Peter Michaelsen Pisarczyk (born May 30, 1965), better known as Peter Keys, is an American keyboardist. He is best known for his work with George Clinton in various

P-Funk Parliament-Funkadelic (abbreviated as P-Funk) is an American music collective of rotating musicians headed by George Clinton, primarily consisting of the funk bands Parliament and Funkadelic, both active since the 1960s. Their distinctive ...

lineups and as a member of the rock band

Lynyrd Skynyrd Lynyrd Skynyrd ( ) is an American rock music, rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida. The group originally formed as My Backyard in 1964 and comprised Ronnie Van Zant (lead vocalist), Gary Rossington (guitar), Allen Collins (guitar), Larry Ju ...

since 2009.

Early life

He was born in

Burlington, Vermont Burlington is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the seat of Chittenden County. It is located south of the Canada–United States border and south of Montreal. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the population was 44,743. It ...

, United States, to Michael Pisarczyk and Carole Bouchard. Keys developed an interest in music at a young age as his parents played him to sleep with their 1923 Steinway piano. He began playing piano at age four and is classically trained. He had his first performance at the age of five in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...

, at the Neighborhood School of Music. Keys was determined to make a living as a musician and moved to northern California in 1976 where he played with his first band Smeagol. After Smeagol's disbandment he started a cover band called Sound Advice. He studied music through 1985 and went to the

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cours ...

in Boston, Massachusetts, before dropping out to continue performing.

Career

After dropping out of Berklee, Keys moved to the

San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay is a large tidal estuary in the U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the big cities of San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland. San Francisco Bay drains water from a ...

area and began playing and recording with many notable musicians including

Jay Lane Jay Lane (born December 5, 1964) is an American drummer. He is a founding member of Bob Weir's RatDog, with Weir and Rob Wasserman, Wolf Bros, Furthur, Golden Gate Wingmen and Alphabet Soup. He was the 7th drummer to play in Primus, playing ...

( Primus,

RatDog RatDog is an American rock band. The group began in 1995 as a side project for Grateful Dead guitarist and singer Bob Weir. After the Dead disbanded later that year, RatDog became Weir's primary band. They performed some Grateful Dead songs, a mix ...

Sam Andrew Sam Houston Andrew III (December 18, 1941 – February 12, 2015) was an American musician, singer, songwriter, composer, artist and founding member and guitarist of Big Brother and the Holding Company. During his career as musician and composer ...

(

Big Brother and the Holding Company Big Brother and the Holding Company is an American rock band that formed in San Francisco in 1965 as part of the same psychedelic music scene that produced the Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and Jefferson Airplane. After som ...

Peter Tork Peter Halsten Thorkelson (February 13, 1942 – February 21, 2019), better known by his stage name Peter Tork, was an American musician and actor. He was best known as the keyboardist and bass guitarist of the Monkees and a co-star of the TV ...

(

The Monkees The Monkees were an American rock and pop band, formed in Los Angeles in 1966, whose lineup consisted of the American actor/musicians Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork alongside English actor/singer Davy Jones. The group was conc ...

Marty Friedman Marty Friedman (born December 8, 1962) is an American guitarist, best known for his tenure as the lead guitarist for thrash metal band Megadeth from 1990 to 2000. He is also known for playing alongside Jason Becker in Cacophony from 1986 until ...

(

Megadeth Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist/guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal along wit ...

Marty Balin Martyn Jerel Buchwald (January 30, 1942 – September 27, 2018), known as Marty Balin (), was an American singer, songwriter, and musician best known as the founder/leader and one of the lead singers and songwriters of Jefferson Airplane and ...

(

Jefferson Airplane Jefferson Airplane was an American rock band based in San Francisco, California, that became one of the pioneering bands of psychedelic rock. Formed in 1965, the group defined the San Francisco Sound and was the first from the Bay Area to ac ...

Starship A starship, starcraft, or interstellar spacecraft is a theoretical spacecraft designed for interstellar travel, traveling between planetary systems. The term is mostly found in science fiction. Reference to a "star-ship" appears as early as 188 ...

) and

Bill Spooner William "Sputnik" Spooner (born August 16, 1949) is a musician, guitarist, singer and songwriter, and the founder of The Tubes, a theatrical rock band. His songwriting is known for its use of humor and satire. He has released three solo albums ...

(

The Tubes The Tubes are a San Francisco-based rock band. Their eponymous 1975 debut album included the single "White Punks on Dope," while their 1983 single "She's a Beauty" was a top-10 U.S. hit and its music video was frequently played in the early day ...

). In 1996 he replaced

Bernie Worrell George Bernard Worrell, Jr. (April 19, 1944 – June 24, 2016) was an American keyboardist and record producer best known as a founding member of Parliament-Funkadelic and for his work with Talking Heads. He is a member of the Rock and Roll ...

in the original P-Funk lineup. Around this time he shared the stage with everyone from

Bootsy Collins William Earl "Bootsy" Collins (born October 26, 1951) is an American bass guitarist and singer. Rising to prominence with James Brown in the early 1970s, and later with Parliament-Funkadelic, Collins established himself as one of the leading n ...

Snoop Dogg Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. (born October 20, 1971), known professionally as Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg and briefly Snoop Lion), is an American rapper. His fame dates back to 1992 when he featured on Dr. Dre's debut solo single, " ...

and

Isaac Hayes Isaac Lee Hayes Jr. (August 20, 1942 – August 10, 2008) was an American singer, actor, songwriter, and composer. He was one of the creative forces behind the Southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwri ...

. In 2000 he moved to

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

, and started Shock Logic Productions. He joined the 420 Funk Mob in 2002, a band that features George Clinton and other former P-Funk members. From 2004 to 2009, Keys toured and recorded with the indie rock band SeepeopleS and is featured on three SeepeopleS' albums (''Corn Syrup Conspiracy'', ''Apocalypse Cow Volumes 1 & 2''). In 2009, he moved to Nashville, and was selected to be Billy Powell's replacement in Lynyrd Skynyrd. When not touring with Lynyrd Skynyrd, Keys plays with a variety of other projects, including the Smoky White Devils.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keys, Peter 1965 births Living people American people of Polish descent Lynyrd Skynyrd members 20th-century American keyboardists 21st-century American keyboardists Blues rock musicians