Peter Lee
Charlie Parr: “I’ve been going along for a long time thinking it’s just me.”
Charlie Parr won’t work from a set list when he takes the stage at the Catfish River Music Festival in Stoughton on July 4.
“Music for me is like a feeling thing,” says the country blues musician. “If it doesn’t feel right, I don’t like to do it.”
Until last October, and despite having produced 12 records, Parr had never recorded with a backing band nor had he signed with a label. It must have felt right this time: His latest album, Stumpjumper, was released under the folk label Red House Records and includes a full band behind Parr’s old-timey picking and smoky voice.
“I never really thought of myself as having a music career,” says the 47-year-old. “I just thought of myself as being an itinerant folk singer. I’ve been going along for a long time thinking it’s just me.”
Because he’s used to working alone, Parr says he was dubious when his friend Phil Cook of Megafaun invited him to North Carolina to record together at the rural Down Yonder Farm, a community gathering space and dance hall. But now Parr is glad he took the chance.
After Parr started playing his songs, the impromptu group got rolling and recorded all of Stumpjumper in a day. “It meant so much to me to have my songs in the hands of such thoughtful folks,” says Parr. “Playing with that band just really felt right.”
Parr was heading back to his home in Duluth with a rough cut of Stumpjumper when he had breakfast with Eric Peltoniemi, the president of Red House Records, who asked to listen to the tracks. “He liked it and wanted to talk about releasing it,” says Parr. “It was a weird revelation. I said, ‘You want to do what?’”
Red House Records appears to be the perfect fit for Parr’s work. The Grammy-winning folk, roots and Americana label began in the 1980s by signing artists from the upper Midwest but has expanded nationwide. It is based in Saint Paul, a convenient two-hour drive from Parr’s home.
“I just go down there, knock on the door, and everyone’s happy to see me,” says Parr.
Stumpjumper was influenced by his childhood in Austin, Minn., population 20,000. Parr had been spending more time there with his family and reconnecting with old friends, which brought back memories from his days in the meat-packing town.
“I had a good childhood,” he says. “We had a lot of fun with an odd collection of resources. The songs came out of a certain place and time, with me spending time around Austin and home and that part of Minnesota.”
Parr is now on the road, traveling frugally in his car. Despite his record deal, he describes himself as jobless and accounts for every penny he spends in order to support his two children at home.
After his appearance at the Catfish River and Music Festival, Parr will head to Ohio, Massachusetts and New York for a run of shows. “I’m like a balled-up Kleenex in a windstorm, just going where I need to go."
