Pete Murray at JK’s Bar, Lapta
By Margaret Sheard….
Although we have been aware of ASAP member, Pete Murray, we 
had never actually met him and so took the opportunity on Sunday to go along to JK’s Bar in Lapta, where he was performing that evening. Another first for me as I had never been to JK’s Bar either.
So I was very pleasantly surprised when we arrived to find a very large front terrace with plenty of seating and a nice bar area. On a raised part of the terrace Pete was getting the equipment ready for his performance and the budding stars who would be performing karaoke later in the evening. We noted the karaoke book where 
there is a choice of 20,000 songs.
Pete took time to come and say hello and I asked for some information about himself and how he came to live in North Cyprus. Pete is from North London, he told me that he didn’t have a singing career in the UK, he had a chauffeur business within the music industry and it was his job to ensure that celebrities had an uneventful “escape” from venues to avoid being mobbed by fans after a performance. He lived in Australia for 10 years and after returning to the UK, he and his then partner decided to go back to Australia but they got part way before she decided the journey was going to be too long 
and so Cyprus was where they arrived 8½ years ago. Pete now lives in Karşiyaka and has a new partner, Christine, who he met in North Cyprus.
We enjoyed the music by Pete, and also the karaoke where we were entertained by Michaela and Carole who sang together and separately during the evening, there was also Emma Awbery who sang for us, and the children of Simon and Tracey Tombs who are from Solihull in the West Midlands, UK, – Emmie, Harry and Billy who took great delight in taking the mike and singing their young hearts out.
Emmie sang her songs solo and gave brilliant performances, in fact Pete suggested her parents should seriously consider voice training as she has so much potential. Harry and Billy mainly sang together and received a huge round of applause with their rendition of Gangnam Style.
During the evening Pete said how sorry he was to hear of the death of an icon – Cilla Black and as a tribute he played You’re My World sung by Cilla and he also promised to sing one of her songs himself later. See the Youtube video below to recapture Cilla in her heyday. You might like to listen to this while you look at the rest of the article and photos.
All in all it was a very pleasant evening with a variety of music – Live, DJ and Karaoke so a very good mix to keep us entertained.
When we arrived we took the opportunity of introducing ourselves to the owner of JK’s Bar, Daren Barton and he sat and gave us some information about himself and his business. Daren came to North Cyprus almost 9 years ago. He was born in London and lived in Cornwall before moving to North Cyprus. 
He bought the land in Lapta and built JK’s Bar, which is named after his 2 sons Jack now aged 19 and Kyle now aged 10. Daren’s partner, Michaela, is from Felixstowe and she also enjoys the karaoke evenings and live music nights.
We looked at the JK’s menu as we were feeling a bit peckish and there was a very nice selection of British type food and Daren said they also offer Fish and Chips on Fridays and a traditional British Sunday Lunch is also a regular feature. You can enjoy bar snacks during the day and meals in the evening and I must say we were very impressed with the choices we made from the menu which were very tasty and well presented and very large portions at very reasonable prices..
JK’s are open every day from 12 noon until late with entertainment 3 nights a week. Daren likes to provide coverage of sport on their big screen to enable the expats to be able to see their favourite sports events while enjoying a night out with other sports fans.
There is a special Summer Fete at JK’s on Tuesday 11th August starting at 7pm, with a BBQ and lots of silly games for everyone to join in if they wish or just cheer others on. There will also be live entertainment from Pete Murray and Jamie (the Man in Black) both members of All Star Agency Promotions so a date to put in your diary for a fun night out. To see more about the Summer Fete see our article by clicking here and perhaps we will see you there.
To see more photos from our visit see the slideshow below.
