View From The Basement -- Peter Stuart And `Dog's Eye View' On Way Up

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Dog's Eye View and the Wallflowers, 7:30 p.m. tomorrow, the Showbox;

$10, 628-0888. -----------------------------------------------------------------

Singer-songwriter Peter Stuart attracts attention. His ready exuberance has taken him from being a roadie and occasional backup singer to a solo opener for Counting Crows and Tori Amos. Now traveling with his band, Dog's Eye View, he remains the constant center as lead singer.

In Salt Lake City, the police paid attention.

"I was just walking down the street and I guess they thought that was suspect activity for a nice young man like myself," Stuart said from a motel in the Utah capital. "So they pulled over, pulled my ID, made me stand there, and interrogated me for about 10 minutes. Salt Lake City culture. I was thinking `Yeah, I'm in town so I'll go see `Trainspotting'or `Welcome to the Dollhouse.' Now I'm thinking `Wait a minute, maybe `Twister'."

Things happen to Stuart and he translates them into songs. "Everything Falls Apart," from the debut album "Happy Nowhere," garnered enough attention to make it as an MTV Buzz Clip. Now the follow-up, "The Prince's Favorite Song," is getting attention. Stuart's happy about that, but at the moment he's more concerned about where he's going to live. He wants to live in Seattle.

"It's either New York or Seattle. New York keeps being annoying and Seattle keeps being inviting, so yeah, go where you're welcome."

A Long Island native, Stuart, 28, began writing seriously while a college student in Chicago. It was there he got the name Dog's Eye View, after living in a basement apartment with a window on a fire hydrant and the feet of passers-by. He moved back to New York, performed wherever he could, and continued writing songs. His personal, dynamic material found a receptive ear. A self-produced demo tape sold 6,000 copies. That got the record company's attention and a deal.

Now he's back on the road and looking for greater attention.

"It's been going great, really, really good," Stuart enthused, forgetting the police. "We started this leg in Canada and it was a little bit rough, but since we've been back in the States, things have picked up.

"But I'll tell you what's been scary, we've played a couple of these radio festivals and they are like playing the K-Tel record that's going to be put out in 10 years. Everclear gets up and plays a bunch of songs, no one reacts, then they play `Santa Monica' and everyone goes wild. Goldfinger gets up and the same thing. Seven Mary Three, same thing. There's all these one-hit alternative bands.

"I mean, granted, we're in danger of one-hitness ourselves, but at least I know I can always put my guitar in the trunk of a car and ride around by myself and try to convince people I've written some good songs."