CHARLIE PARR | CRIMINALS AND SINNERS
Lately I can’t get enough of country bluesman Charlie Parr, whether it is watching him perform at Pickathon this past August or listening to his latest release, Keep Your Hands On The Plow (reviewed here). So it is no surprise that I am also indulging in an earlier album of traditional American music, Criminals and Sinners. Recorded live to 2 track in 2001, originally released the following year on Shaky Ray Records and recently reissued in December 2011 on vinyl, and it is a real gem. Parr, who plays traditional delta and Piedmont blues also turns out traditional folk and mountain music over the course of nine solid tracks. Standouts include “Lowdown” and “Song for Loren B.” – Written by JFelton
posted by JFelton, February 14, 2012
CHARLIE PARR | KEEP YOUR HANDS ON THE PLOW
Keep Your Hands On The Plow is country blues musician Charlie Parr’s latest release. Parr, who draws heavy influence from delta blues legends Charlie Patton, Bukka White, and Reverend Gary Davis, shares the stage and mic with a talented cast of musicians including his wife Emily Parr (tambourine), Brandy Forsman (fiddle), Tom Maloney (banjo, guitar), and Alan Sparhawk (electric guitar). Parr himself is in top form vocally and instrumentally, playing traditional delta and Piedmont blues and gospel numbers made renown by luminaries like Blind Willie Johnson, the Carter Family, Bob Dylan and Mississippi John Hurt. As usual he shines on his National resonator guitar and fretless open-back banjo. Standout tracks include opener “Gospel Plow”, ” East Virginia Blues”, and “Poor Lazarus.” – Written by JFelton
posted by JFelton, February 6, 2012
CHARLIE PARR & THE BLACK TWIG PICKERS - GLORY IN THE MEETING HOUSE
This one kind of snuck by me last year but I’m happy I discovered it a few weeks ago. Last May, American folk and bluesman Charlie Parr and The Black Twig Pickers (currently comprised of Isak Howell, Nathan Bowles and Mike Gangloff) recorded Glory in the Meeting House in rural Virginia. The full length album of country, gospel and old-time Americana sounds pairs two talented musical forces – Parr with his raw vocals and the Black Twig Pickers’ fiddle, banjo, guitar, and washboard. Standouts include gospel mainstays like “What a Friend We Have” and “Jesus on the Mainline”, “They Whupped Him up the Hill” as well as original compositions like “Where You Gonna Be (When the Good Lord Calls You Home)?” Glory in the Meeting House is one that I missed last year but you should be sure not to miss out this year! – Written by JFelton
posted by JFelton, January 26, 2011
CHARLIE PARR | WHEN THE DEVIL GOES BLIND
When the Devil Goes Blind is country blues musician Charlie Parr’s latest release and first studio album recorded in stereo with producer Bo Ramsey. Parr, who draws heavy influence from delta blues legends Charlie Patton, Bukka White, Reverend Gary Davis and Dave Van Ronk, keeps things simple with just his voice and a few select instruments – his National resonator guitar, a fretless open-back banjo, and a 12-string guitar played with a piedmont blues fingerpicking style. Standout tracks include “1890”, a mid-album fingerpicking gem about the massacre of Native Americans at Wounded Knee, and “Ain’t No Grave Gonna Hold My Body Down” which showcases Parr’s powerfully persuasive vocals. All in all, When the Devil Goes Blind is a breathtaking album of unpretentious elegance from one of my favorite musicians. – Written by JFelton
posted by JFelton, September 30, 2010
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