Three years ago, when I wrote about a Charlie Parr club appearance here, it was necessary to introduce him and his work to even those readers who followed acoustic Blues, Folk and Americana music.
Yes, the Minnesotan had recorded 11 albums that showed off his rugged voice, fine rustic songwriting and transcendent drone-like and locomotive-fast mastery of banjo and National steel guitar. But he and his small-label albums just weren’t well-known outside of his home base, and he seemed like a classic under-the-radar musician.
But times can change fast if you have the talent that Parr does. He has made several more appearances in our area since, and he now finds himself on one the country’s best contemporary Folk labels, Red House Records. He has also become a Cincinnati favorite.
Parr’s newest album, Stumpjumper, was recorded in Hillsborough, N.C. with several supporting players after a trip through the East and Mid-Atlantic states. To get in the spirit, Parr played recordings by Blind Willie McTell; David Bromberg; Koerner, Ray & Glover and others.
The album has modern urgency and seems to timelessly fit in with America’s Blues and Folk traditions, as shown on songs like his spin on the traditional murder ballad “Delia,” as well as his own title song about a beat-up 1966 International Harvester pickup truck he says broke “land-speed records” as he hustled his way to work at a gas station.
