Pete Kovachevich

Pete Kovachevich is an American guitar player, singer, and songwriter from the south side of Chicago. He is known for his bluesy and original aggressive style, reminiscent to Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimi Hendrix. Kovachevich has lived in Chicago, New York City, Northern California and Maui. Known for playing with popular jam bands like Blues Traveler, Spin Doctors, and Warren Haynes, Kovachevich became a staple in the New York jam scene. Playing every Friday at a small club called 'Nightingales' with his bands First House and Kindred Spirit.

Pete Kovachevich in 1997

Early years

Kovachevich started playing with the sons of Chicago jazz master Ramsey Lewis in the 1980s, having met Frayne and Bobby Lewis at Chicago HS of Performing Arts, Kovachevich started his first band called, Channel Red. The band featured Ronnie Reporto on vocals from Chicago's State Theater production of Jesus Christ Superstar. Along with Frayne, Bobby, and Kovachevich, "Channel Red" enjoyed tremendous success and at the age of 17, Kovachevich had already gained a mastery for rocking huge crowds including the Taste of Chicago festival. Feeling a pull to NYC and after Ronnie left Chicago to go to college, Kovachevich decided to leave Channel Red and head to the big apple to join his father after living in Chicago with his mother.

Early years with Kindred Spirit

Playing bass and guitar in a myriad of bands, his arrival to NYC was fast paced and riveting. He quickly formed a new group. Traveling on tour with Blues Traveler for nine weeks, Kovachevich's first band in NYC was called Kindred Spirit and it was the first of Kovachevich's bands to play at the Nightingale bar.

Kindred Spirit was founded in 1990 by Ted Meyer (drums), Jocko Jorrin (bass) Sheldon Landa (piano) and Kovachevich (guitar). KS was handed down a tues. night that was famous for nurturing huge names. Kindred Spirit enjoyed the endorsement and played with several NYC jam band scene Illuminati including God Street Wine, The Authority, Spin Doctors, Widespread Panic, Phish, The Worms, The Jono Manson Band, Xanax 25, Milo Z, Comfort, Blues Traveler, Gov't Mule, The Dreyer Bros, The Choosy Mothers, innerSoul. This period of time marks an era in NYC, when there were several live music venues and a vibrant scene of bands and styles. This was from 1991 to 1996. Kindred Spirit featured Sheldon Landa on Piano and had a very piano dominant sound in their jams, yet maintained the classic Kovachevich, funky original rock sound. Having some problems keeping Kindred Spirit together, in 1996, Bass player David Hamburger quit Kindred Spirit to join The Dreyer Bros and Kovachevich brought on Jack Desantis on bass from Xanax 25. Kindred Spirit's drummer was Neil Nunziato Later in 2001, "Kindred Spirit Maui" was reformed with Eddy S on Bass and Kris Thomas on the drums. Kovachevich and long-time friend Eddy S released "Kindred Spirit Maui" in 2004, an endeavor that was recorded by the two of them alone.

Platinum and Gold Record with Blues Traveler

Kovachevich played on Blues Travelers album, Four,[1] playing sitar, tambura, Shrudy box and other instruments[2]

Later with First House

After a successful tour with Blues Traveler, Kovachevich quit Kindred Spirit after the tour. When asked why, Kovachevich replied during an interview after a gig at the then popular music club Wetlands Preserve, "I want to explore the possibilities of playing with a three piece, power trio, like my influences did" and so began The First House which featured Pawel Maciwoda on bass and David Schlossberg from the Dreyer Bros. on drums. It was a personal triumph for Kovachevich to steal the Dreyer Bros. drummer from them after they stole Kindred Spirit's bass player. First House did bold spontaneous shows on the street all over the states and most notably in New Orleans during Mardi Gras, where they also played with The Radiators. First House was known to attract massive crowds on the street and police would often show up and break up the shows, one time leaving the band without any equipment and a crowd of angry fans screaming "let them play" Kovachevich was forced to subdue the crowd, begging them to please go home and let the police take their equipment. FH never was given back their amps, mikes and PA from NYCPD. Pavel Macivoda was in First House from 1996 to 1997 at which time he was kicked out of the band due to his wild and aggressive behavior with female fans. In 1997, long-time friend of both David and Kovachevich, Kenji Hino joined First House on stage as the full-time bass player. It was this lineup that became the notorious late night First House, with shows known to start at 1 or 2 am and go until 5 am. First House released an album, First House. It was recorded at the Power Station recording studio, where Stevie Ray recorded his album Couldn't Stand the Weather.

End of First House

First House broke up shortly after their road manager was found dead by Kovachevich one early morning after a gig. Everyone tried to carry on after this event, but it later proved too difficult to ignore. First House also was plagued with several other unfortunate problems that prevented Kovachevich and FH to gain the ground they so very much deserved. First House played their last gig in NYC @ Nightingales, Sept. 1999. Rumors of a reunion have been floating around for sometime, but Kenji Hino now lives in Japan permanently.

Current life

Kovachevich is living in Northern California after 10 years of living in Maui. He has a website where he sells his catalog of music under the name of "Peter Savant". Once you arrive at his site, he reveals that it is the official media portal for Pete Kovachevich. It has been speculated as to why he changed his name to "Savant" or why he calls himself that, on his website, he calls himself an "Idiot Savant."[3] Currently there are four full LP's listed on the website,[4] but more are known to exist.

Photography

Kovachevich is also an established photographer. He also goes by the name "Peter Savant" when behind the camera. Peter Savant has an eerie and chilling style, with nighttime photos, lomography and pinhole cameras. After 10 years in Maui shooting fashion, sports, nudes, and fine art, he remains active in the field and has a photo website and blog dedicated to his photos.[5]

References
  1. "BluesTraveler.net Person Page". Bluestraveler.net. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
  2. "Four - Blues Traveler | Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
  3. "Peter Kovachevich". Petersavant.com. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
  4. http://www.shop.petersavant.com Archived August 17, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  5. "Photography". Petersavant.com. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
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