Charlie Parr | Stumpjumper
Charlie Parr is a man from another time. He plays country blues and he plays it damn well. Also he’s a native of the land from whence I came, so I’ve got to rep the Minnesota talent. However, even if he wasn’t from ‘The Land of 10,000 Lakes‘ I’d probably still be writing this. Because, when it comes down it I love country blues and you don’t see that many people still playing it in a way that isn’t totally derivative of John Hurt, Son House, Robert Johnson or one of the other long dead bluesmen. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll gladly go out and watch somebody cop Robert Johnson all night long and love the shit out of it but Charlie Parr is a bird of a different feather. He does justice to the history and tradition of old time blues but still brings his own flavor to it. In these modern times of twerking, dick pics and Skrillex it may not be for everybody but if you like things that aren’t completely shitty I’d suggest checking out Chalie Parr.
Stumpjumper is exactly the ablum that I wanted from Charlie Parr at this point in time. Everything he’s put out up until this point has been primarily of the solo acoustic persuasion. He’s a hot hand with a steel guitar but you can only release so many albums of a guy singing and playing guitar before it all starts to blend together. This is the first time Mr. Parr has brought in a backing band and the result is maybe one of the best albums he’s released to date. On top of that the session for Stumpjumper were recored in North Carolina and produced by Phil Cook of Megafaun… and I don’t think there’s a producer out there who could have done better justice to who Charlie Parr is and what he represents. I’ve only had this album for about a week at this point but it’s becoming one of my favorite new folk albums. The backing band they put together for this album compliments Charlie’s old time, finger style playing perfectly. It makes me feel like I’m sitting on a porch in the hills swilling moonshine out of jug. I makes me want to grab a washboard and dance a jig. It gives me hope to see that there’re still people out there carrying the torch.
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