Perry Tole

            Perry Tole is somewhat of a musical enigma.  His passion for rich instrumental music is rooted in the Caribbean culture of his Jamaican homeland.  Yet the Perry Tole sound is a unique infusion of reggae with undertones of rock, jazz and R&B  supported by staccato drum beats and ambitious melodies.  It is a sound that is truly his own.

            Growing up in Jamaica, Perry was surrounded by music starting at a young age. As a child, his first musical influences came from the jukebox at his mother’s restaurant. The sounds of reggae, R&B and country music were familiar to him, and in high school he began exploring the range of the rock genre.  Inspired by Jimi Hendrix and Cat Stevens, Perry first picked up the guitar at age 16.

            Perry's love for making music led him to the Jamaica School of Music, where he became part of the progressive rock-reggae band, Native.  Perry was with Native for four years and in that time recorded three albums with the group as lead guitarist: Native, Native – In a Strange Land, and Native – New World.  He also can be heard on Rockstone: Native's Adventures with Lee Perry at the Black Ark.

            After separating from the group, Perry started a jingle production company and a few years later after being stifled by the politics in his home country, Perry came to the United States.  He settled in Indiana near close friends and has been writing and producing his own music since.

            Perry can adeptly play a wide range of instruments, but his main instrument, his love, his forte is the acoustic guitar.  Using the reggae and R&B influences of his youth, Perry composes pieces of instrumental art with cinematic bigness.  “I am driven by melody,” Perry says.  “A song is a picture, and I want that picture to portray a certain feeling, a certain mood. I pay attention to how everything fits into that picture.”  While some of Perry’s songs easily fit within the smooth jazz and easy listening model, many of his songs escape convention, with the reggae-rock energy that give his sound, as he calls it, “dancability.”

            Perry currently plays and writes solo, but performs live as a duo with drummer, Patrick Guynn.  Perry hopes to see his music reach as many people as possible, and he is currently working on an album with a Thanksgiving release date.