Peter Holsapple

Last updated

Peter Holsapple
Peter Holsapple.jpg
Holsapple in 2012
Background information
Born (1956-02-19) February 19, 1956 (age 68)
Greenwich, Connecticut, U.S.
Occupation(s)Musician
Instruments
  • Guitar
  • bass
  • keyboards
  • vocals
Years active1970–present
Member of The dB's

Peter Livingston Holsapple (born February 19, 1956) is an American musician who, along with Chris Stamey, formed the dB's, a jangle-pop band from Winston-Salem, North Carolina. [1] He became the band's principal songwriter and singer after Stamey's departure. The band, with Stamey back in the fold, reformed with new material in 2005–2006.

Contents

After the dB's disbanded in 1988, Holsapple played as an auxiliary musician with R.E.M. and Hootie & the Blowfish, before joining the Continental Drifters, a rock band originating from Los Angeles.

In 1997, he released his first solo album, Out of the Way. He followed it up twenty-one years later with Game Day.

Early life

Holsapple was born in 1956 in Greenwich, Connecticut, [1] to Henry and Ann. [2] [3] He moved south with his family to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, in 1962. He had an older brother, Merritt (named for their maternal grandfather), [4] [3] who died in 1997, aged 52. [5] Merritt was a fan of the Beach Boys and the Left Banke, which got his brother listening to them as well. [6]

Holsapple graduated from R. J. Reynolds High School. [7]

Musical career

School bands

Holsapple began writing songs in third grade, [6] [8] and began playing in bands in 1964, when he was 7 or 8, beginning with the three-piece Dana & the Blue Jays. [9] In 1969, he formed Soup with Chris Stamey. They played one show together, at a local church coffeehouse. [9] In 1970, he formed Rittenhouse Square, [10] which included Mitch Easter, Stamey and Bobby Locke. They released an independent album in 1972, [11] recorded at Crescent City Sound Studios in Greensboro, North Carolina, in the spring of 1971. 500 copies were pressed. [9]

When Rittenhouse broke up, Holsapple joined future dB's drummer Will Rigby and several other former high-school friends in Little Diesel, a proto-punk rock band fronted by Bob Northcutt which ran against the tastes of Southern rock. Little Diesel's album, the 17-track No Lie (produced by Stamey in 1974) was released on twenty 8-track cartridges, and it was re-released in 2006 on Telstar Records. "Kissy Boys" was an original, as were two early songs of Holsapple's. [9] The band's music was heavily inspired by Lenny Kaye's 1972 compilation Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965–1968 . [12]

The dB's

College broke Little Diesel up, but Holsapple continued to write and sing, eventually moving to New York City from Memphis ("thinking some of the Big Star magic might rub off on me"), [9] where he had recorded at Sam Phillips Studio with Big Star engineer Richard Rosebrough, three months into the dB's existence. While working part-time at a record store called Musical Maze at 294 Third Avenue, [13] in October 1978 [14] Holsapple joined as keyboard player and backing vocalist, but he quickly began submitting his songs, playing guitar, and singing lead vocals alongside Stamey. Holsapple and Chilton's cuts from Memphis were released by Omnivore on The Death of Rock in 2018. [15]

The dB's released four studio albums before their disbandment in 1988: Stand for Decibels (1981), Repercussion (1981), Like This (1984) and The Sound of Music (1987).

In 1981, while living in New York City, Holsapple would often hear the dBs' first single, "Black and White", on Meg Griffin's Saturday-morning show on WXRK. "There's something about hearing that pumping out on the radio, when you drive into town and you hear yourself on a college radio station as you're getting close, it's just so cool that it makes you feel like, 'Yeah, I'm doing the right thing, this is exactly what I want to do,'" said Holsapple in 2022. [8]

Stamey left the band after their second album, at which point Holsapple became the primary singer-songwriter. [6]

R.E.M.

After the dB's broke up in 1988, Holsapple worked as a full-time auxiliary guitarist, bassist and keyboardist for R.E.M. on the Green world tour. He participated in the writing and development, as well as the recording, of their 1991 multi-platinum release Out of Time, [16] but subsequently left his sideman role with R.E.M. due to rumoured disputes over songwriting credits. [17] "It was a privilege to get to play those beautiful songs every night for months," he said in 2022. [9]

1990s and beyond

Holsapple next worked with Hootie & the Blowfish as an auxiliary musician. [18] He remained with them for 26 years. [19]

