The album cover of Pete Kilpatrick’s newest album “Songs from the Green Room.” Courtesy of Pete Kilpatrick
BRUNSWICK — Every Saturday night, for almost a year now, Pete Kilpatrick has managed to reach an audience in the thousands, all while strumming his acoustic guitar from a signature lime green room in his Brunswick home.
Sprinkled in among his originals, Kilpatrick covers songs from artists like Britany Spears and Stevie Wonder, while still upholding the familiar calming, acoustic melody his fans love.
“I hadn’t stayed up this late since New Year’s Eve,” one comment read. “We are sitting by a fireplace with a glass of wine, what could be better than this?” read another.
Kilpatrick will be hosting the 50th rendition of his virtual series “Live from the Green Room” this Saturday at 8 p.m.
After getting the news last March that his tour had been canceled due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the folk-rock musician shifted to three-to-four-hour virtual performances every Saturday night from a room in his house dubbed ‘the green room.’
Kilpatrick and his band have had music featured on NBC’s The Office, have performed with Dave Matthews Band, and opened for Barak Obama before a 2012 campaign speech at SMCC.
“I’ve always known how important music is to people, being a musician for so long, but this year has made me realize just how important it is and how it brings people together so much that might have nothing else in common in their life,” Kilpatrick said in an interview on Thursday.
The digital concerts attract an audience of thousands and have people tuning in from 40 U.S. states, the United Kingdom, Brazil and Japan. Kilpatrick said that the chat feature in the livestream has created a lively community, so much so that “music is almost like the secondary thing.”
“There’s a family from Japan that watches every week and it’s like Sunday morning in Japan,” he said. “So, they’re like having their breakfast while I’m playing at like nine o’clock at night here in Brunswick.”
He said that the platform has helped him reach a wider audience and engage with more fans.
“I really enjoy doing it,” he said. “But I don’t want to continue to do it if there’s like opportunities for people to go out and see live music at a venue.”
“The first thing I did right after I did the first live stream (was) I ordered a music recording setup at home from the music store in town, in Brunswick,” he said.
Kilpatrick wrote, recorded and remotely exchanged files with a bandmate to produce an original five-song album between March and April, entitled “Songs from the Green Room.”
He said that, while the pandemic has presented some creative challenges, he found inspiration for the album from “everything that was going on at the time” and “all the uncertainty.”
In addition to the virtual performances, Kilpatrick said he did around eight or nine live, COVID-19 friendly, backyard shows throughout the summer with lawn chairs and a food truck.
Kilpatrick began playing the guitar at age 16, and since then has been named best act four times in the Portland Best Music Awards, according to his website.
“I started recording and writing my own music, and released my first album, like way back in 2003,” he said. “I’ve pretty much been doing it full time ever since then.”
According to his website, Kilpatrick has performed over 1,600 shows all over the U.S. and has sold over 40,000 records.
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