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| Charlie Parr had to relearn how to play the guitar after a freak skateboarding accident in 2018. |
Duluth, MN: Minnesota folk-blues artist Charlie Parr is releasing his eponymously-titled album for Red House on September 27th. Recorded at Pachyderm Studio in Canon Falls, MN, Charlie's latest album is a collection of new songs and new studio versions of classics/audience favourites from throughout Parr’s career and features his trademark resonator guitar and 12-string, aided by co-producer Liz Draper on bass, longtime collaborator Mikkel Beckmen on percussion, Jeff Mitchell on electric guitar, accordion, organ, backing vocals, and Dave Hundrieser on harmonica. It's an honest and raw recording of Parr reflecting on himself and his career up to this point – a musical reckoning that came after a freak accident less than a year ago that forced him to relearn how to play guitar, causing him to take stock of the songs he’s written over his lifetime and see them through new eyes.
The accident on August 3, 2018 could have put an end to Parr’s career. Only a month earlier he had made his first appearance at the Newport Folk Festival, bookending a summer of touring and career highpoints. Then, while skateboarding with his daughter along Lake Superior, he hit pavement. His right shoulder was busted into pieces and his ability to play guitar on stage again was suddenly in question. But, when playing the guitar is intertwined with who you are, not playing really isn’t an option.
He underwent surgery that left him with a metal plate and eight pins holding his reconstructed shoulder together. Within days, as soon as he could tabletop his guitar across his lap, Parr was playing again. Three weeks later he made a pain-filled return to the stage with an appearance on the Live from Big Top Chautauquaradio show.
By the time Parr hit the road again, he was reinvigorated to play music in a way he had not been for some time. He started digging out songs from early in his career.
“I can revisit any of them I want and meditate on what it was like to be seven years old again, curious about the guitar, obsessed with music and hoarding bike parts,” he says. “I can relive all the joyful times I had with my friends and family. I can grieve all over again my Dad’s passing; I can feel my stomach turn at the mountains of regret that I’ve amassed and the people I’ve hurt when I’ve been too self-absorbed to take better care of my actions, but I can’t change it.
“Songs are a different kind of history though, they’re not subject to the rules of time, they never died and they never will, and they grow and evolve right along with the rest of me.” Parr had never really stopped playing those songs completely and, along the way, they had matured along with him. He wanted a chance to record them again to capture what they had become.
“I recorded some of those songs almost 20 years ago and, when I think about what my mind was like at that time, it’s not what it is now,” he explains. “In a way, I’ve been re-writing them over and over again for the past two decades.”
Parr is now back on his grueling international tour schedule, mended and reinvigorated, covering the entire country alone in his car, occasionally cooking his vegan meals on his car manifold. It’s a lonely existence that leaves a lot of time for reflection and reminiscing. CHARLIE PARR is the first album -- and there are 13 others -- that Parr he felt like putting his name on. It’s a bit of the new, a bit of the old, and a bit of what’s motivated and moved him. Most importantly, it’s an audio tour of his life and career to date and a celebration of more songs and stories to come.
For more information go to https://www.charlieparr.com
TOUR DATES
Thu, 1 Aug Sioux City, IA – The Marquee
Sun, 4 Aug Red Wing, MN – River City Days
Thu, 22 Aug Cincinnati, OH – Whispering Beard Festival
Sun, 25 Aug Austin, MN – Austin Artworks Festival
Wed, 28 Aug Glasgow, UK – Centre for Contemporary Arts
Thu, 29 Aug York, UK – The Crescent Community Venue
Fri, 30 Aug Salisbury, UK – End of the Road Festival
Sat, 31 Aug Abergavenny, UK – The Art Shop & Chapel
Sun, 1 Sep Birmingham, UK – Moseley Folk Festival
Mon, 2 Sep Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK – Cluny
Tue, 3 Sep Chester, UK – St. Mary’s Creative Space
Wed, 4 Sep London, UK – The Lexington
Thu, 5 Sep Lewes, UK – Lewes Con Club
Sat, 7 Sep Deventer, Netherlands – Burgerweeshuis
Sun, 8 Sep Heusden, Netherlands – Misty Fields
Mon, 9 Sep Amsterdam, Netherlands – Bitterzoet
Tue, 10 Sep Nijmegen, Netherlands – Merleyn
Wed, 11 Sep Zurich, Switzerland – El Lokal
Thu, 12 Sep Orleans, France – Blue Devils
Fri, 13 Sep Bienne, Switzerland – Nebia poche
Sun, 15 Sep Groningen, Netherlands – Vera
Sat, 28 Sep Winona, MN – Boats and Bluegrass Festival
Wed, 2 Oct Pittsburgh, PA – Club Cafe
Thu, 3 Oct South Burlington, VT – Higher Ground
Fri, 4 Oct Cambridge, MA – Atwood’s Tavern
Sat, 5 Oct New York, NY – Mercury Lounge
Sun, 6 Oct Pawling, NY – Daryl’s House
Wed, 9 Oct Washington, DC – Black Cat
Thu, 10 Oct Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle
Fri, 11 Oct Atlanta, GA – Center Stage Theater
Sat, 12 Oct Charlotte, NC – Free Range Brewing
Sun, 13 Oct Asheville, NC – The Grey Eagle
Wed, 16 Oct Nashville, TN – High Watt
Thu, 17 Oct Newport, KY – The Southgate House Revival
Fri, 18 Oct Columbus, OH – Woodlands Tavern
Sat, 19 Oct Indianapolis, IN – LO-FI Lounge
Sun, 20 Oct St Louis, MO – The Old Rock House
Fri, 25 Oct Madison, WI – Majestic Theatre
Sat, 26 Oct Appleton, WI – Mill Creek
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