Photo via Shank Hall - shankhall.com
Peter Holsapple
Peter Holsapple
Peter Holsapple has played Milwaukee with the Continental Drifters and more recently with The dB’s In a career that saw him tour as part of REM and Hootie and the Blowfish, Holsapple’s deep reverence to the spirit of rock and roll comes through loud and clear in his invigorating new album The Face of 68.
On Thursday Holsapple plays a pair of Milwaukee shows.
At 3 p.m. he plays a set at Irving Place Records and at 8 p.m. he opens for Steve Forbert at Shank Hall.
Holsapple recently took time to answer for a songwriting career that began in third grade.
On the new album songs like “The Face of 68” and “Larger Than Life” seem to address aging and mortality. Was that on your mind when these songs were written?
Peter Holsapple: That’s exactly what was on my mind. The idea that I could still be writing and recording new songs at that comparatively advanced age seemed sort of preposterous, but sure enough, I made it happen. “Larger Than Life” was written about the death of my friend Carlo Nuccio, who was the founder of Continental Drifters; losing so many friends as we saunter on down the road.
There are some really cool sonic touches on the album--the riff from “See About You” comes to mind. How was it recorded?
PH: We cut the tracks at a studio near my home (Overdub Lane) with Don Dixon producing and Jason Richmond engineering. Rob Ladd played drums, Robert Sledge played electric bass.
We booked four days and got it wrapped up halfway through day 3. We strove to make it as live and energetic as possible, and I think we succeeded. You can spend a lot of time making an album, but that often seems at cross purposes with keeping the spirit intact when you do that.
What is your working process? Do you write/work at a set schedule?
PH: I write when the song comes to me. Usually music first, and I’ve got folders full of half-written lyrics to prove that. Unfortunately, I’ve never been much of a schedule-follower when it comes to writing.
Is “Larger Than Life” (“stronger than death”) a reference to Al Green’s song “Strong as Death, Sweet as Love”? Likewise, is “My Idea #49” a nod to James Gang’ “Funk #49”?
PH: It may have been that, although it didn’t feel that way at the time. (“Larger Than Life”) “My Idea #49” came from an app called Music Memos that I use to jot down song ideas. The app indexes recordings by calling them “My Idea” and assigning a number. This one happened to be #49.
Was “That Kind of Guy” easy to write? I can imagine you taking the dog for a walk every night and coming up with another verse. It is a fantastic song.
PH: Thanks. It did come together pretty easily. I just had to look at the spines of my record collection.
How is your mindset different when you play a solo show?
PH: I don’t have anyone to turn around and blame when there’s a bum note! But seriously, I like solo performances because I have to try to make sure that all the elements of a fully-tracked (bass, drums, overdubs, harmonies) are at least represented in the one-guitar/one-vocal situation. My former brother-in-law Bob Cowsill’s solo performances over the years was a master class in making that happen.
Your Continental Drifters show at Shank Hall was a master class in how a group of musicians support each other and shift the spotlight around.
PH: Thanks! We are fortunate to have that band and those relationships after all these years. I certainly learned a lot from getting to sing in a group with Vicki Peterson and Susan Cowsill, who spent their careers as ensemble vocalists.
Last question—first thought best thought. You are headed to a desert island—pick an album, book, work of art, film.
PH: Wow. My ‘go-to’ answer has always been something like Heart Food by Judee Sill which has been in my brain since it was released. Or Split Ends by The Move, or Radio City by Big Star, both very representative of the kind of songs I write.
But I think today’s answer would be Funk Power by James Brown, a great collection of the Godfather’s ‘70s canon like “There Was a Time,” “Talkin’ Loud and Sayin’ Nothing” and “Get Up, Get into It, Get Involved.”
