Holly Stephey Daryl Easlea Without Frontiers The Life and Music of Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel is one of rock music’s most active innovators. Between his Grammy- award-winning albums, social activism-based concerts, world music festivals, and his claim-to-fame band Genesis’s 2010 induction into the rock n’ roll hall of fame, Gabriel’s creative longevity is unquestionable. Author Daryl Easlea’s new biography, Without Frontiers: The Life and Music of Peter Gabriel illuminates this musical pioneer’s life and what inspires him. Daryl Easlea delves into the multi-talented Gabriel’s childhood, where he writes of young Gabriel’s influences, including his father who fostered his musical interest in everything from The Beatles to soul music. Gabriel began his musical career in the early 1970’s as the front man for Genesis, a band he created with fellow schoolmates. By 1975, citing the stress of being in the band and that Gabriel was newly married and with a baby, he set out on a solo career. Naming his first three albums after himself, he achieved moderate success with the singles “Solsbury Hill” and “Shock the Monkey.” It wasn’t until Gabriel’s 1986 album, So, with the hits “Sledgehammer,” “Big Time,” and “In Your Eyes,” that he achieved commercial success. It was followed up five years later by the equally successful album US, hits “Digging in the Dirt” and “Come Talk to Me” and as the author notes, is clearly the result of the singer’s personal struggles and years in therapy. Throughout Without Frontiers, Easlea weaves a beautiful biographical tapestry of Gabriel’s life. Quotes and interviews with friends and fellow musicians who were instrumental in Peter’s life help to chronicle the man and his immensely creative approach to his music.
Peter Gabriel is one of rock music’s most active innovators. Between his Grammy- award-winning albums, social activism-based concerts, world music festivals, and his claim-to-fame band Genesis’s 2010 induction into the rock n’ roll hall of fame, Gabriel’s creative longevity is unquestionable. Author Daryl Easlea’s new biography, Without Frontiers: The Life and Music of Peter Gabriel illuminates this musical pioneer’s life and what inspires him. Daryl Easlea delves into the multi-talented Gabriel’s childhood, where he writes of young Gabriel’s influences, including his father who fostered his musical interest in everything from The Beatles to soul music. Gabriel began his musical career in the early 1970’s as the front man for Genesis, a band he created with fellow schoolmates. By 1975, citing the stress of being in the band and that Gabriel was newly married and with a baby, he set out on a solo career. Naming his first three albums after himself, he achieved moderate success with the singles “Solsbury Hill” and “Shock the Monkey.” It wasn’t until Gabriel’s 1986 album, So, with the hits “Sledgehammer,” “Big Time,” and “In Your Eyes,” that he achieved commercial success. It was followed up five years later by the equally successful album US, hits “Digging in the Dirt” and “Come Talk to Me” and as the author notes, is clearly the result of the singer’s personal struggles and years in therapy. Throughout Without Frontiers, Easlea weaves a beautiful biographical tapestry of Gabriel’s life. Quotes and interviews with friends and fellow musicians who were instrumental in Peter’s life help to chronicle the man and his immensely creative approach to his music.