He joined the Continental Drifters, for whom he had first produced some demos, a single, and the Nineteen Ninety-Three album. "Easily the best band I ever was a part of," Holsapple recalls. "Superb harmonies, top-shelf songwriting, and my favorite people on earth. We should all be so lucky to find friends like that." [9] The band was originally based out of Los Angeles but the members eventually relocated to New Orleans. The band included members of the Dream Syndicate, the Bangles, and the Cowsills. Holsapple subsequently married Susan Cowsill and had a daughter. [19] The group went on to record three well-received albums, an EP of Sandy Denny and Richard Thompson covers, and several tribute-album tracks, none of which translated into a lot of sales. Holsapple and Cowsill divorced in 2001, with Holsapple citing their reliance on alcohol at the time as a contributing factor. [19]

In 1991, Holsapple and Stamey reunited to record an album entitled Mavericks , [9] and a couple of years later Holsapple contributed to Melissa Ferrick's 1993 album Massive Blur . [20] In 1997, he released his first solo album, Out of My Way . [21]

In September 2005, the classic line-up of the dB's performed two shows in Chicago and two in Hoboken, New Jersey. December 2006 brought Stamey–Holsapple Christmas shows in North Carolina. The Bowery Ballroom in New York City hosted the dB'S in January 2007, and the following month the dB's made a brief appearance at Cat's Cradle in Carrboro, North Carolina.

Holsapple and Stamey released a new duo album, hERE aND nOW, on Bar/None Records in June 2009. This album featured a cover of the British progressive rock band Family's 1972 single "My Friend the Sun." [22]

The dB's in 2012 The dB's in 2012-Philadelphia.jpg
The dB's in 2012

In 2012, Holsapple reunited with the dB's to complete their first new studio album in 25 years and their first in 30 years with the original 1978 lineup. Falling Off the Sky was released on Bar/None Records on June 12, 2012.

Holsapple released a solo single, "Don't Mention the War", [6] on his own Hawthorne Curve Records on February 3, 2017, and released his second solo album, Game Day, in July 2018 on the Omnivore label. [21] His record label is named for a notorious section of Interstate 40 in Winston-Salem. [23]

On June 12, 2021, Holsapple and Stamey released Our Back Pages on Omnivore, [24] an album of acoustic arrangements of songs by the dB's for Record Store Day.

Holsapple undertook a Peter Holsapple Makes Himself at Home Tour in 2022.

In 2024, Holsapple was playing with The Paranoid Style, alongside Michael Venutolo-Mantovani. [19]

Personal life

Holsapple has three children (a daughter from his first marriage and a son and daughter from his second), [6] and is also a grandfather. [19] He is married to Sarah. [2]

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Holsapple relocated from New Orleans to Durham, North Carolina. [6] He has a small recording studio behind his home which he calls the Hit Shed. [8]

His father died in 2008, at the age of 95. [2] "He was the kindest man I’ve ever known," Holsapple said in 2024. [19] His mother died in 2013, aged 91. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The dB's</span> American rock band

The dB's are an American alternative rock and power pop group, who formed in New York City in 1978 and first came to prominence in the early 1980s. Their debut album Stands for Decibels is acclaimed as one of the great "lost" power pop albums of the 1980s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Buck</span> American guitarist for R.E.M., songwriter

Peter Lawrence Buck is an American musician and songwriter. He was a co-founder and the lead guitarist of the alternative rock band R.E.M. He also plays the banjo and mandolin on several R.E.M. songs. Throughout his career with R.E.M. (1980–2011), as well as during his subsequent solo career, Buck has also been at various times an official member of numerous 'side project' groups. These groups included Arthur Buck, Hindu Love Gods, The Minus 5, Tuatara, The Baseball Project, Robyn Hitchcock and the Venus 3, Tired Pony, The No-Ones, and Filthy Friends, each of which have released at least one full-length studio album. Additionally, the experimental combo Slow Music have released an official live concert CD. Another side project group called Full Time Men released an EP while Buck was a member. As well, ad hoc "supergroups" Bingo Hand Job, Musical Kings and Nigel & The Crosses have each commercially released one track.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mitch Easter</span> Musical artist

Mitchell Blake Easter is a musician, songwriter, and record producer. Frequently associated with the jangle pop style of guitar music, he is known as producer of R.E.M.'s early albums from 1981 through 1984, and as frontman of the 1980s band Let's Active.

<i>Out of My Way</i> 1997 studio album by Peter Holsapple

Out of My Way is the solo debut album by the American musician Peter Holsapple, released in 1997 on the New Orleans label Monkey Hill. The personnel includes keyboardist Benmont Tench and Holsapple's fellow Continental Drifters Vicki Peterson and Susan Cowsill.

