Pierce Turner and I begin this episode talking about castles and end it discussing Patsy Cline & Roy Orbison. But in between we do manage to touch on his career. He’s been playing music since he was a kid in Ireland in the 60’s. He couldn’t help it; it was all around him. His mom had her own band and the family had their own music store. And as a 14 year old kid, he was in charge of inventory! He was even in a 60’s Irish version of a boy band. But he wanted to start writing his own music, so he struck out on his own, which led him and a bandmate to fly to NYC with no plan; not even a place to stay when they landed! His first recordings in America almost ruined his career by attracting a bunch of weird Aleister Crowley fanatics!

But he started writing music for modern dance and working with Philip Glass before starting a true solo career. His sound has shifted over the decades, including ditching the traditional band format and working only with string quartets. His new album features David Bowie guitarist Gerry Leonard and a rhythm section of Tony Shanahan from Patti Smith & Beck and Yuvel Lion from David Byrne. It’s called Terrible Good, because that’s exactly what it is. And Philip Glass returns! Check it out in the usual places. Check out Pierce’s website, pierceturner.com for more info. Follow us @PerformanceAnx on social media, rate & review, if you please. You can show support with a cup of coffee at ko-fi.com/performanceanxiety, picking up a shower curtain or two at performanceanx.threadless.com. So grab a pint and enjoy Pierce Turner on Performance Anxiety on Pantheon Podcasts.

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