Posts Tagged ‘Peter Buffett’

Herald Tribune has posted an interview with Peter Buffett, who has an upcoming concert in the area.

Peter Buffett, who will appear Wednesday at the Ritz-Carlton Sarasota as part of a Gulf Coast Community Foundation of Venice lecture series, does not stand to inherit any of the $37 billion his famous father has made as the head of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

And that, the younger Buffett maintains, is a priceless gift, one that has pushed him to become an Emmy-award-winning musician and composer of film scores, commercial jingles and songs. “I’ve lived an extraordinary life, not because of my father’s money but because of the exemplary life he’s lived as an example to me,” Buffett said during a recent telephone interview from New York.

Read the complete interview here.

Peter Buffett’s new album Running Blind is released as a 2 GB USB stick. The USB stick does not only houses 15 new songs, but also 7 live recordings and 11 videos!

This is a good example of how new storage media can be used to give us, the fans, even more interesting material. It is the music business’ equivalent of extra material on DVDs – which is always welcome for the true fan.

Members of Peter Buffett’s Ning forum have already had the chance to listen to the 15 songs as they were produced and uploaded by the artist. The music Peter creates today is more in the pop genre than in new age music, but I’m sure old fans too will enjoy his new vocal style. Peter is, as always, an artist with a message. He is not afraid to sing about injustice and social problems.

You can see the USB track listing here – and be sure to check out the Ning forum too! And while talking about Peter, we must recommend his recent book Life is what you make it. A very inspiring read!

It is easy to think that money is the solution to everything, that more money would solve problems and make life perfect. This is perhaps even more true in today’s economy. Peter Buffett recently released a book called Life Is What You Make It. This book is to be found in the book store’s self-help department, but for new age music fans this is also a very interesting autobiography from one of the genre’s finest and most influential artists.

Peter Buffett is the son of Warren Buffett, which according to Forbes is world’s third richest man. Warren’s incredible success as an investor really needs no further introduction. But one thing is worth mentioning; that he is also famous for not giving away his incredible fortune to his children. He never wanted the “silver spoon in the mouth to become a silver dagger in the back”, according to his own words. Peter and his two siblings needed to create a life of their own, and earn their own money. They could not rely on their father’s billions.

In Life Is What You Make It Peter has a powerful message; that a privileged background is not the sure path to a life of happiness. And not just that, but the statistics show that children of the privileged have their own set of problems that is too easy to overlook. The old saying is of course “No one feels sorry for a girl on a yacht” – but it is really not that simple. To be from an influential and privileged background can in itself be a drawback when trying to create a life of one’s own. And this is a central goal for any human being. Of course there are many benefits for the rich, and Peter never says otherwise. But getting everything for free – money, success and fame – has never been good for anyone. Life Is What You Make It is therefore an excellent read for prosperous parents and their children.

For us who are interested in Peter Buffett as an artist, In Life Is What You Make It has a very interesting (though fairly well known) story to tell. Peter started as an musician making music for commercials and tv in the early 80s (for instance for the newly established MTV). Then he signed a record contract with Narada Productions, on which he released his first album The Waiting (1987). Then he was deeply touched by the sad history of the Indians, which resulted in the albums One by One (1989), Lost Frontier (1991) and Yonnondio (1992). In this was his success of Fire Dance in the movie Dances with Wolves and the music for the 500 Nations TV-series. Note that the book tells nothing about his later career and vocal albums – which is a bit sad.

Peter admits making many mistakes, both in his music career and personal life. The real interesting aspect of In Life Is What You Make It is about how to find one’s own creativity – and use that as a tool to success. And not only success in terms of money, but also artistic expression and the value of work well done. It is all about finding one’s bliss.

New Age Music fans must make sure to check out the audio book version of Life Is What You Make It – which has several nice clips from Peter’s rich discography. Peter is also an excellent audio book narrator, and I would love to hear him read other books as well. The opening song is Missouri Turning from the album Inside Looking Out (2006).

Yes, life is what you make it. What a powerful message to us all.

Sample the audio book here. Also make sure to visit Peter’s homepage.

Fox News has posted a video interview with Peter Buffett. Topic is of course his recent book, music – and of course – money. See the interview here.

Reuters has an interesting article about Peter Buffett in connection with his new book:

Musician and now author Peter Buffett preaches the message in his new book “Life is What You Make it: Finding Your Own Path to Fulfillment”. Recently released in the United States, it describes how he wound up a “normal, happy” person instead of a spoiled child to one of the world’s richest people.

Buffett, 52, teaches the rewards of self-respect and pursuing one’s own passions and accomplishments rather than buying into society’s concepts of material wealth.

