Here and Now
Peter Holsapple & Chris Stamey
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| Total: 17 Songs |
iTunes Review
Peter Holsapple and Chris Stamey once served together in the late-‘70s / early ‘80s power pop group the dB’s and in 1991 came together again for an album, Mavericks, that celebrated their intuitive chemistry as it matured into modern adult contemporary folk-pop that retained its editorial soul. In 2009, they again joined forces for the easeful Here and Now, another collection of modestly arranged pop gems. The album begins with a cover of the late ‘60’s-early ‘70’s group Family’s “My Friend the Sun,” a reflection of their deep musical interests and their advancing age. “Santa Monica” immediately ups the wattage with a few extra electric guitars, but Stamey and Holsapple smartly avoid pushing their gentle harmonies towards needless strain and abrasion, spending most of their time in the quieter terrain of “Broken Record,” “Begin Again,” and “Early In the Morning.” “Tape Op Blues” reflects on their near meeting with pop stardom as the dB’s, while “Song for Johnny Cash” pays homage to another of their musical heroes without losing itself in sentimentality.
Recent Customer Reviews
Here and Now - Peter Holsapple and Chris Stamey
by Jordan OrleansGreat album after 20 years, since the last one. Solid, strong and consistant all the way through. Great duo of Peter and Chris: collaborators, writers, producers, musicians, singers. World class music that reminds me of Macca and Plonk. Congrats and thanks guys. JO
How to exceed Hype...
by The MelancholicFor the fans of the DBs the promise that these guys would get back together was a tantalizing but unfullfilled promise that hovered on the edge of our collective musical conciousness for many years. So for us... the anmnouncement that they were back together and recording set our own internal hype generators running on overload. This has happened to all of us before. We generate such high expectations that we inevitably and unavoidably almost ensure that we will be dissapointed. This can be compounded when the musical press gets into the act. Thankfully, the musical press did not do that here (hence the tragic state if relative obscurity for H and S) So when this album was released, I downloaded immediately and began auditioning the tunes. When I go through this ritual with a new album from a beloved artist - I usually try give it a listen through to the bridge before I move on the check out the next song. In this case I moved on before the chorus. Normally, a bad sign. However, in this case I realized I was doing it because in my mind I was already pronouncing the song as great and I was movong on to find something I didn't love. Never happend! Even the three DBs covers at the end are awesome acoustic reworks. If there is a musical God - this perfect alternative pop masterpiece will get the boys the recognition they deserve.
Ex-dB’s show off the magic of their pairing
by hyperboliumHolsapple and Stamey’s music on the first two dB’s albums (Stands for Decibels and Repercussions – available as a two-fer) was so deeply insinuating as to nearly obsolete everything else that would follow. It’s not that their post-dB’s work was uninteresting or without merit, it just never set its hooks as deeply in the soul. Stamey’s string of solo albums held several high points, including his sole major-label release, 1987’s It’s Alright, and his 2004 return, Travels in the South. He also helped create memorable works as a producer, recording Americana acts that include Whiskeytown, Alejandro Escovedo, and Caitlin Cary. But none of this, including the dB’s post-Stamey releases (1984’s Like This, 1987’s The Sound of Music and 1994’s Paris Avenue), nor the duo’s recently reissued post-dB’s team-up, Mavericks, ever fully captured the magic of the first two albums.
Others have had to compete with their mercurial early success. But unlike Stamey’s one-time boss, Alex Chilton, Stamey and Holsapple have retained the charm of their early days, even as the buoyancy of younger years is weighed down by the wear of age. Was their post-dB’s music really all that different, or was the difference in the listener’s matured expectation and the environment into which later releases were made? Longtime fans can’t really make an evaluation divorced from romantic attachment to the early albums, but Holsapple and Stamey’s latest can provide some clues. The thrill that runs through their layered vocal harmonies, the descending melodic hook of “Early in the Morning,” and the battery of guitar sounds provide instant reminders of what drew your ear to this pair in the first place.
Stamey’s 2004 return to solo work reminded fans of what they’d been missing, and Holsapple’s return reignites the ear’s longing for his voice and harmonies. The album’s love songs could easily be taken as expressions of friendship; the opening cover of Family’s “My Friend the Sun” reads as a mutual invitation to reconnect, and Stamey’s “Santa Monica,” ostensibly a declaration of lifelong fealty to a lover, could be read as a nostalgic memory of earlier musical connections. Holsapple’s title track celebrates the present, but it’s clear that this moment is the culmination of a long-standing association. Even Stamey’s honorarium “Song for Johnny Cash” could be interpreted as a celebration of the musical friendship closer at hand.
Writing independently, each bounces from pop confections to philosophical constructs. In the former category is Holsapple’s stream-of-consciousness spin through a routine start to the day, “Early in the Morning,” and Stamey’s bouncy “Widescreen World.” In the latter category are Holsapple’s questioning “Begin Again” and “Some of the Parts,” the latter opening with the fifty-something quandary “Mid-life, and where’s my big parade?” Stamey’s jazz influences surface on the allegorical “Broken Record,” augmented by drifting guitars and a layered vocal harmony break. Holsapple and Stamey leaven each other here as they did in their dB’s days, creating a vocal magic that neither possesses alone. Eighteen years after their last pairing this album’s been a long time coming, but was certainly worth the wait. [©2009 hyperbolium dot com]
Biography
Born: December, 1954 in Chapel Hill, NC
Genre: Alternative
Years Active: '70s, '80s, '90s, '00s
Top Albums and Songs by Peter Holsapple & Chris Stamey
| Name | Album | Time | Price | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | My Friend the Sun | Here and Now | 4:21 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
| 2 | 14 Shades of Green | Travels in the South | 4:21 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
| 3 | Kierkegaard | Travels in the South | 5:38 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
| 4 | V.O.T.E. (Public Service Announcement) | V.O.T.E. | 0:30 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
| 5 | Santa Monica | Here and Now | 4:42 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
- $9.99
- Genres: Alternative, Music, Rock, Adult Alternative
- Released: Jun 09, 2009
- ℗ 2009 Bar/None Records
