Folk music has been on the rise in recent years.

A consistent definition of traditional folk music is elusive. The terms folk music, folk song, and folk dance are comparatively recent expressions. They are extensions of the term folklore, which was coined in 1846 by the English antiquarian William Thoms to describe “the traditions, customs, and superstitions of the uncultured classes.”
The term is further derived from the German expression Volk, in the sense of “the people as a whole” as applied to popular and national music by Johann Gottfried Herder and the German Romantics over half a century earlier.

The term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the folk-acoustic tradition.

Peter Boehling says his work is best described as singer-songwriter, and music as “lyrical”.

“I perform and record with several different folks, and the collaboration of same is simply called “old fish hatchery records”.  I play out every few weeks, at “Pantana Bob’s” and Sorority and Fraternity benefits in Chapel Hill, at  “Smacnalley’s” on Ocracoke Island, in Richmond, at the “Southern Living Big Apple Barbeque” in Madison Square Park each summer, places in Edenton, and elsewhere,” Boehling explained.

Most recently, Boehling has done a couple of duo and solo gigs at Old Salt Oyster Bar in Columbia.
“Old Salt” is a newly renovated, classic bar-restaurant, that promotes live music several nights weekly.
“The environs, food and drink, and service are great; my friends and I love playing there, and feel that the oyster bar is one we’d like to see thrive in the quaint waterfront downtown of Columbia,” said Boehling.
Boehling said his interest in music began at a early age.

“When Boehling was 10, Neil Young’s “Harvest” came out; Boehlinhg’s older sister’s boyfriend at the time gave her the album, and he became enamored with it.

“She played the nylon string acoustic in the 8th grade folk mass at school, and before long he was dragging out her guitar and taking lessons with one of her friends. The first song I learned was “Heart of Gold”, and from then on I was hooked on this Canadian singer/songwriter,” said Boehling.

 

Boehling has played with high school friends in various bands, then college pals as well.  They were crazy about the Grateful Dead, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, and other artists, and their set lists focused on their songs.

 

When Boehling and his wife and soon to be five kids left their hometown Richmond Virginia  for Edenton in 1995, Boehling realized it was time to focus on songwriting,

“ I had a lot in my head and heart that needed release. “Edenton” was the first song I wrote down here, and became it the 1st cut on “She”, “Peter Boehling and The Best Life Band’s 1st CD, recorded in a 42 track digital studio in the one stoplight town of Hamilton, NC.  Three years later we did “Sage” in the same studio,” said Boehling.

 

In 2010,Boehling and band members recorded their third project in his own home studio, “Old Fish Hatchery Records”, by the music collaborative project of the same name.

 

While he was working on a fourth record “Tilt The Earth”, Boehling’s oldest son passed suddenly and unexpectedly.

“Warrior’s Song For Alex” was created in that wake of misery as well as spirituality. I changed gears entirely, and left behind the band that had become a source of anxiety and negativity, recording with new talented artists. I added banjo to the mix, and that’s become my instrument of choice, for it’s complexity and challenge, but more for it’s melodic scales that change entirely and unexpectedly on each fret and with every roll,” said Boehling.

 

“Tilt The Earth” has been revived, and will be Boehling’s fifth project to be released February 2014, and the third to be created at Old Fish Hatchery records in Edenton, NC.