Following an unexpected coronary bypass operation in January of 2009, singer-songwriter-guitarist Peter Case returns to the stage at McCabe’s Guitar Shop on December 4 to celebrate his 25th anniversary as a solo acoustic performer. Case plans to debut new songs–his first to see daylight since 2007’s Grammy nominated Let Us Now Praise Sleepy John.
Case put performance on hold for most of the year while recovering from heart surgery. The opportunity to focus on other aspects of musical life found him compiling archival works by the Plimsouls, the Nerves and the Breakaways, his post-Nerves project with bandmate Paul Collins; the pair reunited this summer at McCabe’s, where Case sat in during a Collins show. Walkin’ Out on Love by the Breakaways and the vinyl only release, The Nerves at Pirate’s Cove, were just released by Alive Recordings. The Plimsouls Live at the Whisky A Go Go, 1982 is set for release early next year. Case is also preparing to enter the studio for two solo projects.
The summer season saw the return of Case to the stage for a triumphant solo acoustic show at Jorma Kaukonen’s Fur Peace Ranch in rural Ohio, where he received a most warm and enthusiastic response to his first show in six months. Case follows January’s operation and July’s gig with his December return to McCabe’s, the Southland’s most legendary room for live acoustic music and a venue close to Case’s heart.
In 1984, Case made the bold decision to leave what he calls “a perfectly good rock band” to go solo. “It felt like I was reinventing the wheel,” said Case of the period in which very few of his peers had taken the plunge into solo acoustic music. Today, there are more singer-songwriters than there are hats at the singer-songwriter supply shop to fit them all, but Case is among his vocation’s finest. Witness the list of talent pooled in his name for a benefit to defray the uninsured musician’s medical costs following surgery: T-Bone Burnett, Loudon Wainwright, Dave Alvin, Richard Thompson, Eric Idle, Sam Phillips, Van Dyke Parks, Syd Straw, Stan Ridgway, Joe Henry…and the list goes on. All lent a hand during a mighty three-day weekend of fundraising at McCabe’s, where Case is a part of the family.
“I realize I’m very lucky to have been supported by such a generous and talented community of musicians and friends,” says Case.
McCabe’s is not only Case’s hometown club; it is host to his acclaimed songwriting workshops. Case has taught songwriting to beginning and advanced songwriters from Cape Cod, Massachusetts to Dublin, Ireland. This January’s sessions are a rare opportunity to pick up some songwriting secrets directly from a master, whose songs have been recorded by Alejandro Escovedo, James McMurtry, Todd Snider, the Goo Goo Dolls, the Go-Go’s and many, many more.
“It’s great to be back,” he says.
Peter Case 25th Anniversary at McCabe’s Guitar Shop
December 4, 2009
8 p.m.
Tickets are $20
For more information contact
McCabe’s (310) 828-4497
For more information on Peter Case’s Songwriting Workshop contact
McCabe’s (310) 828-4497
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