Charlie Parr spent a morning at Cloverlick Banjo Shop in Fort Collins a few months back.
He played us the title tracking his upcoming album (it’s already out out as the single, go track it down) and the full album comes out on Smithsonian Folkways Recordings on July 30th.
Charlie Parr’s newest album, "Last Of The Better Days Ahead", is a collection of powerful new songs about how one looks back on a life lived, as well as forward on what’s still to come. Its spare production foregrounds Parr’s poetic lyricism, his expressive, gritty voice ringing clear over deft acoustic guitar playing that references folk and blues motifs in Parr’s own exploratory, idiosyncratic style. When it comes to what it all means, Parr says it best:
“Last of the Better Days Ahead is a way for me to refer to the times I’m living in. I’m getting on in years, experiencing a shift in perspective that was once described by my mom as ‘a time when we turn from gazing into the future to gazing back at the past, as if we’re adrift in the current, slowly turning around.’ Some songs came from meditations on the fact that the portion of our brain devoted to memory is also the portion responsible for imagination, and what that entails for the collected experiences that we refer to as our lives. Other songs are cultivated primarily from the imagination, but also contain memories of what may be a real landscape, or at least one inspired by vivid dreaming. The album represents one full rotation of the boat in which we are adrift—looking ahead for a last look at the better days to come, then being turned around to see the leading edge of the past as it fades into the foggy dreamscape of our real and imagined histories.”
Enjoy today's tune “Last Of The Better Days Ahead", where the video was filmed at Cloverlick Banjo Shop in Fort Collins, CO.
"Wish I Was In Heaven Sitting Down" is a tune written by Delta blues guitarist R. L. Burnside, he was one of the paragons of state-of-the-art Delta juke joint blues. The guitarist, singer, and songwriter was born November 23, 1926, in Oxford, MS, and made his home in Holly Springs, in the hill country above the Delta. He lived most of his life in the Mississippi hill country, which, unlike the Delta region, consists mainly of a lot of small farms. He learned his music from his neighbor, Fred McDowell, and the highly rhythmic style that Burnside plays is evident in McDowell’s recording as well. Despite the otherworldly country-blues sounds put down by Burnside and his family band, known as the Sound Machine, his other influences are surprisingly contemporary: Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker and Lightnin’ Hopkins. But Burnside’s music is pure country Delta juke joint blues, heavily rhythm-oriented and played with a slide.
Like jazz, the blues has its share of late bloomers -- artists who didn't start recording or didn't become well-known until they were well into their 50s or 60s. R.L. Burnside is very much a late bloomer; the Mississippi bluesman was born in 1926, but it wasn't until the 1990s that he started to enjoy the publicity he deserved. Recorded in 2000, "Wish I Was in Heaven Sitting Down" finds the veteran singer continuing to be fairly unpredictable at 73. Essentially, this album falls into the Mississippi blues category -- Burnside maintains the earthy, down-home rawness that people expect from Mississippi country-blues.
Today's cover is made by Duluth, Minnesota, country blues musician Charlie Parr. Charlie plays a Mule resonator, National resonator guitar, a fretless open-back banjo, and a twelve-string guitar, often in the Piedmont blues style. He is married to Emily Parr, who occasionally adds vocals to his music.
Enjoy Charlie Parr's cover of R.L. Burnside's "Wish I Was In Heaven Sitting Down".
Upcoming Dates
Thu, MAR 12
Icon Lounge + Events
Sioux Falls, SD
Fri, MAR 13
Mankato Brewery
North Mankato, MN
Sat, MAR 14
The Nordic Brewing Co
Monticello, MN
Thu, MAR 19
Miner Brewing Company
Hill City, SD
Fri, MAR 20
Schmiggity's Live Music & Dance Bar
Steamboat Springs, CO
Sat, MAR 21
Brues Alehouse Brewing Co.
Pueblo, CO
Sun, MAR 22
Liberty Bar
Telluride, CO
Wed, MAR 25
Lulu's Downstairs
Manitou Springs, CO
Thu, MAR 26
Steve's Guitars
Carbondale, CO
Fri, MAR 27
OP Rockwell Cocktail Lounge & Music Hall
Park City, UT
Sat, MAR 28
Treefort Music Fest
Boise, ID
Sun, MAR 29
Treefort Music Fest
Boise, ID
Fri, MAY 1
Mid West Music Fest
Winona, MN
Fri, JUN 12
Blue Ox Music Festival
Eau Claire, WI
Sun, AUG 23
Moon Dance Music Festival
Gleason, WI
Thu, AUG 27
Pine Creek Lodge
Livingston, MT
All these old ladies comin’ in here buyin’ cheap wine
Ain’t no better than all these bums comin’ in here and
buy cheap wine.
