Peter Case - Peter Case at McCabe's: My Life to Live
by Kevin Wierzbicki
Recorded about a year ago in April of 2025, this live set from folk, rock and roots artist Peter Case presents 15 songs along with half a dozen interludes where he addresses the crowd. Case's friendly patter during the interludes is informative and amusing though most, upon repeated listening, will want to skip them. Recorded in the concert venue at McCabe's Guitar Shop in Santa Monica, California where he has performed many times over the years, fans and artist alike think of McCabe's as his "home venue." Clearly Case has a deep affinity for McCabe's; in one interlude he talks about all the acts he's seen perform there, including folkies Bob Neuwirth and Sandy Bull, Memphis Slim, Doc Watson, Ralph Stanley, Ella Fitzgerald and Townes Van Zandt, jokingly adding that the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and Jimi Hendrix also played McCabe's. Speaking of Van Zandt, Case performs "Entella Hotel" early in the set; the song is done very much in the style familiar to fans of Townes. For the first part of the show, including "Flying Crow Blues," "Underneath the Stars" and "Every 24 Hours," Case sings while accompanying himself on acoustic guitar, with some of the songs really showing how good he is with the instrument. About mid-set Case moves to piano to play a cover of the beautiful and melodic John Coltrane instrumental "Naima." He stays on the keyboard for a few more songs including "Have You Ever Been in Trouble" and "Girl in Love with a Shadow" and brings on guest player Buddy Zapata to play sublime electric guitar parts on "Somebody Told the Truth," "Oldest Story in the World" and for a cover of his hit with the Plimsouls, "A Million Miles Away." The latter also features Sophie Skye on harmony vocals, Henri Cash on bass and harmony vocals and Bill Stock on pedal steel guitar. The stripped down version of the song is a joy to hear and will please those who dug the original. Many of Case's songs here are stories of life on the fringe, maybe a search for a way out of the noise, and Peter has a knack for keeping these tales from getting bogged down in depression. Fittingly then, the set ends with a take on "Ain't Gonna Worry No More." Case has the audience eating out of his hand for this show (actually the set is culled from two shows) and those who couldn't be there will feel like they're in the audience while listening to this generous set at home.
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