WELCOME!

Thanks for visiting the Peter Aston website and welcome to the June 2009 update.  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 in rural Dorset, 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 Crochets who are a volunteer ceilidh band of up to a dozen musicians plus a caller.  The band provide occasional entertainment for a variety of charitable events in and around Wimborne in Dorset.  The band's bass player, Bill Morgan, will shortly be leaving the area and a replacement is now being sought - enthusiasm is more important than mind-blowing ability!  Please send me an e-mail if you're interested.

So, all in all, a fairly eclectric musical life!

My new CD album "We Can All Be Free" is almost finished and will be available later in 2009.   The title track from the album has been included on NCM#64 which is a compilation CD of new music distributed worlwide in June 2009 by New Christian Music and the UK Christian Music Alliance.

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.  WCT will be appearing at the Holtwood Summer Fete on Saturday 4th July (when the plan will be to create instant theatre and music with the audience on the theme of water in its widest sense) and WCT will also be at "Alive in the Park" on the Leigh Park Estate in Wimborne on Saturday 11th July.   So, if this is something that maybe you would be interested in, then do come along for a chat at one of these events or join us at the next project development day on Saturday 12th September from 12.00 - watch this space for details of the venue because we're hoping that we might be able to use the "usually locked and inaccessible" building in Wimborne! 

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.

The past two or three years have seen an increasing expansion to the activities of Cottage Industry Recording Studio and P.A. Hire - just click on the icon below the top banner for more information.

My CD "Name in the Sand" contains 12 of my Christian songs and was released at Christmas 2003.  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 our new hall for the church and community which was completed in 2006. 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.

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.  "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".

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