Pete Gustavson

Award-Winning Singer & Songwriter

Pete Gustavson is a multi-instrumentalist singer and songwriter residing in southeast Pennsylvania. He writes songs about love and life and death and the ache of regret, and reinterprets well-known classics from the American songbook in his own particular fashion.

From 1997 to 2008, he won some regional acclaim north of the Mason-Dixon Line as a founding member of the countrifunked jazzabilly band The Unpronounceable, performing and recording under the name Jorgé Beefalo.

Following the band’s split, he returned to his acoustic beginnings, calling upon influences ranging from ’40s crooners to ’90s Alternative Rock, and pulling at the strings that tie Old-timey Country to ’60s Folk-Rock. The resulting sound evokes, among other things, the sweetness of Jim Croce, the mourning wail of Hank Williams, the plaintive croon of Chris Isaak, the resonant energy of Richie Havens, and the modernist rock & roll sensibility of Wilco.

In November 2010, his original song After Dark won the Lehigh Valley Music Award for Best Acoustic Song, and the following year, his song Hardships Past won the award for Best Acoustic Performance. In 2012, his lyrics “A Little You and Me” were featured in American Songwriter magazine.

Have a listen to his Seven-Song Demonstration on his website: petegustavson.com