Pete Murray’s North Head debut

The stage is set for Night at the Barracks’ third epic Spring of concerts across four weekends from 13 September to 6 October, with the 2024 line-up comprising revered singer-songwriter Pete Murray, making his North Head debut.

Born in the undisputed Melon Capital of Australia, the rural Queensland town of Chinchilla, Pete Murray’s late blooming journey to the elite ranks of Australian music is grounded in a resolute sense of positivity and purpose. 

“When I was younger, I was very much focused on sport and I always believed I could achieve great things,” says Pete. He had reason to be confident, a superb sportsman, Pete excelled at athletics, swimming and rugby union, with sporting endeavours taking up most of his time while he was growing up. “But when I was 18, my father, who’d worked hard his whole life, building his own business, when he sold that at 47 years of age, his plan was to semi-retire and travel around Australia, but very soon after selling the business, he died of a heart attack.”

His father’s sudden death had a profound impact on Pete. “I guess you could say I went through a bit of a depression, there were some heavy times coming to grips with my dad’s passing, but from that experience, the important lesson to come from it was to promise myself I was going to carve out a career doing something I really loved, that time is precious, and family is everything.”

Then, in 1993, having been selected for the Queensland Sevens rugby side, a series of serious knee injuries crushed Pete’s dreams of playing for Australia. He put his dreams of a professional sporting career on ice, but as fate would have it, this opened up a whole new world of music. 

“I didn’t play music when I was younger, but I picked up the guitar at 22, taught myself to play,” recalls Pete. “It was something that I really enjoyed straight away.” 

Influenced by his love of incredible singer-songwriters such as Neil Young and Bob Dylan, Pete added lyrical depth to his song writing, bringing profound meaning to his songs from the outset. 

“The beauty of a great song is found in being able to look at something in a new way, not to tell a straight story, but to say it in such a way the people can all get different meanings from the same song, but also to provide hope, to help listeners find strength to carry on through tough times.”

His string of hit singles – ‘Feeler’, ‘So Beautiful’ and ‘Opportunity’ to name just a few – continue to soundtrack life’s precious moments and Pete often receives feedback that certain songs, particularly ‘Better Days’, have saved lives. “There’s no greater appreciation for your song than your lyrics keeping someone alive; that’s just the best thing you could ever hope for.” 

“The Northern Beaches has been so great to me as well,” says Pete. “When my career first started out, the surf community there especially was hugely supportive. And I’m not sure Night at the Barracks will be as loose as some of my performances at Avalon RSL over the years, but it’s an incredible venue at North Head, and I just can’t wait to be there soon.”