he was born in hook in yorkshire, but grew up in prestatyn in north wales where his father ran a hotel. in his teens he played the guitar and banjo in a jazz band, then moved to london in the 1950s where he made a living as a guitar teacher and musician. he learnt to play piedmont style guitar (a form of fingerstyle) after hearing big bill broonzy, who toured europe in 1957. pearse went on to write his first guitar tutor, "teach yourself folk guitar" (comprising an album and instructional booklet) at the age of 19.