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7.26.10 NEW ALBUM "WHEN THE DEVIL GOES BLIND" NOW AVAILABLE!
Check out the "albums" page in the menu above. Also available at Charlie's shows and all the usual, familiar places!
6.11.10 NEW ALBUM RELEASE NEWS!
Porkulent guitarist Charlie Parr has finished a new recording, which will be released on July 9 at the Cedar Cultural Center along with Spider John Koerner's re-release of "Music Is Just A Bunch Of Notes" on Nero's Neptune of Minneapolis. Parr's new record is titled "When the Devil Goes Blind" and is the first recording the habitually lazy musician has done in an actual recording studio! Wild Sound Studio in NE Minneapolis allowed the highly pungent folk-singer into their space against their better judgement and Bo Ramsey was convinced to travel from Iowa to produce the completely solo recording. Ramsey and engineer Matthew Zimmerman were very pleased with the air-tight studio doors between them and the unwashed guitarist during the recording process, and politely requested through the studio intercom that Parr use the back door to come and go. The recording features several new original songs dealing with Parr's usual obsessions: death, suffering, the apocolypse, Ned Kelly, and drunken farm animals.
7.5.10
Discouraged by the constant chants of "fatty-fatty-fat-fat" by neighborhood children (and an elderly shut-in who yells through her screen door), Duluth folk musician Charlie Parr has undertaken a rigorous exercise regime and intends to lose weight or start buying clothes in larger sizes. The guitarist has been seen recently tooling around the neighborhood wearing a teal velour tracksuit with a kitchen towel around his neck and riding an ancient Schwinn bike. We'll keep you posted on further developments on this story as they continue to unfold. Emily Parr has not been available for comment on the rumour that one of the voices taunting the chubby singer might have been hers.
6.9.10
Landscaping season is upon us again here in Duluth, and to celebrate it rotund folk-singer Charlie Parr has eschewed his normal performance schedule in favor of building a small replica of Stonehenge using the blocks he's supposed to be building a retaining wall from. The replica has attracted a local group of Wiccans who have established a camp in the Parr's front yard where they spend their time dancing and lighting fires. Several neighbors have voiced opposition to both the Wiccans and to Parr himself, others have simply moved. Meanwhile, Parr has quickly lost interest in the creation and has re-stationed himself in the back yard where he plans to build a speedboat using his neighbor's bass boat and an Oldsmobile 455 Rocket that his nephew won in a poker game. Emily Parr was not only unavailable for comment, but was seen driving past the Parr's house apparently acting as though she doesn't live there.
4.23.10
(This is a true story...) Electronics have taken another blow in Charlie Parr's Duluth home. During a late night email answering session, the ham-handed inebriate managed to dump a glass of Brewhouse "El Nino" beer onto the family laptop. Emails and myspacing are temporarily halted while the computer sits outside in the sun to dry. This reporter was too frightened to ask for a statement from Emily Parr at this time.
3.2.10
Charlie will be at this year's South By Southwest music festival, held in Austin Texas. Click on the faint gray links (sorry) for more details:
2pm on Wed., March 17
Manicfest Destiny Showcase
The Belmont on 6th in Austin, TX
http://www.thebelmontaustin.com
1pm on Sat., March 20th
Music For Listeners
Red House Pizzeria
1917 Manor Road
http://www.musicforlisteners.com/mflatredhouse.html
1.29.10
In a move that has sent many residents of Duluth reeling, gap-toothed folk musician Charlie Parr has shaved his beard! According to the latest reports, Parr had amassed nearly $30 in loose change from "folk singin"" and was at the bank with the rusty coffee can that he uses for banking when his young daughter was presented with a tootsie pop. Parr was oblivious to this fact while arguing with the teller about how much she'd give him for the several washers, bus-tokens and plastic coins from Valley Fair that were present in the can. The teller recounts, "...he claims these plastic coins are good for one ride, but I told him that they're good for nothing here at the bank, and washers shouldn't even be mixed in here. I told him he oughta stick this crap back under his mattress instead of bothering me with it, when his little girl up and stuck her lollipop right into his beard and twisted it all around! I had to duck under the counter I was laughing so hard, of course you'd hardly notice it what with all the other food and crap he has stuck in there". Parr finished his errands with the sucker stick poking out of his beard and his daughter tugging at it all over town, and when he got home the only thing for it was to shave. It has been 17 years since the corpulent guitarist has done such a thing. A neighbor returning from work mistakenly greeted Parr, not recognizing him, and Emily Parr has been too shocked to provide a comment to this article.
