Duke Special

By nature, Duke Special (aka Belfast's Peter Wilson) is a curious person. He is curious about music, theatre, books, poetry, art, love, life, redemption, death and 78RPM records. All of this is evidenced by the variety of musical adventures throughout his career, releasing 17 albums and EPs, touring extensively throughout the world, writing for theatre and teaching songwriting and performance at BIMM University, Dublin.

Performing live is still one of Duke Special's main passions. Whether he performs solo, as a duo with his long-time friend and percussionist Chip Bailey, with a full band, a string quartet or orchestra, a Duke Special show is always a unique experience (and special credit must be given to his onstage partner Temperance Society Chip Bailey, who greatly amuses with self-made percussions formerly known as kitchenware).

In 2026, Duke Special's much-cherished album 'Songs From The Deep Forest' celebrates 20 years since its release. To mark this milestone anniversary, the album has just been released on 12" vinyl for the very first time and is available exclusively from his website and at the special 20th Anniversary live shows across the UK and Ireland this year.

Duke Special is currently working on a new album, to be released in 2027. He is running a pre-order campaign on his website to raise funds for recording and manufacturing the record as an independent artist. You can pledge from 6 tiers of support from Tier 1 - simply pre-ordering the album on either vinyl or CD - to investing in the whole project as an executive producer on Tier 6. Find out more at https://www.dukespecial.com/forthcomingalbum