' of Fife, many of his songs are from local Fife and Perthshire tradition. He sings as part of the group Shepheard, Spiers and Watson - Pete on melodeon, Tom Spiers on fiddle and Arthur Watson on whistles with a repertoire of songs gleaned directly from the living tradition.
Website: Pete Shepheard
www.springthyme.co.uk