1.28.10
Duluth folk-singer Charlie Parr has returned from Australia with some kind of rash, apparently caused by the immense guilt of having spent nearly a month of winter in a warm climate. The bloated guitarist insisted on showing the rash to a pharmacist near his home while droning on and on about his adventures "in the sweltering heat". Australian officials responded with this statement: "Charlie Parr's rash is not our concern at the moment, please do not send us any more pictures". The pharmacist has placed Mr. Parr on his restricted list and has threatened to notify the authorities "if he so much as walks by with that rash hanging out". Meanwhile, the mangy guitarist's neighbors have collectively decided that they do not believe he was ever actually in Australia and have stated that the rash must be caused by his questionable hygiene. No one is particularly relieved to see the portly giant clad in his duct-tape covered parka, waiting for passersby to regale with stories of the "outback". Emily Parr has not responded to questions concerning the existence of the alleged rash.
12.20.09
Charlie Parr, in an attempt to create an "automatic snow removal system that will revolutionize the snow removing industry" has inadvertantly catapulted his small dog into a snow-bank in his neighbor's yard, prompting a visit from the local authorities and Duluth city officials. Evidently Parr was inspired by a visit to the local train museum where he saw a locomotive-sized snow thrower and upon returning home the chubby guitar player constructed a large paddle-wheel kind of apparatus mounted on a rickety scaffold that ran on wooden rails alongside his sidewalk, powered by a 16 horsepower Briggs & Stratton lawn mower engine that has since been returned to his neighbor. The entire contraption was made "automatic" in Parr's view with the addition of a sensor from the neighbor's porch light. When the Parr family's small dog Ruby stepped in front of the machine to do her business, it roared to life; lifting her off the ground and flinging her across the yard into the snow piled alongside the neighbor's neatly shoveled walk. The police record shows that no less than 17 calls were made to the authorities while the dog was still airborne. "He's lucky no one got killed, the crazy fool, the dog's fine, and we've impounded his giant pile of crap and returned the parts he stole. He's been remanded to the custody of his wife, and I'm just glad to get away from him." was the official statement made by the Duluth Police Department. When last seen, the asthmatic folk singer was shoveling his sidewalk with a broken plastic shovel that belongs to his young son. Parr's wife Emily was too enraged to comment on the situation.
12.07.09
Jack Rose was a mighty inspiration to me - I was lucky enough to get to play a few shows with him, have a few beers with him, share burritos and stories and friends - I'll sure miss him and the world won't see another guitar player like Jack Rose, that's for sure. Rest easy, Jack.
11.15.09
Charlie Parr's Duluth neighborhood is waiting impatiently for the beginning of Parr's brief tour to Texas so that they can have their annual block party. Normally they would have had this event around the 4th of July, but overwhelming fear of the behavior of their clumsy neighbor has pushed the event back until "... when he leaves ..." Long tables, streamers, a bouncy kids' game, punch bowls, a large patriotic sign, and an emaciated clown have all been hidden away in various garages and basements in anticipation of this day. The chubby folk-singer didn't seem to notice as he began his elaborate preparations for I-35 that his neighbors were watching his every move. "I can't wait to get outside again," said one anonymous neighbor, "we've been cooped up for so long. But who wants to go out and risk running into him? You never know what kind of crazy thing he'll tell you, or if there's a fire nearby or some kind of wild animal or something ..." Parr, in the middle of stuffing a mattress into the back of his well-used mini-van, hummed a mindless tune while behind him a neighbor snuck by carrying a large "Welcome Friends and Neighbors" sign.
11.02.09
Misguided folk singer Charlie Parr has apparently set the kitchen on fire in a fruitless attempt to prepare a bag of microwave popcorn for his wife Emily. According to residents of Parr's Duluth neighborhood, smoke began pouring out of the kitchen windows of his house around 2pm on Saturday. Parr was heard screaming and yelling for the children to "run for it" as he fumbled with the latch on the microwave door and then threw the flaming bag of 'Kettle Corn' into the sink and dumped the contents of a sauce pan filled with Spaghetti-o's on it. The chubby guitarist then tripped and fell onto the dog in an attempt to escape the smoke-filled kitchen. At the time of this report, the Parr kitchen still smells strongly of burning popcorn. Emily Parr could not be reached for comment as to whether she actually got a bag of microwave popcorn or not.
