Johana and Peter Alexander

By Carol McCracken  (Post # 325)

Remember the name!  Because when you see that Peter is performng somewhere in the Greater Munjoy Hill area, you want to be sure you are in the audience.  With a national reputation, Peter Alexander and his songwriting wife Johana, have returned to the coast of Maine purposefully –  to recapture some of the peace and beauty Peter experienced in his youth on the coast of Maine.  The couple lives on the Hill.

Like so many “from away” Peter spent all of his summers on the coast of Maine – Port Clyde to be specific.  Those summers in Maine are so much a part of his psyche that he has written a so far unpublished book on his summers in that lobstering community.  He recalls vividly how sad he felt when, at the end of the summer, his family returned to Washington, D.C. – home.  Summers in Maine were so important to him that he has written a number of songs about Maine and just how much it means to him.  

Peter, almost 60 years old,  is a master of the guitar and an accompolished singer/songwriter.  In fact, the list of other accomplished musicians he’s played with is long and impressive; like Ramblin’ Jack Elliot,  Tom Hardin, members of Phish,  Nils Loftren of the E Street Bank, Buddy Guy and too many others to list here.  This past Monday evening at Awful Annie’s, Peter played and sang songs of his favorite song writers such as Jimmy Hendrix, Bob Dylan and of course – his own compositions.  One particular sentiment – now  that I’m back on the coast of Maine nothing can bother me anymore – came through poignantly in “Back on the Coast of Maine.”

That’s not all there is to know about Peter:  For 17 years he was a Sikh living in India.  As is the custom, he wore a turban, with his waist long hair under the turban and carried a knife at his side.  He said Monday night on a break from performing, that it was a very intense experience and eventually he broke away from it because the rituals “got in the way of who I am.  It was a barrier to human relationships,” Peter said. 

Come and find out who he is and what an awesome talent Peter is at Awful Annie’s, 189 Congress Street on the Hill, the second and fourth Monday of each month from 8:00 pm – 10:00 pm. for the foreseable future.

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