Peter Holsapple

2022 marks Peter Holsapple’s fiftieth year as a recording musician, and what better way to celebrate than by taking his extensive catalog out on the road with a house concert tour in March. “Fifty years ago, I, alongside future NC music masters Mitch Easter and Chris Stamey, released an album of original rock music, and the die was cast,” he reflects from his home studio.

Since then, Peter has amassed an extensive songbook of beloved tunes, which float somewhere between jangle pop and Americana, all connected by a series of left turns. The dB’s, often considered the logical bridge between Big Star and R.E.M., made influential albums like 1981’s Repercussion that paved the way for later melodic and popular power pop bands like Nada Surf and Bully; supergroup Continental Drifters were among the forefront of a new wave of American roots bands, with legendarily powerful live performances and the award-winning Vermilion from 1998. Add to that a pair of beautiful duo records with dB’s songwriting foil, Chris Stamey, Mavericks (1991) and hERE aND nOW (2009).

In the midst of it all is Holsapple, a near-legend multi-instrumentalist who’s as at home on Hammond B3 organ as he is on electric mandolin, but whose prowess on a dozen+ instruments sometimes overshadows perception of his true passion: writing memorable, tuneful guitar songs that retain their character over time, meaning popular audience favorites like “Black and White,” “Amplifier” and “Daddy Just Wants It to Rain,” as well as should’ve-been-hits from solo albums Out of My Way (1993) and Game Day (2018).