11.01.09
Roustabout is temporarily sold out, but will be back soon. If you live in Australia, it's alive and well in the shops there and may even be available on i-tunes somewhere. If you live in England, both the cd and vinyl versions are available from Misplaced Music and in the shops. If you live in Ireland, it's available on Independent Records along with a compilation that came out recently and is not available here in the U.S. - - please check with Road Records in Dublin.
1922 is sold out, finally. Again. It's still alive in the shops of Australia, or can be purchased on i-tunes. It will probably not be available here again if we can help it.
10.27.09
Videos and a forum are now available (click on the links in the menu bar above). New hi-rez pic also available for press & promo folks. Charlie Parr mp3 radio coming soon.
10.21.09
King Earl is sold out - there will be a re-mastered AAA vinyl version coming out soon on Treehouse Records from Minneapolis but no more cd's. If i-tunes has it, I don't know about it. We'll try and get the digital stuff straightened out one of these days but honestly these computers give me a headache like I've never had, I try my best but that's about all I can do. Anyway, look for that vinyl soon - thanks!
09.09.09
Obscure folk-singer and guitarist Charlie Parr has been foiled in his attempt to build a "...massive pontoon boat that will boggle the minds of everyone in Duluth ...". Several old tires, empty 50 gallon oil drums, used plywood and other lumber, an assortment of outboard boat motors in various states of disrepair, the steering wheel from a 1965 Ford F-100, rope, nails, duct tape, and a well-used charcoal grill were all confiscated from Parr's Duluth home this morning after authorities were tipped off about the plan to construct a massive pontoon boat when the ungainly, beast-like musician and his beautiful wife were out with friends and several other diners overheard the drunken Parr rave about his poorly thought out plans. The restaurant manager commented that "...he was in a state, arms flailing about, yelling about cruising around the harbor in his pontoon ... then he began to speak like a pirate and wave his beer around ... that's when his wife left ... we had to ask him to leave, too." Another diner had this to say: "I don't care if he builds a boat ... I just don't want anyone hurt ... he's a menace, a freakin' menace." Emily Parr could not be reached for comment on which taxi service she took home.
08.26.09
In a desperate attempt to gain favor in his Duluth neighborhood, portly folk-singer Charlie Parr has performed what he termed as 'landscaping' using an ancient Sears mower that spews black smoke and emits an extremely loud rattling noise caused by Parr repeatedly running over a stump in an effort to remove it from his yard. The unkempt guitarist surveyed his lawn from the road with a can of Pabst and declared it to be a 'masterpiece of husbandry'. In fact, as many shocked neighbors and passersby noted, it was several patches of weeds containing old discarded toys and a variety of junked parts and lawn furniture surrounded by grass trimmed so short that the earth was clearly visible in many places. There was also a child's wading pool filled with water and dirt evidently containing a fish of some kind. A spotlight was trained on the pool, but the bulb was burned out at the time of this report. The Duluth Public Works has been notified and are expected to make a decision regarding Parr's lawn as early as this afternoon. "We know about him ... we'll deal with it ... I'm calling his wife." was all the commissioner would say about the matter. Emily Parr could not be reached for questioning on the 'landscaping' job and we can only assume that when she gets home, there will be hell to pay.
08.25.09
Charlie Parr has washed his hair AND conditioned it using some salon-inspired plum-scented conditioner that his wife Emily has! The community in Parr's Duluth neighborhood is stunned and several people commented on how close they actually got to him before realizing that it was, in fact, the grizzled folk singer. Said one disgruntled hardware store clerk: 'I usually can smell him a mile away ... we try to keep him outta here ... he buys weird things ... on credit sometimes, and his poor wife has to come in and pay for it ... this time I didn't smell nothin' but ... plum ... he got a garden hose, some duct tape, a pliers, fuses, birdseed, a spool of wire, and some batteries.' Emily Parr had no comment on how much of the expensive, fruit scented hair product that the overweight guitarist had used in his hair. |
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