WELCOME!

Thanks for visiting the Peter Aston website and welcome to the February 2010 update.  The days are now lengthening and the snowdrops are telling us that spring can't be too far away.  If you're visiting this site for the first time, a quick introduction - I'm Peter Aston, a Christian singer/songwriter based at Holtwood Methodist Church which is a welcoming, evangelical church in an idyllic location near Wimborne, close to the south coast of England. My music ministry falls into three main areas - as a singer & guitarist (solo, duo or with a full band), as guitarist with the worship group at Holtwood and as guitarist with the Holtwood Mission Band in the wider area.

By way of a contrast I also write secular songs which, hopefully, also have a bit of a message and I'm the singer/guitarist/caller with traditional ceilidh band Cottage Industry, a solo singer/guitarist and a wandering minstrel/court chamberlain for medieval banquets.  When time permits, I also play guitar for Dotty Crotchets, a Dorset volunteer ceilidh band providing entertainment for a variety of charitable events.  For completeness the Dotty Crotchets bookings have been added to the Cottage Industry page - just click on the banner at the top of this page.  So, all in all, a fairly eclectric musical life!

My new CD album "We Can All Be Free" is almost finished.  The title track from the album did really well on NCM#64 which was a compilation CD of new music distributed worldwide in June 2009 by New Christian Music & UK Christian Music Alliance.  Over the summer my song was played on dozens of radio stations - from Australia to Shetland and from the Netherlands to America.  Thank you all! 

Another project with which I'm involved is Wimborne Community Theatre (WCT).  Details of past productions can be read here.  The Company is currently developing a new production for Spring 2010 in an exciting building at Wimborne which is usually locked and inaccessible to the public.  Hence the working title is "Behind Closed Doors".   Intrigued?   Want to know more?  Jonathan Petherbridge of the London Bubble Theatre has agreed to be the artistic director for the project.  If you would like to be involved as an actor, musician, writer, dancer, etc please send me an e-mail.  During a couple of appearances this summer, WCT invited the audiences to provide ideas to create an instant song "Go with the Flow", on the theme of water in its widest sense, which will become part of the new production.

Many new doors have opened for me in recent years and continue to open - and many new friends have been made.  If you're one of those who helped to open these doors, then thank you!    

Click on the navigation bar at the top of this page to explore the website.  A good place to start is the "Peter Aston" page which contains all the latest news of what I've been up to, plus links to the other updated pages and to associated websites.

My 2003 CD "Name in the Sand" contains 12 of my contemporary Christian songs and you can hear snatches of some of these songs on this website as well as buying the CD. The album sold really well and raised a considerable amount towards the cost of the Holtwood Community Hall. Thank you to all who bought a copy - it really made a difference!  Individual tracks may also be downloaded from iTunes - just enter my name into the search engine.  "Name in the Sand" is now also available internationally to purchase securely on-line.  Just visit http://cdbaby.com/cd/peteraston   If you have already bought the CD I'd invite you to write a short review on the cdbaby site.  This will help to inform potential buyers - and will also help to "Spread the Word".

My CD EP 'Horton Tower...and other dreams' contains 4 of my secular songs, which can loosely be described as 'songs inspired by dreams '.   You can also buy a copy of this CD by e-mailing me.

Please get in touch here if I can help with worship or a concert at your church or in your community - or if you're looking for a fun ceilidh band for a social or family occasion.  Thanks again for visiting my website - and have fun browsing!

Peter