Peter Karp, – singer-songwriter, guitarist, keyboard player. Resides in Nashville and New Jersey and anyplace in between, thanks to his trusty RV. Once, while playing ball with his traveling companion, Delilah Dog, an ash-heavy cigarette dangling from his lip and a beat-up guitar propped against the idling RV, a passerby asked, “Sir, are you a vagabond?” To which Karp replied, “Well, I’m a songwriter and musician,so I guess the answer is yes.”

“Singer-songwriter and guitarist Peter Karp is a breath of fresh air in the world of folk and blues…”
- Oh Boy Records – John Prine’s label

“…An underground genius…like Jackson Browne and John Prine, with a healthy dose of blues too… Karp’s a soulful storyteller, the man can write…”
- Blues Revue Magazine

It’s been said that “guys like Peter Karp, James Taylor and Bob Dylan embody Americana music…” That’s coming from Mick Taylor, someone who routinely collaborates with luminary singer-songwriters. The legendary Rolling Stones guitarist and Dylan sideman lent his inimitable sound to Karp’s latest effort, The Turning Point. “I was immediately attracted to his songs and voice, finding out he was a great stage performer as well was a pleasant surprise.”

By bucking the trend and taking his lyrics as seriously as his music, Karp has carved a niche for himself as one of the contemporary Americana blues / Roots artists to keep a watch on. For Karp, whose songs are poignant, funny, irreverent, romantic and true to life, “lyrics are where it begins and ends.” Blues Revue magazine concurs, comparing him to “John Prine and Jackson Browne with a healthy dose of blues too…” and the Asbury Park Press calls Karp “The future of Blues / Roots music…” The Gannett Press calls him “a great writer and performer whose songs are driven by verbal word play and insights into the human experience.”

Karp finds inspiration in life and in the greats who’ve traveled the troubadours’ path before him. As the son of an Air Force captain,Karp spent his formative years alternating between trailer parks in rural Alabama and the NYC suburb of Leonia , NJ , and by the age of five had been witness to the great rock and soul shows of the 60s at places like The Paramount, The Brooklyn Fox and The NY Academy of Music. By the time he was eight, he had absorbed the live performances of such legendary artists as James Brown, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Animals, The Temptations, The Supremes and The Four Tops.

In his late teens, Peter began his professional music career as a songwriter/keyboardist/guitarist with the critically acclaimed, seminal art-blues-punk band "They Came From Houses," a mainstay in the stable of "The Underground Music Venue" managed by former Rolling Stones/Yardbird manager Georgio Gramalski. Sharing the stage with acts like Marshall Crenshaw, Mink Deville, The Toasters, John Hammond Jr., The Stray Cats, George Thorogood, and David Johansen and scoring a hit on regional radio, Peter walked away from a record contract with Polygram.

"Why? I didn't like the music business. End of story." Peter abruptly left a commercially promising music career and disappeared for the next 10 years to raise a family, travel and meet people. Along the way he continued to work with some of music and film's more interesting people: Oscar-winning underground film director Emile D'Antonio, Oscar winner Timothy Hutton, Tony Randall, as well as with musicians Willie Dixon, John Lee Hooker, Johnny Johnson, Van Walls, Don Henley, Michael Brecker, Richie Havens, The Jacksons, Ric Ocasik and Jackson Brown. His travels took him to the Amazon, where he rafted down the Madre Dios River and spent time with natives of the area, and on working excursions to Paris , Tokyo and Mexico .

Peter also became deeply interested in the rich African-American culture that has flourished for over 200 years in South Carolina 's South Sea Islands . Guided by his friends the Pazant family of Beaufort, who are cultural ambassadors of the Gullah heritage and descendants of slaves, he immersed himself in learning about the Gullah and its musical roots, taking a trip into parts of the South Sea Islands where the original Geechee language is still spoken. His song Geechee Geechee Wawa is based on his experiences in South Carolina and the deep spiritualism of the people he met there. After wandering, working and lots of musing, Peter decided it was time to come back to the performance arena to musically share with his audience the wealth of perspective he had gained as well as his deep respect for the diversity that makes up our global society.

After playing solo and testing his new material at small NJ clubs, Peter assembled The Roadshow Band. Quickly he scored some national attention when his song, "These Are the Moments," was used by JVC as the theme for a national television campaign. Since then he and the band have been playing nationally selling out rooms from New York to Nashville . He has headlined and opened with such people as Levon Helm, John Mayall, Steve Forbert, Hubert Sumlin, Odetta, Pinetop Perkins, Leslie West and Bobby Whitlock.

In 2000 he released a live CD "Live at the American Roadhouse." In 2002 he released his second CD "Roadshow," and followed that success with 2004’s “The Turning Point,” featuring former Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor who joined Peter for a 10-show, sold-out North Atlantic tour. Karp co-produced “The Turning Point” with Dae Bennett (Tony Bennett/KD Lang/Naughty By Nature/The Bacon Brothers / Michael Brecker / Dave’s True Story / Rasputina/ Mike Viola) of Bennett Studios in Englewood , NJ .

Karp was signed to Backbender Records in 2004. His Cd’s The Turning Point and Roadshow were also picked up by John Prine’s label Oh Boy and sold in their company store.

Karp’s unique rootsy Americana blues sound is attracting the notice of fans, musicians and media both here and abroad. With accolades from the Star Ledger, Blues Revue Magazine, Billboard, the New York Daily News, The Gannett Press, Tony Bennett, Bobby Whitlock, John Mayall and DJs at blues and Triple A stations across the northeast, it’s only a matter of time before this New Jersey musician secures his rightful place on the national scene.