Peter Holsapple

Talkhouse Contributing Writer Peter Holsapple has sung and played guitar in the dB’s, Holsapple & Stamey, and Continental Drifters, as well as playing on albums and tours with R.E.M., Hootie and the BlowfishIndigo Girls, and Nanci Griffith. He contributes to the New York Times‘ songwriter’s blog Measure for Measure, and has written pieces in several books on music.  Peter is a charter member of Radio Free Song Club, a magnificent new songwriters’ collective. He considers himself among the luckiest people on earth.

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Bio

Peter Holsapple (born February 19, 1956) formed, along with Chris Stamey, the singing, songwriting, and guitar-playing core of the dB's, a 1980's jangle-pop band from Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He became the band's principal songwriter and singer after Stamey's departure. After the dB's broke up, Holsapple joined the Continental Drifters (no longer extant), for whom he had first produced some demos. In 1991, he and Stamey reunited to record an album entitled Mavericks. Holsapple has one solo album, 1997's Out of My Way. He has worked as a full-time sideman for R.E.M. and Hootie and the Blowfish onstage and in the studio. Chris Stamey (born December 6, 1954, Chapel Hill, North Carolina) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. After a stint playing with Alex Chilton, and a brief partnering with Mitch Easter under the name Sneakers, he formed The dB's, whose stewardship he would share with Peter Holsapple. Stamey left the band after two albums to begin a solo career. In 1991, he and Holsapple reunited to record an album entitled Mavericks. After a long hiatus from recording he released two records in quick succession, Travels in the South (2004) and A Question of Temperature (2005). On the latter recording, he is backed by the band Yo La Tengo. In 2009, Holsapple and Stamey released, "Here and Now," their second LP as a duo. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.

Talks

Peter Holsapple (the dB’s, Holsapple & Stamey, Continental Drifters) Talks Rod Stewart’s Another Country

By Peter Holsapple | October 23, 2015

Peter Holsapple (the dB’s, Holsapple & Stamey, Continental Drifters) Talks Rod Stewart’s Another Country

Rod Stewart has traded in his footloose and fancy free ways of yore for cozy scenes from the September of his years. And, well, it's kind of boring.

Peter Holsapple (the dB’s, Holsapple & Stamey, Continental Drifters) Talks Ray Wylie Hubbard’s The Ruffian’s Misfortune

By Peter Holsapple | April 9, 2015

Peter Holsapple (the dB’s, Holsapple & Stamey, Continental Drifters) Talks Ray Wylie Hubbard’s The Ruffian’s Misfortune

Ray Wylie Hubbard might not be a household name, but the long-running singer-songwriter does Texas proud with his latest.

Peter Holsapple (the dB’s, Holsapple & Stamey, Continental Drifters) Talks the Mavericks’ Mono

By Peter Holsapple | February 24, 2015

Peter Holsapple (the dB’s, Holsapple & Stamey, Continental Drifters) Talks the Mavericks’ Mono

Veteran country-rockers the Mavericks didn’t reinvent the wheel on their new album. But they did something almost as good.

Peter Holsapple (the dB’s, Holsapple & Stamey, Continental Drifters) Talks Nick Jonas’ Nick Jonas

By Peter Holsapple | November 13, 2014

Peter Holsapple (the dB’s, Holsapple & Stamey, Continental Drifters) Talks Nick Jonas’ Nick Jonas

Is Nick Jonas the new Peter Gabriel? He’s more likely to do that than become Peter Holsapple’s son-in-law.

Peter Holsapple (the dB’s, Holsapple & Stamey, Continental Drifters) Talks Robin Gibb’s 50 St. Catherine’s Drive

By Peter Holsapple | October 1, 2014

Peter Holsapple (the dB’s, Holsapple & Stamey, Continental Drifters) Talks Robin Gibb’s 50 St. Catherine’s Drive

A long-time fan of the Bee Gees grapples with the late Robin Gibb's posthumous release.

Peter Holsapple (the dB’s, Holsapple & Stamey, Continental Drifters) Talks Chrissie Hynde’s Stockholm

By Peter Holsapple | June 9, 2014

Peter Holsapple (the dB’s, Holsapple & Stamey, Continental Drifters) Talks Chrissie Hynde’s Stockholm

What's the difference between a Chrissie Hynde record and a Pretenders record?

Peter Holsapple (the dB’s, Holsapple & Stamey, Continental Drifters) Talks Foster the People’s Supermodel

By Peter Holsapple | March 18, 2014

Peter Holsapple (the dB’s, Holsapple & Stamey, Continental Drifters) Talks Foster the People’s Supermodel

There is a fine line that a musician walks when he also chooses to write about his fellow musicians’ work, so I usually try to keep on the sunny...

Peter Holsapple (the dB’s, Holsapple & Stamey, Continental Drifters) Talks Rosanne Cash’s The River & the Thread

By Peter Holsapple | January 13, 2014

Peter Holsapple (the dB’s, Holsapple & Stamey, Continental Drifters) Talks Rosanne Cash’s The River & the Thread

We never knew how good we had it. There was a more civilized time in the latter part of the 20th century when Rosanne Cash was a fixture on...

Peter Holsapple (the dB’s, Holsapple & Stamey, Continental Drifters) Talks Rosanne Cash’s The River & the Thread

By Peter Holsapple | January 13, 2014

Peter Holsapple (the dB’s, Holsapple & Stamey, Continental Drifters) Talks Rosanne Cash’s The River & the Thread

We never knew how good we had it. There was a more civilized time in the latter part of the 20th century when Rosanne Cash was a fixture on...

Peter Holsapple (the dB’s, Holsapple & Stamey, Continental Drifters) Talks Nick Lowe’s Quality Street: A Seasonal Selection for All the Family

By Peter Holsapple | December 3, 2013

Peter Holsapple (the dB’s, Holsapple & Stamey, Continental Drifters) Talks Nick Lowe’s Quality Street: A Seasonal Selection for All the Family

The Christmas album, now a great, hoary tradition like fruitcake, crackers and that Jean Shepherd story, has been fueled by years of stabs by great...

Peter Holsapple (the dB’s, Holsapple & Stamey, Continental Drifters) Talks the Civil Wars’ The Civil Wars

By Peter Holsapple | August 7, 2013

Peter Holsapple (the dB’s, Holsapple & Stamey, Continental Drifters) Talks the Civil Wars’ The Civil Wars

Some music comes along at a ripe emotional moment. It serves its purpose by distracting from the brittle feelings of what’s actually happening to...

Peter Holsapple (the dB’s, Holsapple & Stamey, Continental Drifters) Talks Willie Nelson’s Let’s Face the Music and Dance

By Peter Holsapple | April 24, 2013

Peter Holsapple (the dB’s, Holsapple & Stamey, Continental Drifters) Talks Willie Nelson’s Let’s Face the Music and Dance

Willie Nelson is one of the scant few older country artists with an appreciable heritage who remains commercially viable in 2013, despite little...