Peter Karp

by Steve Leggett An intriguing roots-based folk and blues songwriter, singer, guitarist, and keyboard player, Peter Karp spent his childhood split between Leonia, NJ, and a trailer park in Enterprise, AL, eventually breaking into the local music scene in New York as a teen with They Came from Houses, a genre-mixing art-blues-punk outfit. Karp walked away from both the band and a contract offer from Polygram Records and spent the next decade traveling and raising a family. He attended Rider University in Lawrenceville, NJ and film school at New York University, but left both institutions without obtaining a degree. He opened his own production company, Total Picture, in Manhattan before returning to performing in the late '90s with the Roadshow Band. Karp and the band released a show set in 2000, Live at the American Roadhouse, followed by Roadshow in 2002. Karp signed with Backbender Records in 2004 and The Turning Point, which featured ex-Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor, appeared that same year. He moved to Blind Pig Records and released Shadows and Cracks in 2007. He currently splits his time between Nashville and New Jersey. Karp teamed with Sue Foley for a joint album entitled, He Said, She Said for Blind Pig. It was released in March of 2010.