Why Peter Willie Youngtree's obsession with death helps him appreciate life
Have a First Listen to Musical Chairs by Peter Willie Youngtree and the Blooms
"I've felt like time is very short and precious for most of my life," said musician and songwriter Peter Willie Youngtree.
Peter Willie Youngtree and the Blooms' new album, Musical Chairs, is an unusual blend of high-energy roots country and rock and roll, and lyrics that explore, well, death.
At the age of three and a half, Youngtree lost his aunt and caregiver in a car accident. That event, he said, started his lifelong fascination with mortality.
"I thought everybody would live with such an uncertainty, but it turns out most people don't think about dying when they're that young," said Youngtree.
Inspired by uncle
The title track for Musical Chairs is based on a song originally written by Youngtree's late Uncle Ray in 1990.
Youngtree's uncle gave him his lyric book, and Youngtree kept it in his desk for years.
"The whole idea of Musical Chairs is a comment on impermanence," said Youngtree.
Musical Chairs ... is like a metaphor for life and death.- Peter Willie Youngtree
"You're in the game and then you're out of the game. It's like a metaphor for life and death."
Lively band
Youngtree's band, the Blooms, is, in contrast, a lively bunch of musicians, including a classically trained violinist, a veteran blues player, and a 60-something rock and roller from the United States.
Youngtree and the Blooms have played together for about three years and have learned to take their frontman's preoccupation with death with a grain of salt.
"They're cool with it. I mean they like the songs," said Youngtree.
"I just focus on living."
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