Peter (Bosco) Michne: Strumming Rock To Jazz To Blues

Peter (Bosco) Michne came to the door of his Springs house wetsuit in hand, ready to hit the beach. "Surfing is the downfall of my music career," said the guitarist, who has lent his talent to a steady stream of local musical endeavors spanning blues, rock, and jazz since he was a student at East Hampton High School in the late 1970s.

"Surfing is like a total lifestyle," he said. "When the surf is good you have to go. So you have to watch the weather and the tides. I'm an avid fan of the Weather Channel."

Actually, as Mr. Michne pointed out moments later, his career - playing in a succession of bands, giving lessons, doing occasional studio work - and the flexible hours that go along with it "support my surfing habit" and allow him to live on the East End.

Pizza Change

"To really succeed in the music business, you have to live in the city," he said. "I've had offers, but I've never wanted to. I don't really like - I hate - the city. The city environment doesn't work for me. I'm probably digging my own grave professionally, but the ocean keeps me here."

Not that he has not tried to crack the city on occasion. Some of the bands he has performed with have landed gigs at the Bitter End,

CBGBs, and other New York clubs.

"We do it mostly for exposure and experience, not to make money," he said. "You get paid enough to pay for parking and gas and maybe have enough left over to get a slice before you leave town."

Four Flavors

Like many others who toil in this resort economy, "I make most of my money in the summer," said Mr. Michne, who divides his time among four groups, Hurricane, Paragon, The Napeague Choirboys, and The King Charles Band. "One July, I played 27 nights in a row. That's a record for me. Sometimes three gigs a day, two weddings and a club date."

Each band plays a different style. The members of Hurricane favor Southern rock. Paragon plays more "alternate and up-to-date stuff," according to Mr. Michne. As the house band for the Thursday night open jams at the Stephen Talkhouse in Amagansett, The Choirboys tend to "keep it simple, mostly blues," said Mr. Michne.

"When I started playing with King Charles that was like going to blues school," said Mr. Michne. The band also delves into jazz and rhythm and blues. Charles Cannon, the leader, who died recently, had "played at the Apollo Theater for Little Richard and people like that," according to Mr. Michne. "Although he died, we're trying to carry on," he said.

Studio Gigs

Other musicians who have played in the band through the years had served apprenticeships with the likes of Ike and Tina Turner, Otis Redding, and Wilson Pickett. "Those guys had done it," he said.

Mr. Michne enjoys blending in, he said. "I'm more of a sideman....I never deal with the club owners. I'd rather be the guy you call when you need a guitar player."

While a fair share of local bands keep Mr. Michne's number in their Rolodexes for live dates, he also gets asked frequently to sit in for local musicians working in the growing number of studios popping up on the East End.

"People ask me to play because they want something that I do," he said. "But what that is, I really don't know."

"We all have the same information," he continued. "It's not the tone or the equipment, but the notes you choose to play, and that is your style."

Heart Or Head?

"People may have ideas of what they want to hear, and they will try to guide me, but I try to bring something of myself along," he said. "When it comes time to blow I do my own thing, and sometimes that gets me in trouble."

Mr. Michne also has difficulty pinpointing his own influences, although he cites The Beatles "for their songs" and The Allman Brothers Band, "where I first learned about improvisation," as two important ones. "One day I can be listening to Ozzie Osborne, and the next day James Taylor," he said. However, "some of the strongest influences are the people I play with," he said.

Shifting gears from one style to another can be hard, he said. "To play jazz you have to be practicing all the time because the technique is so important," he said. "To play blues, you play from the heart. It's much more important than technique."

Winter Doldrums

He likes singing, but not singing lead, Mr. Michne said. "I'm more of a relief singer. When the lead wants to take a break, I'll do a couple songs."

Summer may be too busy, but "in the winter you're lucky if you can play once a week," he said. This time of year, he and his bandmates seek work UpIsland in Huntington, Locust Valley, Oyster Bay, and other more heavily populated areas.

"Lessons. That's how I make it" in the lean winter months, he said. Mr. Michne teaches students one-on-one at the South Fork Christian School in Water Mill and at the East End Arts Council in Riverhead. In between, he books as many private lessons as possible, preferring, as he put it, to "make house calls. It's more convenient."

Teaching's Rewards

His students range from children to adults. "I try to go with what each student wants," said Mr. Michne. He teaches youngsters "simple nursery rhyme-type songs," explores music theory with accomplished players, and also takes the time to help developing players hone their chops.

"The high school guys usually know how to play," he said. "They want to learn songs. They ask me, 'Teach me Nirvana' or whatever is current," he said.

"I really enjoy teaching," he went on. "It's great when the kids come back and say, 'I practiced!' and you see they've learned something."

Teaching has other rewards. Some of Mr. Michne's former students "are coming up through the ranks," he said. At a recent open acoustic jam at the Talkhouse, a number of his former students, including one who is now at the Berklee School of Music, showed up to perform. "I didn't even have to play," said Mr. Michne, who obviously enjoys listening as well.

In His Blood

Like many musicians, Mr. Michne got his start early. "My grandmother had a piano, and I took lessons from the time I was 7," he said. And he went on to take trumpet lessons from third grade through high school.

"My father used to play in the duo in the late '50s, covering Elvis and The Everly Brothers," he said. "Then I came along and put a stop to that." Nevertheless, his father continued to play his old favorites at home before eventually finding his way to "church choir and barbershop" music, said Mr. Michne.

"I've played guitar as long as I can remember," he said. "We always had one lying around the house that I could bang around on," he said.

Guitar Duo

In high school, he and his brother, Jeff, formed a number of bands. "We used to rehearse at our house, play real loud," he said with a smile. "But our parents always encouraged us to play." The Michne brothers soon found themselves "playing in bars even though we weren't supposed to be there," he said.

Music runs in Mr. Michne's present family as well. He is married to Trina Tozzi, a guitarist for Sweet Little Sister, a rock band. The couple's son, Gavin, is learning how to play drums.

With a family, it is easy to see why Mr. Michne is something of a homebody. But the trait was firmly established years ago.

In the early '80s, Mr. Michne was invited to Geneva, Switzerland, to do studio work. Despite the difficulties of communicating with his high school French, "it was a great experience, but there was no wave there," he said.

Several years ago, Mr. Michne joined John Hanford and the members of One World for a 10-day gig at the Stephen Talkhouse's bar in Miami Beach. "I couldn't wait to get home," he said.

Surf Still Beckons

He also tried to satisfy his love of music and surfing by moving to Southern California, "but everyone was playing punk rock, and I was trying to learn jazz," he said.

But he keeps the door open. "If something really good comes along" like a chance to back a major performer, "I'm not going to turn it down," he said. "It would be a dream come true."

For now, the surf beckons. Like many locals, Mr. Michne jealously protects the location of his favorite spots. "I can't divulge any of that info," he said, "the fellows don't. . ." stopping himself in mid-sentence.

However, he would reveal that his nickname, Bosco, originated in the surf lineup and not from a taste for chocolate milk.

"It started when I was about 13," he said. "Everyone had a nickname, Toad, Spoons, the Bull. I was Bosco, still am. Johnny Ball started calling me that. You can blame him."