Pete Langdell
Pete Langdell is a native of Cambridge, Vermont, was raised on a dairy farm, and has played bluegrass for many years. Pete plays guitar and sings lead and tenor with Big Spike Bluegrass.
He's been playing and building instruments since the late 1960's. He says, "I've always had a love for acoustic music in general, especially bluegrass. Ever since I can remember, I have been fascinated with musical instruments of all kinds. I constructed my first instrument in 1964. In high school, with all the woodworking shop tools available, my building became more prolific, building guitars, basses, and mandolins."
"One of the coolest things I have is a picture of Bill Monroe playing a Rigel. He set the standard for everything in bluegrass, and here he was asking to play one of my instruments."
In recent years, he was heavily involved with the design and production of the Rigel mandolin, an innovative and very popular instrument that was endorsed and played by many well-known bluegrass pickers, including Marty Stuart, Chris Thile and Jimmy Gaudreau.Pete adds, "When time permits, I restore vintage instruments and indulge my fascination with all makes and styles of acoustic instruments. I also enjoy making replicas of classic instruments. In addition, I am always dreaming up and designing new models. It's the R & D work going on in my head that takes time to sort out and execute."
"One of the coolest things I have is a picture of Bill Monroe playing a Rigel," says Pete. "He asked to play it at Wintergrass the year before he died. He set the standard for everything in bluegrass, and here he was asking to play one of my instruments."
Pete's an original member of the Rattling Brook Bluegrass Band, and one of the founders of the Rattling Brook Festival in Belvidere, Vermont.
Pete has also played with Two Chord Jones, Wild Branch, Fog Hollow, Pony Express, and Hidden Drive. His usual band guitar is an Epiphone dreadnaught or a custom-made Langdell J-45 style guitar. Pete lives in Jeffersonville, Vermont. Contact Pete at pete@bigspikebluegrass.com.