Peter Himmelman at City Vineyard

Peter Himmelman played in bands since sixth grade in the Minneapolis suburb of St. Louis Park, Minnesota. As a teenager, he was in Alexander O'Neal's rhythm and blues band and in calypso/reggae band Shangoya. As a young adult in 1979, Himmelman formed a new wave band called Sussman Lawrence. In 1984, Sussman Lawrence relocated to Ridgewood, New Jersey, in order to penetrate New York City's thriving club circuit. The band became the Peter Himmelman Band, almost immediately launching Himmelman's solo career. Over the years, Himmelman's 13 singer-songwriter albums received critical acclaim but little radio play or commercial success. In the late 1990s, however, he achieved success with children's albums and musical scores for television programs. His most recent album is 2017's There Is No Calamity; he hopes to release a crowd-sourced album, Press On. Himmelman currently is based in Santa Monica, California.

City Vineyard's small stage barely fit Peter Himmelman with his acoustic guitar and Matt Thompson, Himmelman's accompanist with his upright bass. Nevertheless, the corner stage could not confine Himmelman's outsized personality. Throughout his performance, his pattern was to tell a charming anecdote that led the audience to smile, laugh or applaud, then impress the audience with a pensive, introspective song, and repeat. The songs, all performed at modest pace and volume, were imaginatively panoramic, profoundly speaking the language of the heart and soul. He also was successful in bringing wit to his lyrics; at one point he summarized highlights of his previous tales with an improvised song. Somehow, his riveting, well-articulated images of struggle and joy found a dynamic and transcendent balance in songs that filled the room.