Beaux Pete, an up and coming country music artist, hails from the Duck Hill area. Having been born in Grenada and grown up in Duck Hill, most family and friends know him not by his stage name, but by his birth name, Kentarius “Ken” Thompson. Thompson grew up in the small-town atmosphere of Duck Hill, surrounded by family, friends, and music. When he was young, and even now, he expressed a strong love for the country, enjoying riding four-wheelers and horseback riding. However, his love of music began with his family. He attributed his deep fascination with country to his mother, who he boasted had quite the music collection in his formative years. He recalled listening to country and R&B artists with his mother and signing along with them.
Thompson’s talent was nurtured from a young age as he attended family reunions where he regularly sang and performed. It was at this time that he received abundant encouragement from family, stating that his Uncle Charles and Aunt Pearline had emphasized his need to go to Nashville where he could perform on a larger scale. His stage name had come from a nickname given to him by his Aunt Pearline, Beaux Pete.
When asked about his preference for country music, he cited his childhood experiences of horseback riding and being outside, stating “I identified more as an individual with country because, to be honest, it doesn’t get any more country than Duck Hill.”
Thompson graduated from Winona High School in 2013 and moved to Starkville where he is now pursing his career in music. Despite his love for music growing up, he stated he had never truly taken the possibility of a pursing a career in music seriously until his mother broke through to him.
Thompson stated, “After a period of time, my mom told me – this is what really pushed me to pursue it – She told me someone else needs to hear this besides her. Coming from her, I knew she wouldn’t just send me out if I wasn’t ready.”
Thompson cites his parents Kevin and Gwendolyn Thompson as his biggest supporters, stating that they are forever his number one fans.
Thompson is a multifaceted musical talent, having taught himself to play guitar, drums and piano, of which he is very proud. Though country music has his heart right now, Beaux Pete has toyed with the notion of branching out into other genres, such as Southern Soul.
Pete stated, “As an artist, I want to be able to have music that feels good, that’s not necessarily genre specific. But because of who I am as an individual, my roots will always lie in country because that’s who I am. But even through that, I plan to experiment with creativity.”
He cited Chris Young, Kane Brown, and Josh Turner as major influences in the country music genre, New Edition/Johnny Gill, Gerald Lever, K-Ci and JoJo, and Babyface as his influences for the R&B genre, and King George and Marcellus The Singer as his influences for the Southern Soul genre. All of which, he largely attributes his taste in music to his mom.
Thompson expressed his family was his largest source of support in his career, noting his paternal grandparents, Georgia Thompson and Bobby Joe and Geneva Thompson, and his maternal grandparents James and Bertha Lee Christion Ratliff among his greatest supporters.
He added, “But my parents are my biggest inspiration ever because they always push me to pursue my dreams and support me 100 percent in everything I do.”
Beaux Pete sought to reach out to the Duck Hill and surrounding communities for support in his endeavor, stating, “As an artist, I don’t plan on just being a local artist. I plan on representing my community, my family, as one of the top artists in the country.”
Beaux Pete’s first official release, the single “A Lil’ Bit Country” is available on all music streaming platforms in addition to the single CDs being for sale. In addition, the song can be heard on WONA and B100 radio stations. For business inquiries, Beaux Pete can be contacted by email at beauxpete@gmail.com, on TikTok and Instagram at beauxpeteofficial, and on Facebook at Beaux Pete.
