Guitarist Kyle Peters's persistence pays off

KYLE PETERS’S name pops up quite often as the featured guitarist on popular local tunes.

Even if you don’t check credits, you’re probably familiar with his work through songs like Mical Teja’s DNA and Runaway, Peace of Mind by Voice (Aaron St Louis), Anxiety by Patrice Roberts and Carry It by Bunji Garlin (Ian Antonio Alvarez), among others.

With a love of music spanning over three decades and a journey grounded on persistence, Peters continues to excel.

Love at first string

Peters, 39, was raised in Palo Seco in south Trinidad and attended the Siparia Boys’ RC Primary School and St Benedict’s College in La Romaine.

He told Newsday his mother, Denise Jones-Peters, played guitar and he was always in awe when he saw her perform. She also sang.

She told him he would try to pick up her guitar to play it around age four.

He too tried out singing and did “a couple of duets” with her at special church events, he recalled, laughing.

“She was the choir mistress at Los Bajos RC Church…So anything pertaining to music, she would have been leading.”

Recognising his strong interest in music, she enrolled him in Joseph’s School of the Arts in Siparia at seven.

“My teacher was Mr Ashford Joseph and he was actually (my mom’s) teacher as well.”

Joseph, who died in 2016, was a musician and composer who taught many local musicians and artistes including Machel Montano.

Admittedly, as a child, young Kyle looked forward to spending his Saturday mornings unwinding from the school week and watching cartoons on TV. So he was not too thrilled when he learnt he had “more school” to attend then.

“But I had the passion for it and I enjoyed it,” he said.

He started with the cuatro and then moved to the guitar.

“Mr Joseph was a phenomenal guy ... He was big on discipline, and I think he saw something in me that I probably didn't see in myself. He always pushed me, and there was always that driving force from him.

Peters also learnt to play the steelpan, piano, and drums.

“I played the tenor pan, I did a couple of grades in piano, learnt trapset and African drums ... and now I play the acoustic, electric and bass guitars.”

Opening for a legend

While at St Benedict’s College, he started a musical ensemble that went on to perform at local competitions like Sanfest and the TT Music Festival.

“One particular year at Sanfest, I arranged a song (Dr Macumba) by Earl Klugh, one of my favourite guitarists, and we won that year.

“One of the adjudicators, when he was handing me the certificate, was like, ‘I don’t know what allyuh smoking at that school, but that was phenomenal.’”

To this day, Peters finds the interaction hilarious.

He said the late legendary South African trumpeter Hugh Masekela was in TT for a show that year at Atherly’s Restaurant and Bar in San Fernando.

“They invited us to open for him.”

Asked if he or his group members knew who Masekela was at the time, he admitted they initially had no clue.

“We had to research and then we realised, ‘Yo, this is a renowned jazz artiste.’”

Looking back at it now, he said, such an achievement as a young musician was “iconic.

“Everybody was really impressed that schoolchildren were playing that level of music.

“It’s one of my favourite pieces and I still perform that song up to this day,” he added.

Peters has now played with live bands for artistes including Machel Montano, Voice, Sekon Sta, Destra Garcia, Adam O, KMC, Ravi B, Teddy Riley, Tarrus Riley, Protoje and others. He also has his own band, Vizion.

Student becomes teacher, then student again

In 2014, Peters founded Visionary Music Group Ltd, which has a music school, Vizion Musiq Academy. The Siparia-based school teaches guitar, cuatro, piano, steelpan and drums.

“It basically carries on (Ashford Joseph’s) legacy, and we recently celebrated the 50th anniversary of that legacy. I want to see his things live on. That was the whole point of opening the school.”

But even as a music teacher, he still had gigs as a professional musician and “regular jobs.”

His final “regular job” was at Trinmar. But when the Petrotrin refinery shut down in 2018, music became his full-time livelihood.

But when the entertainment industry came to a halt during the height of the covid19 pandemic, Peters found himself reflecting deeply on his life and career.

“I was depressed for a bit, and I just kind of shook myself.

“After a month and a half of sulking while trying to figure out…how to live, I started focusing on me more. And then I was like, ‘You know, I’ve always wanted to do my degree in music.’”

He had previously done a degree in business management at the School of Accounting and Business Management.

So he enrolled in UWI, St Augustine’s musical arts programme.

Asked if he felt it would be a walk in the park, given his experience, he said, “It was the opposite for me. I felt like I had to prove myself (because) I’m a bit of an introvert, and I had some scars to get over from between secondary school and then.”

Those scars were self-doubt and a bad habit of comparing his journey to others.

“I actually enjoyed school,” he said.

The first two years were okay.

“But second year was when things started opening back up, and I was playing for Sekon Sta’s band and Voice’s band. Voice’s show was the Thursday and Sekon Sta’s was the Friday….

“So I had long rehearsals during the day with one, while juggling school and then long rehearsals in the night…I think I almost crashed that Saturday weekend after the shows. But I still made it through that semester .”

But his final year was a bit tough.

For his final project, he touched on business, laws, marketing and branding related to the music industry.

“I noticed that a lot of students would come out of tertiary education as musicians, but don’t necessarily understand the business side of it.”

Peters graduated with first-class honours in 2021. While he knew he would pass, he wasn’t sure he would reach that level.

“So when I saw (my results), it was just like, ‘Okay, I did it. I broke down this wall that has been in front of me for so many years.’ I was elated, I was full of joy.”

DNA, a full-circle moment

After battling and conquering his self-doubt, the success of the 2024 Road March winning song, DNA by Mical Teja, was a full-circle moment for Peters. He praised the artiste and the producer, Michael “Tano” Montano, for their “musical genius” and for trusting him.

“Whenever we (Tano and I) meet up, the aim is always to make a good song. It’s never about titles or what it’s going to do…We just want to make a good record.”

They began working on it in March 2023.

“So it started with a guitar loop, and the next day he met with Teja…and every time we met up, we kind of just built on it.”

He said they do “magical work” together and he always knew the song was special. Nevertheless, seeing the impact the tune had on the people of TT was an amazing experience for him.

“Actually, I feel like I'm still dumbfounded by it sometimes.

“(For) Stink and Dutty in New York, just September, (Mical Teja) ran on stage and there was literally a roar coming from the crowd to the stage. Just hearing them all singing along was overwhelming.

“I think I shed a tear.”

He foresees the song becoming a soca classic.

He also worked on Mical Teja’s Runaway, which he said he enjoyed owing to its “rootsy, cultural, kaiso” vibe.

“Kaiso is my favourite style of music to play.”

He has played for Collis Duranty, Mistah Shak, Eddie Charles, and for the Queen of Carnival competition.

Music has also allowed him to visit places that include the US, London, The Netherlands, Canada, Aruba and others.

Peters hopes to continue building on his skills as an instrumentalist and to further explore music production.