The year that broke Peter H??

Peter Holsapple is blogging again —

and that's not all he's been up to lately.

For those of us who tend to hang on his words & music, this is a welcome return after quite a long time off the proverbial radar screen. Peter seems to have found his mojo again: he's been playing live in 2016 (both solo and the recent one-off set with The dB's), blowing the dust off old demo tapes, and recording some new tunes.

Here's a fun little ditty he recorded about (gulp) 24 years ago in Hollywood with Susan Cowsill, "Where'd You Get That Thing?"

Even though Peter is fully capable of being a sardonic ironist, I'm intrigued by the motto he's placed at the top of his Halfpear blog: "2016 — The Year that Broke Peter Holsapple". Assuming he's not referring to his financial situation (he voluntarily gave up his day job last year), I wonder if PH might be referring to his newly re-discovered passion for making music?

Here's some anecdotal evidence to support my hunch:

1) Peter says "Where'd You Get That Thing ?" is "the first of several archival blasts to come".

2) He's recorded two new songs he plans to release as a single ... soon, we hope. Here's a blog post, another, and yet another about the recordings. I say: Let's hear 'em, Peter!

3) Peter has joined a Triangle-area covers band called the Well Respected Men, which debuted recently with an all-Kinks show.

4) Peter is remembering career highlights, such as his stint as a sideman in R.E.M., including the band's classic Mountain Stage performance 25 years ago — during which the dB's "White Train" was covered, with Peter singing lead. Give it a listen:


5) Peter took some recently unearthed demo reels from 1984-1993 and got them digitized to hear how they sound. He declared he's going to "give it the old college try" to see if anything comes of dusting off the old reels and perhaps adding some new sounds.

6) He played a solo show in April that seemed to go pretty well, according to Peter.
 

All in all, 2016 looks like a year for Peter & his passion to make some great music.

Let's enjoy it.