When Pete Jones was growing up in the 1960s, the family all enjoyed singing. When they moved to the village of Thrybergh near Rotherham in South Yorkshire, they all joined the St. Leonard’s Church choir. After leaving school, Pete had a passion for folk music and when he decided he wanted to be a folk singer he was influenced by artists like Donovan and Leonard Cohen.
Pete’s transition into Country music happened quite by accident. In 1973, he started singing folk working either solo or in a duo backed by his friend Alan Senior. While still playing with Pete, Alan also joined a local Country band, the Mick Conlin Band. Believing that Pete had a good voice for Country he invited Pete to come and see the band at a local club. Having seen The Mick Conlin Band and another popular South Yorkshire country band, the Mel Hague Band, Pete quickly realised that his future career was as a Country singer. His early country influences included Johnny Cash and Don Williams.
It wasn’t long before he formed his first Country band, a 4-piece called The Pete Jones Outfit. They played their first gig on 5th June 1978 at The Comedians pub in Eastwood, a date that heralded the start of the long and successful career for Pete on the British Country music circuit. Within a short time, the band was packing out venues. Although generally working as a 4-piece they sometimes made it up to a 5-piece with the addition of pedal steel guitar.
In the early days, they worked mainly in local pubs like The Rockingham Arms in Wentworh where they had an eight year residency every Thursday night, which was a dance night. The Pete Jones outfit were on the road for 17 years. During that time there were actually two bands with different musicians, one for residencies and the other for touring, especially in the north-east where they quickly became very popular. The line up for the touring band comprised Pete Jones (lead vocals and rhythm guitar), Mick Hartley (lead guitar), Mick Dury (bass) and John Ferminger (drums). With that lineup the band released one cassette album The Pete Jones Outfit. After many years on the road, the band downsized, first to a trio with Pete Jones, Mick Hartley and Mick Drury and eventually they became the Pete Jones Duo. After leaving the band Mick Drury joined the CFS Band in Sheffield.
Eventually, Pete formed a new duo called The Jones Boys with guitarist Ron Blyth. Ron was a very experienced lead guitarist from Chesterfield who had played in the US with the Wendle Atkins Band. The Jones Boys stayed together for a few years but eventually Ron grew weary of the constant travelling to gigs. Pete carried on as a duo with another lead guitarist, Pete Richardson for a few years but he was forced to stop playing due to ill health. Paul Hill also played lead guitar, mandolin and fiddle for a while but eventually Pete decided to carry on as a soloist in the early 2000s.
Pete recorded his first CD album, the Pete Jones Experience Volume 1 in 2005, A few years later, a second CD album, Pete Jones Experience Volume 2 followed. For this, he was able to call up some of his previous band musicians with Pete Richardson on lead guitar, Mick Drury on mandolin and Danny Hannon on fiddle. Later CD albums were titled Another Pete Jones Experience and Silver Stallion. All the CDs are still available at gigs.
As well as being a Country singer, Pete lives on a smallholding and rears egg laying chickens. With a large quantity of eggs every day, his Country shows have proved a very lucrative outlet for his eggs although he describes this as a hobby rather than a living. Many people go to a club to see him perform and often come home clutching a dozen eggs! He is now often referred to as Pete Jones, The Egg Man.
As a soloist Pete was always happy to travel but initially this only involved the northern half of the country but in 2015 he began travelling south. He is now happy to travel anywhere in the UK and stay out so long as he can find someone to look after his smallholding.
Pete died on 12th February 2026.
Research by Nick Catford.