THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Peter Holsapple has just released an extraordinary new solo album he’s calling The Face of 68. It reflects on age, humor and hurt, with his usual high-quality wordplay and legendary gifts for melody and harmony. For longtime fans and newcomers alike, Peter’s record is an enduring testament to his striking abilities as musician and songwriter. “I’d like to think” says Peter, “that, were my parents still alive, they’d say I’d finally realized my potential.”
Don Dixon (R.E.M., Smithereens) produced it in Peter’s hometown of Durham N.C., with the rhythm section was Rob Ladd (Connells, Don Henley) on drums and Robert Sledge (Ben Folds Five) on electric bass. Grammy-nominated engineer Jason Richmond was at the console for the four-day session, with Dixon mixing at his home studio in Canton, Ohio. And there are guest turns from Marti Jones, who was the first artist to cover Peter’s songs on her debut album (1985’s Unsophisticated Time) and from Mark Simonsen (The Old Ceremony) who co-produced Peter’s single Don’t Mention the War in 2017.
But mostly it’s about Holsapple: His stunning songs, strong vocals and newly rediscovered love of lead guitar that came about when he was drafted by pop intellectuals The Paranoid Style to play on their 2023 album The Interrogator, where his stylish guitar playing is in full bloom.
“I’ve been at this for a long time,” Peter admits. “I picked up my mom’s guitar after seeing The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964, just like hundreds at that time. It stuck, and I began singing and playing in bands right after that. My first recording session was in 1972, with Chris Stamey and Mitch Easter (Let’s Active, R.E.M. producer) in the band. I moved to New York six years later and joined forces with Chris’s band The dB’s, cutting several albums and touring the U..S and England. I moved to Los Angeles and joined Continental Drifters. That band also cut some records, toured incessantly and moved to New Orleans. After Hurricane Katrina, I found my way back to North Carolina and my roots there. My home studio has offered me the workspace to create endlessly, and The Face of 68 is the proof in the pudding, as it were.”
Larger Than Life, written after the death of Continental Drifters founder Carlo Nuccio, allowed Peter to grieve in his most comfortable manner. “Carlo was an inspiration who made me work harder and stay at the top of my game,” Peter reflects. “I miss him so much every day, his presence and ineffable energy. I have so many questions for him on the other side that I may never get answers for.” Then there’s the observational That Kind of Guy, which takes on the record collector whom we all know. “I met a guy once who bragged that he’d never open his copy of the I Fought The Law album by The Bobby Fuller Four. All I could think was ‘you’re sure gonna miss out on some great songs then.’” And the album features one of Peter’s sweetest love songs, She And Me, which was written for his wife, “my hero.”
Overall, it’s a fine way to see his way to a future of rock and roll, love and the inevitable loss over time. He’s ready for it all. The Face Of 68 is Holsapple, facing forward with electric guitar in hand, and gazing enthusiastically at what’s to come.”
