Charlie Parr

Charlie Parr plays a combination of original and traditional acoustic folk, delta and Piedmont-style blues and old-time (mountain) music, accompanying himself on 6- and 12-string guitars and dobro.

Charlie's influences include Mississippi John Hurt, Rev. Gary Davis, Dave Van Ronk, Koerner, Ray & Glover, and Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music.

At Barn Aid, Charlie was joined by his friend Mikkel Beckmen, who very plays some of funkiest percussive instruments we've ever seen (including parts from a vintage refrigerator).

Charlie's recent self-titled independent release has received positive reviews. The 15-song CD includes original material as well as traditional songs using Parr's arrangements. The disc is available at his live shows, or by request.

Charlie Parr began playing guitar at the encouragement of his parents, and his interest in playing traditional American folk music was immediate; it had been part of a wide variety of music that was played in the Parr household since Charlie was a baby.

When he moved from his hometown of Austin, Minnesota to Minneapolis in 1988, Charlie began performing in local bars with his friend T.J. Thissen. They played acoustic Delta and Peidmont style blues to a rowdy crowd of truck drivers and students at the Ace Box Bar, and mountain ballads and folk tunes to quiet groups of intellectuals at the New Riverside Cafˇ and the Loring Bar.

In 1999, the duo teamed up with Mikkel Beckmen, and the three musicians renewed their commitment to traditional music with the insistent rhythm of the washboard. After playing the Minneapolis coffeehouse circuit for a summer, the trio recorded a 12-song CD with the engineering help of former Gear Daddies drummer Bill Dankert. The recording contained four original tunes by Charlie Parr, and utilized Charlie's original arrangements for six of the remaining tunes. The CD was produced independently and distributed to a tiny but appreciative audience.

In December, Thissen moved to the West Coast, and Charlie and Mikkel landed a regular gig at the Viking Bar on the West Bank of Minneapolis. Twice a month for the next seven months, Charlie found a receptive audience for his interpretations of the old sound; and flourished in front of a crowd that knew the music, and oftentimes knew some of the original musicians.

Charlie was also included in the regular line-up at Mayslack's Artist's Corner, hosted by Paul Metsa, where he has shared a stage with friends Dan Rumsey, Baby Grant Johnson, and Paul Metsa himself.

Since moving to Duluth, Charlie performs alone much of the time, using six-and twelve-string acoustic guitars, a Dobro, and occasionally a 75-year-old banjo to perform a mixture of original tunes and American folk and blues.

His influences come from mountain balladeers Dock Boggs and Roscoe Holcomb, through bluesmen Mississippi John Hurt and Reverend Gary Davis, to "folk scare" survivors Koerner, Ray & Glover and Dave Van Ronk.

Currently Charlie plays a regular Friday night set at Sir Benedict's Tavern in Duluth, and occasionally travels to Minneapolis to play at Mayslack's and the West Bank's Viking Bar.

He completed an independently produced recording at The Shaky Ray studio in Duluth in February of 2001, which has received favorable reviews and is currently being sold at shows. The CD contains 15 tunes, six original and all but four others utilizing Charlie's own arrangements of traditional folk and blues material. In early 2002 Charlie released a new solo disc, Criminals and Sinners (Shaky Ray Records).

Charlie Parr can be contacted at: ejparr@covad.net.