“I am my own person and I know what I have accomplished in my life,” he said. “This isn’t about wealth or fame or money or any of that stuff, it is actually about values and what you enjoy and finding something you love doing.”

Read it here.

Peter Buffett is promoting his new book , Life Is What You Make It.

Here is a nice interview with npr.org. Enjoy!

Peter Buffett is out on the road talking about his new book, Life is What You Make It: Find Your Own Path to Fulfillment . Below is an interview with NBC Philadelphia. Soon we here on .nu will publish a book review – so stay tuned!

Peter Buffet’s book Life Is What You Make It, with the sub title: Find Your Own Path to Fulfillment will be released on April 27th. An audiobook version will also be released, read by the author himself!

Members of Peter Buffet’s Ning forum can now see an exclusive interview with Peter while he is recording the book. About the recording process he says:

Recording the audio book was very different from writing it! It was a lot more strenuous than I anticipated and a very interesting process to attempt to bring the words on the page to life.

Peter Buffet has teamed up with UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and Grammy award-winning musician Angélique Kidjo, to release “A Song For Everyone” single. 100% of proceeds from the sale of the song will benefit the Batonga Foundation, an organization founded by Angelique to advance education for girls in Africa. Here is a discription of the song:

Fans of Peter’s pop/rock and new age-influenced music can expect to be pleasantly surprised by the new dimension that Angelique’s signature worldly sound brings to the single. Writing in their respective native tongues, the uplifting, vibrant song has lyrics in both English and Yoruba.

You can sample and buy it here.

Members of Peter Buffet’s Ning forum now has the chance to download his new song Bought and Sold – for free! Watching Obama address the nation moved Peter to write a song that conveys his candid feelings on the state of our union. Bought and Sold, the politically-driven single, speaks to our values as a nation, our moral bankruptcy, and our precarious moment in history.

He was “inspired by” the trend of exploitation in our corporations, banks, and government, asking “how much is enough?”

And, while we are talking about Peter Buffett, he will in April release a book called Life Is What You Make It. If you are a member of his Ning Community and pre-order the book, you will get a personalized bookplate! Once you have pre-ordered the book, email a copy of your receipt to info@peterbuffett.com, the URL to your Ning profile page and mailing address and they will send you the sticker to slap in your book when you get it. And voila, you will have a signed first edition of Life Is What You Make It!

So do become a member of Peter Buffett’s great Ning forum!

I think that too few new age music artists write books. They should, because I am sure that they have a lot to offer to readers as well. But one artist who soon will debut as an author is Peter Buffet. Not much is known about the release, but it is in the self-help genre.

The title is Life Is What You Make It, with the sub title: Find Your Own Path to Fulfillment. To me this sounds like a perfect title for Peter!  The book will be released on April 27th. It takes on themes of earning one’s own reward and following passions over convention.

There will be a Question & Answer session with Peter hosted by Tom Brokaw at Barnes & Noble on Broadway NY at the day of the release.

A handful of A list celebrities have so far read the book. They say:

“Peter Buffett has given us a wise and inspiring book that should be required reading for every young person seeking to find his or her place in the world, and for every family hoping to give its daughters and sons the best possible start in life.”

–President Bill Clinton

“Knowing and admiring Peter as we do, this book captures his spirit, passion and values beautifully. As parents, it’s the kind of dialogue about our life’s purpose and opportunity we’re having with our children. We will have everyone in our family read and discuss the book.”

—Bill & Melinda Gates

The book can be pre-ordered at Random House. Source: Peter Buffett’s Ning forum.

As the holiday season is officially in full swing, new age music star Peter Buffett has just launched a digital advent calendar. Paying homage to traditional advent calendars of the past, this calendar will unveil a surprise behind each door in addition to a tip for giving back during the holiday season.

Behind Peter’s 24 doors fans can find tracks from his beautiful New Age holiday album, Star of Wonder, festive vlogs, and a first look at excerpts from his upcoming book, Life is What You Make It.  Given Peter’s philanthropic nature, he felt it was important to have every door reveal suggestions for simple actions fans can take to help make a difference and benefit others during this time of year.

To refresh your memory, Star of Wonder is a masterfully produced holiday album, featuring acclaimed Celtic vocalist, Kim Robertson. The calendar’s wintery landscape artwork was designed by Pennsylvania-based folk artist, Jessica Wasilewski.

We here at .nu hold this to be one of the fines Christmas new age music titles released. So please do enjoy the calendar, which you can find here

If you are in the creative mood, why not participate in Peter Buffett’s new cover design contest?