Don Alan Dixon is an American record producer, songwriter, and musician. He is considered to be one of the key producers of what is called the jangle pop movement of the early 1980s, including working with R.E.M. and The Smithereens.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Continental Drifters</span> American rock band

The Continental Drifters were an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1991 and dissolved in New Orleans, Louisiana, about a decade later. Though the line-up changed several times, at one point the band comprised a kind of college rock/indie-rock/power pop supergroup, including as it did Peter Holsapple of The dB's, Mark Walton of The Dream Syndicate, Bangle Vicki Peterson and Susan Cowsill of The Cowsills.

Christopher Charles Stamey is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. After a brief time playing with Alex Chilton, as well as Mitch Easter under the name Sneakers, Stamey formed The dB's with Peter Holsapple.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Radio Free Europe (song)</span> 1981 single by R.E.M.

"Radio Free Europe" is the debut single by American alternative rock band R.E.M., released in 1981 on the short-lived independent record label Hib-Tone. The song features "what were to become the trademark unintelligible lyrics which [sic] have distinguished R.E.M.'s work ever since." The single received critical acclaim, and its success earned the band a record deal with I.R.S. Records. R.E.M. re-recorded the song for their 1983 debut album Murmur. The re-recording for I.R.S. became the group's first charting single, peaking at number 78 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song is ranked number 389 in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. In 2009, it was added to the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry for setting "the pattern for later indie rock releases by breaking through on college radio in the face of mainstream radio's general indifference."

<i>Bandstand</i> (album) 1972 studio album by Family

Bandstand is the sixth studio album by the British progressive rock band Family. Released in 1972, it was their second and last album to chart in the United States. The original album cover was die-cut in the shape of a Bush TV22 television set, with a black-and-white image of the band onscreen.

<i>Stands for Decibels</i> 1981 studio album by The dBs

Stands for Decibels is the debut studio album by American power pop band the dB's, released January 15, 1981 by Albion Records. The album was commercially unsuccessful but critically acclaimed.

<i>Repercussion</i> (album) 1981 studio album by The dBs

Repercussion is the second studio album by American power pop band the dB's, released in 1981 by Albion Records. Like its predecessor, Stands for Decibels, the album was commercially unsuccessful but critically acclaimed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Susan Cowsill</span> American musician, singer and songwriter (born 1959)

Susan Claire Cowsill is a musician, vocalist and songwriter. She rose to prominence as a member of the family band The Cowsills. After touring with Dwight Twilley for quite some time in the 1980s, she co-formed the band Continental Drifters. Since 1990, she has been with the Cowsills, along with brothers Bob and Paul.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">R.E.M.</span> American rock band (1980–2011)

R.E.M. was an American alternative rock band from Athens, Georgia, formed in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the first alternative rock bands, R.E.M. was noted for Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style; Stipe's distinctive vocal quality, unique stage presence, and obscure lyrics; Mills's melodic bass lines and backing vocals; and Berry's tight, economical drumming style. In the early 1990s, other alternative rock acts such as Nirvana, Pixies and Pavement viewed R.E.M. as a pioneer of the genre. After Berry left in 1997, the band continued with mixed critical and commercial success. The band broke up amicably in 2011, having sold more than 90 million albums worldwide and becoming one of the world's best-selling music acts.

Car Records was a record label founded in 1977 by Chris Stamey of the powerpop group the dB's. Originally from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Stamey moved to New York City and started his label where he released the band's first single "(I Thought You) Wanted to Know"/"If and When" under the name Chris Stamey and the dB's in 1978. Also in 1978, Car Records released the first single by Chris Bell "I Am The Cosmos"/"You and Your Sister". Car Records was located at 89 Bleecker St.

<i>Like This</i> (album) 1984 studio album by The dBs

Like This is the third studio album by the American power pop band the dB's, released in 1984 via Bearsville Records. The band recorded as a trio following the departure of Chris Stamey. The album includes a re-mixed version of "Amplifier", the lead single from their previous album, Repercussion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard J. Reynolds High School</span> Historic school building in North Carolina, United States

Richard J. Reynolds High School now the Richard J. Reynolds Magnet School for the Visual and Performing Arts is a high school in the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Named for R. J. Reynolds, the founder of the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, the school opened in 1923. The school colors are Old Gold and Black, and the school's mascot is a demon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Omnivore Recordings</span> American independent record label founded 2010

Omnivore Recordings is an independent record label founded in 2010. It specializes in historical releases, reissues and previously unissued vintage recordings, as well as select releases of new music, on CD, vinyl and digital formats. Omnivore Recordings is a part of Omnivore Entertainment Group LLC, which also incorporates sister companies Omnivore Music Publishing and Omnivore Creative, which provides A&R and art direction/design consulting for recording artists, artist estates, and other record labels.

