![]() ![]() ![]() I was looking for an upright piano and a fellow told me that in Novato there was a 1906 Steinway upright that had been restored in a studio. I wanted to get it as close to what I was hearing as possible but I had to find a good piano in a studio. It’s very centered.ĪH: It has a lot of immediacy to it, too, like it takes on the role of live-play, too. I think the record has a feeling to it because of that, one that runs through it. That’s actually the only time in my whole career that I’ve been able to do that. I was able to compose the songs, learn how to play them, and how to sing them, and then I got to go straight from there into recording. On a lot of records, I’ll be right in the middle of it, then I’ll have to go on tour. So I was really fortunate, on this record, to be able to stay plugged into it. It’s still like that, really, since it’s my main path to understand who I am. I had a lot of anxiety at different times but I kind of clung to music and it helped me through it. It’s a wavelength I’ve always tuned into ever since I left home when I was just a kid at 16. I find that I get a lot of peace from it. I was outside doing something and a guy walked by and said, “Are you the guy that plays piano?” I said, “Yeah.” He said, “I like that one that you’re working on now.” That was the kind of feedback I got because you could hear the piano ringing up and down the street. San Francisco was a ghost town at that point. PC: That’s what I was trying to bring across with this by playing a lot every day. All the sudden, these songs started to appear and happen.ĪH: Do you think it was about being in the right mental space to be able to make songs? Things were so distracting back then, and it was hard for people to engage in something more positive. I can learn the melody and chords a little bit. I’ve always played, but I’ve never spent this much time playing it.Īt first, I just learned old songs by other people, but then these songs started to come after about a month of play. I was in this room with a piano feeling chlaustrophobic so I decided to use the time to play piano every day. I had a really big year planned to tour for Midnight Broadcast, but I realized I wasn’t going to be touring for a year. I live in an apartment in San Francisco and in the front room, there’s a piano. During the shutdown, things were really different. ![]() The impetus on this one was just these songs. That was a really special project for me, too. But other times, sure, like on Midnight Broadcast, that record was produced by a friend of mine, Ron Franklin, and we’d been talking about making a record for a long time. ![]() It’s me and the bass player, Jonny Flaugher, on this record. I made a new friend to make this record, Ryan McCaffrey. It wasn’t so much this time since this is a pretty stripped down as an album. Peter Case (Photo by Ekevara Kitpowsong/ The Aperturist)ĪH: Is the opportunity to collaborate with friends and other musicians part of the appeal of recording an album? The last three albums, particularly, I’ve really hit on something I’ve been interested in. I spoke with Peter Case about his journey into piano playing, its development into more songwriting, and some of the atmosphere you’ll find on Doctor Moan.Īmericana Highways: You’ve had such a long career in music and created so many albums. While Case plays piano, harmonica, mellotron and guitar on the album, the record also features Jonny Flaugher (Lady Blackbird, Pokey LaFarge) on electric and acoustic bass, and Chris Joyner (Rickie Lee Jones, Ben Harper) on B-3 organ. This led him to Ryan McCaffrey, who happened to have just such a piano, at The Sun Machine studio. Gradually, this meditative time developed into a whole raft of songs and since they were piano-driven, he had to find a worthy piano in a studio to work with. Another reason why it’s an anomaly for Case is that it arose from deciding to dedicate time to his piano playing, something he’s done all his life, but has mainly pursued for personal enjoyment. For that reason, there is a particular sense of focus here which he’s very happy with. In some ways it was a surprising development for Case since in his professional life, he’s never been at home long enough to write a whole album and then complete it by going into the studio immediately. Peter Case is going to be releasing his sixteenth studio album, Doctor Moan, on March 31st, 2023, via Sunset Blvd Records. Peter Case ’s Piano Broke The Silence For Doctor Moan ![]()
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