He wants his fans to help him design the cover of his new single Running Blind.

This single is, by the way, available for free for a limited time only on his Ning forum.

More and more major artists are using web forums and video chat proactively to reach out to their fans. As we have told you before, Jean M. Jarre is one of them. Another is Peter Buffett. On his Ning forum his fans really get to know the man behind the music. Here they can listen to unreleased tracks and every first Tuesday in the month he answers questions live.

To become a Peter Buffett follower on Ning, follow this link and request a forum membership.

In other news, Peter is set to perform Blood Into Gold at the 2009 Freedom Awards produced by Free The Slaves. The Freedom Awards will take place on Tuesday, October 13th on the University of Southern California campus. The event is to celebrate the heroes of the anti-slavery movement from around the world and will honor organizations and individuals working to eradicate human trafficking and modern-day slavery.

You can see the strong music video below, which really gets you thinking.

The new single from Peter Buffett is called The Cut, and it has been released today for purchase exclusively on his homepage. Members of his Ning forum have had a week or so to sample this heartfelt and thought provoking song .

As with Peter Buffett’s three most recent albums – Gold Star (2006), Staring at the Sun (2007) and Imaginary Kingdom (2008 ) – his vocal music is more pop oriented than his instrumental music. But the atmosphere and passion is still there (even more than before in my opinion), and the lyrics are great:

We wait another day
The wells run dry
But when will someone say
Were out of time?

Sample and buy the song here.  

Also be sure to check out his newly redesigned homepage and our recent interview with him.

BT Fasmer (*) of NewAgeMusic.nu has interviewed Peter Buffett about his current projects.

* Jazz bassist Dave Holland once said that the whole point in developing your own style is to find your own voice. And you, after many years as an instrumental artist, literally started singing. Please describe this experience. Do you feel that your music became more personal after this?

Peter Buffett: First of all, I couldn’t agree more. Finding your voice – or as Joseph Campbell said follow your bliss - is critical whether it’s in music or any other pursuit. And, yes, that came about literally for me in recent years. I tried to write songs with lyrics when I was young and in retrospect realized that they were mediocre because I hadn’t had enough life experience to really say anything of substance!

Now, many years later, I have a lot more to say and the music has most definitely become more personal as I’m able to put my thoughts and feelings into words. It was an amazing experience for me. While I still write instrumental music when I score to picture, I can’t imagine life without putting words to my music now.

* As a New Age music fan, I never imagined you as a singer-songwriter. But after Gold Star (2006), Staring at the Sun (2007) and Imaginary Kingdom (2008 ), I find myself wanting more. How have your fans responded to this change of style?

Peter: It’s been interesting. A few miss the instrumental work – but for the most part, everyone has come along for the ride. And vocal music certainly attracts more interest. That was always a frustration of mine. Some people just couldn’t relate to the instrumental work. I knew what emotions I put into that music, but many people need a vocal and a lyric to really relate. Which is certainly understandable. But until I found my voice, I knew I wasn’t reaching everyone I was hoping to. I’m glad to hear you want more!!

* Is it different to stand on the stage with Pop/Rock material than New Age music? Is there another kind of connection with the audience?

Peter: Yes! And I’m still getting used to that. To actually open your mouth and sing is a VERY different experience. And, honestly, I don’t really think of myself as a singer any more than I consider myself a pianist. I realize that may sound strange, but I do the things I do to get what’s inside out. So I execute the tasks as needed (sounds a little odd – but what I mean is, I’m not particularly great at playing – but I know what to do to produce the sound I want). So to be in front of an audience and sing something I’ve crafted in the studio by myself is very different… I’m slowly getting used to it!

* Many were surprised when jazz drummer Jack DeJohnette recently won a Grammy for best New Age Album for his release Peace Time (see for instance this article) Is the future of New Age music in the hands of established Jazz, Classical and Pop artists? Or do the thousands of small, Internet-based artists stand a chance in the serious music business?

Peter: I think the future is in the small artists. There is great music being made on a scale unheard of before – because the technology is in the hands of everyone. This makes for a lot of not so great music too! As soon as things like recommendation engines and other tools that help separate the signal from the noise really get refined, we will start to hear some amazing music coming out of the bedroom studios of the world.

* What is your current music project?

Peter: Aside from my most recent release, Imaginary Kingdom, I am collaborating with Akon (now that’s a crazy pairing!) on a song about human trafficking that we will perform in the General Assembly of the UN later this month. That track will be released on March 25th.

* Thank you for the interview, Peter! I urge everyone to check out Istheresomethingicando.com, and support your project.

Read Peter Buffett’s discography here. Also be sure to take a look at his website.