Will Rigby is an American musician known for being the drummer of jangle pop band the dB's, a band he formed along with Peter Holsapple, Chris Stamey, and Gene Holder in the late 1970s. He has also performed with many other artists and has released two solo albums.

<i>Mavericks</i> (Peter Holsapple and Chris Stamey album) 1991 studio album by Peter Holsapple and Chris Stamey

Mavericks is a collaborative album by the two original singer/songwriters of jangle pop band the dB's, Peter Holsapple and Chris Stamey. It was originally released in 1991 on Rhino Records and was re-released on January 15, 2008 by Collectors' Choice Music. The reissue featured six previously unreleased tracks. The album is noted for having a more acoustic and slower sound than Holsapple and Stamey's work with the dB's.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">My Friend the Sun</span> 1972 single by Family

"My Friend the Sun" is a song by the British rock band Family. It was written by Roger Chapman and Charlie Whitney for the band's 1972 album Bandstand. The single did not make the UK Singles Chart.

References

  1. 1 2 Strong, Martin C. (2003) The Great Indie Discography, Canongate, ISBN   1-84195-335-0, p. 47-8
  2. 1 2 3 "Henry Holsapple Obituary (2008) - Winston-Salem, NC - Winston-Salem Journal". Legacy.com. Retrieved July 4, 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 "Obituary information for Ann Hamilton Curtis Holsapple". www.salemfh.com. Retrieved July 4, 2024.
  4. ↑ "Holsapple, Peter | NCpedia". www.ncpedia.org. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  5. ↑ "Paid Notice: Deaths HOLSAPPLE, MERRITT CURTIS". The New York Times. November 12, 1997. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved July 4, 2024.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Bledsoe, Wayne. "Former dB's member Peter Holsapple still creating vibrations that last". Knoxville News Sentinel. Retrieved July 7, 2024.
  7. ↑ "Peter Holsapple". NCPedia. North Carolina Government & Heritage Library at the State Library of North Carolina.
  8. 1 2 3 Abrams, Ken (June 7, 2022). "TICKET GIVEAWAY - What's Up Interview: Peter Holsapple of the dB's, playing Creative Options Center Thursday, June 9". What's Up Newp. Retrieved July 7, 2024.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Breznikar, Klemen (November 1, 2022). "Peter Holsapple | The dB's | Interview". It's Psychedelic Baby Magazine. Retrieved July 1, 2024.
  10. ↑ "Faye Hunter, 1954–2013 | Scan". web.archive.org. July 24, 2013. Retrieved July 1, 2024.
  11. ↑ Holsapple, Peter (June 24, 2008). "Catch and Release". The New York Times. Retrieved May 17, 2019.
  12. ↑ Bands To Fans (June 11, 2024). Peter Holsapple | The dB's | Interview . Retrieved July 1, 2024– via YouTube.
  13. ↑ Bands To Fans (June 11, 2024). Peter Holsapple | The dB's | Interview . Retrieved July 1, 2024– via YouTube.
  14. ↑ Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 650. ISBN   0-85112-939-0.
  15. ↑ "Peter Holsapple vs. Alex Chilton — The Death Of Rock – Omnivore Recordings" . Retrieved July 1, 2024.
  16. ↑ Out of Time (CD liner notes). R.E.M. 1991.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  17. ↑ ""It Crawled From The South" Update preview". Orangefox.svs.com. Retrieved July 27, 2018.
  18. ↑ O'Donnell, Lisa (July 25, 2018). "Peter Holsapple Explores Middle Age in First Solo Album in 21 Years". Winston-Salem Journal. Retrieved May 17, 2019.
  19. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Venutolo-Mantovani, Michael (July 4, 2024). "Dad Talks 11: Peter Holsapple". Being a Dad is Hard as F*ck. Retrieved July 4, 2024.
  20. ↑ "Album reviews — Massive Blur by Melissa Ferrick". Billboard. Vol. 105, no. 35. August 28, 1993. p. 62.
  21. 1 2 Allen, Jim (August 1, 2018). "Peter Holsapple Suits Up for Game Day, His First Solo Record in Twenty Years". INDY Week. Retrieved July 7, 2024.
  22. ↑ "Bar None Records: Peter Holsapple and Chris Stamey" . Retrieved February 9, 2021.
  23. ↑ Journal, Wesley Young Winston-Salem (June 28, 2018). "Remember Hawthorne Curve construction? These folks do. And those memories are being stoked by new Business 40 project". Winston-Salem Journal. Retrieved July 7, 2024.
  24. ↑ "Our Back Pages". Omnivore Recordings.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.