Peter Case
After disbanding the Los Angeles new wave/power pop group, The Plimsouls, Peter launched a career as a singer-songwriter specializing in the flat-pick guitar style and semi-autobiographical stories of drifters. Growing up in the 50s in upstate New York, he was a fan of the folk and blues of Mississippi John Hurt, Leadbelly, and Woody Guthrie. As a teenager he took to the buskar’s life, playing the streets of San Francisco. In spring of 2001, he produced a tribute to his hero, Mississippi John Hurt on Vanguard Records, which was nominated for a Grammy. Case was celebrated by a 2006 release, A Case for Case, a three-disc set of his songs as interpreted by 47 of his peers like Joe Ely, James McMurtry, Amy Rigby, Dave Alvin, and Victoria Williams. Peter’s memoir, As Far As You Can Get Without A Passport (2007), is published by everthemore books and his latest album, Let Us Now Praise Sleepy John (2007), is out on Yep Roc. Peter tours in America and Europe and gave a beautiful concert at Blue Rock last spring. When he’s not on the road, he resides with his family in Santa Monica, CA, where he teaches songwriting at McCabe’s Music School, works on his next book, produces records, contributes to his blog, writes songs, and publicly protests the “current government’s violent and greed-filled activities,” on behalf of the world’s children and the poor.
Web site: www.petercase.com
Contributions:
- Volume 3: Seeing, Chapter 09: "‘I See’ Said the Blind Man"
