Singer/songwriter Peter Case began his career in punk-rock bands but in the mid-'80s went solo and became a folk-rock troubadour. The son of two teachers, Case dropped out of school in 10th grade, got his GED, and studied at State University of New York at Buffalo. One winter he boarded a Greyhound bus, eventually winding up in San Francisco, where he busked on street corners and in coffeehouses, sometimes accompanying Beat poet Allen Ginsberg.

In 1976 Case cofounded seminal West Coast punk band the Nerves with Paul Collins (later of the [American] Beat [see entry]), for whom he played bass. By 1978 he had moved to L.A. and formed the Plimsouls, a power-pop band popular in the local club scene. After a successful indie EP, Elektra subsidiary Planet signed the group, but when The Plimsouls stiffed, it dropped them. The band then released the independent 12-inch “A Million Miles Away,” a college-radio hit that brought the band its second major-label deal. Everywhere at Once included that single and a number of other catchy tunes but failed to deliver on sales, despite the band’s cameo in the teen flick Valley Girl.

In 1984 Case dissolved the Plimsouls, became a born-again Christian, and started playing solo shows. One night he saw singer/songwriter Victoria Williams performing in a restaurant; the two formed the Incredibly Strung Out Band and married in April 1985 (they divorced in 1989). The critically praised Peter Case, produced by T Bone Burnett and Mitchell Froom, included the college-radio hit “Steel Strings.” Case supported the album by opening arenas for Jackson Browne.

Case’s second solo album also pleased critics with its strong melodies and writerly lyrics; it included contributions from David Lindley, Jim Keltner, and Los Lobos’ David Hidalgo. Six Pack of Love saw Case return to his more rocking roots. In 1993 he formed a band including ex-Plimsoul Eddie Munoz. The following year, Case released on Vanguard a collection of folk-blues songs, which he recorded live to two-track in a living-room studio set up by producer Marvin Etzioni (Lone Justice, Toad the Wet Sprocket).

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