Lyrics of a typical Friday at a pub next to you :)
An easily confused and very shy individual, Charlie Parr has been traveling around singing his songs ever since leaving Austin Minnesota in the 1980's in search of Spider John Koerner, whom he found about 100 miles north at the Viking Bar one Sunday night. The experience changed his life, made him more or less unemployable, and brings us to now: 13 recordings, 250 shows a year or more, 200,000 miles on a well broke in Kia, and a nasty fear of heights. Resonator fueled folk songs from Duluth Minnesota.
Charlie Parr is scruffy and uncomfortable looking, with a longish beard and balding head, a singular songwriter who has built a dedicated grassroots following for his haunting, topical songs and virtuosic picking, not to mention the fact that he’s on the road 300 days a year. The combination of growing up with both of his parents working proud union jobs in an industrial meat factory and his largely rural environment had a broad impact on Parr’s writing.
Charlie Parr influences include Charlie Patton, Bukka White, Reverend Gary Davis, Dave Van Ronk, and Mississippi John Hurt. He plays a Mule resonator, National resonator guitar, a fretless open-back banjo, and a 12-string guitar, often in the Piedmont blues style. He is married to Emily Parr, who occasionally adds vocals to his music. He has two children.
Charlie is of course on the road and will soon come to Europe for some shows, I would really see him live at a bar, but he will only do some shows at the west coast this route, so if he is visiting your city, do not hesitate, go and watch him, I’m sure it will be a evening to remember. See all the dates below.
Today’s tune "Cheap Wine” is a tune orginally taken from Charlie’s 4th independent release ”Rooster”, released September 28, 2005. But I picked the tune from "I Dreamed I Saw Jesse James Last Night" (live) on Best of the First 1,000: Highlights from Ampers.org, released 2010. The clip is live at Terrapin Station in Nevis Minnesota. September 14th, 2012.
UPCOMING DATES
Jan 28
Turf Club
St Paul, MN
Feb 04
EKKO
Utrecht, Netherlands
Feb 05
Schauspielhaus
Bergneustadt, Germany
Feb 06
Kulturrampe
Krefeld, Germany
Feb 07
LE BRIN DE ZINC
Barberaz, France
Feb 08
Kraspek Myzik
Lyon, France
Feb 09
Raindogs
Savona, Italy
Feb 11
Theatre ABC
La Chaux-De-Fonds, Switzerland
Feb 12
Vintage Pub
Munchen, Germany
Feb 14
Casino
Sint-Niklaas, Belgium
Feb 15
La Peniche Antipode
Paris, France
Feb 16
Sliktones
Oude Bildtzijl, Netherlands
Feb 17
HET PAARD
The Hague, Netherlands
Feb 18
Cooperations
Wiltz, Luxembourg
Feb 19
El Lokal
Zurich, Switzerland
Feb 20
Kofferfabrik
Fürth, Germany
Feb 21
Bethlehemskirche
Berlin, Germany
Feb 22
Music Star
Norderstedt, Germany
Feb 24
Livets Salt Tatuering
Lysekil, Sweden
Feb 25
Café NäRA
Boras, Sweden
Feb 26
Café Mono
Oslo, Norway
Feb 27
Folk å Rock
Malmo, Sweden
Feb 28
Mojo Bar
Copenhagen, Denmark
Mar 01
Vera
Groningen, Netherlands
Mar 02
Prince Albert
Brighton, United Kingdom
Mar 03
The Cluny 2
Newcastle, United Kingdom
Mar 04
Burston Crown
Cromer, United Kingdom
Mar 05
The Keep
Guildford, United Kingdom
Mar 06
The Crescent
York, United Kingdom
Mar 07
Wharf Chambers
Leeds, United Kingdom
Mar 08
The Exchange
Bristol, United Kingdom
Mar 09
Islington Academy 2
London, United Kingdom
Mar 10
Paradiso
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Mar 11
Speelplaats Baars
Baars, Netherlands
Mar 16
The District
Sioux Falls, SD
Mar 19
Papa Charlies
Lutsen, MN
Mar 23
Stoughton Opera House
Stoughton, WI
Apr 27
Mid West Music Fest
Winona, MN
Jun 01
Nelsonville Music Festival
Nelsonville, OH
Jun 16
Blue Ox Festival
Eau Claire, WI
