Charlie Parr
September 19th 2010
Braw Trails present
Charlie Parr
Black Twig Pickers
& danielmutch
at the Roxy Theatre
.
.
THE BLACK TWIG PICKERS
Banjos and fiddles, boards and bones in hand, the Black Twig Pickers dove into a living tradition of old-time music that surrounds their homes in Southwest Virginia and never looked back. Both scholars of the regional sounds and advocates of an ecstatic and highly personal approach to the music, the Twigs hold down local dance and bar gigs, play all manner of celebrations and every so often, hit the road. Along the way, Isak Howell, Nathan Bowles and Mike Gangloff kept company with some of underground America’s heavyweights and haunted the doorsteps of Appalachian fiddle and banjo masters. They’ve played for the National Council for the Traditional Arts and for audiences overseas. And they’ve put out a string of acclaimed albums, including 2008’s Hobo Handshake and last year’s Jack Rose & the Black Twig Pickers.
Now The Black Twig Pickers have signed to Thrill Jockey, and release ‘Ironto Special’, their first record for the label, on September 20.
CHARLIE PARR
Charlie shows up with a lived-in rasp of a voice, National resonator and 12-string acoustic guitars, a banjo and a batch of his own songs and well-traveled numbers by Mississippi John Hurt, Charley Patton and other cohorts from another time. He lays it on you, and you sense that the gamblers, the union workers, the criminals and the sinners that wander around his songs are peering right over your shoulder. Parr has sung about these folks at steady gigs in his hometown of Duluth, Minnesota, showcase performances like “A Prairie Home Companion,” roadhouses in Texas and Montana, punk clubs in Ireland and pubs in London – let’s just say that he’s turned a lot of heads. His self-taught mix of slide, finger-picking and quasi-frailing technique, together with a voice that’s low on drama and high on impact, can also be heard on four CDs (including the acclaimed 2005 release Rooster). The stories he tells get into some dark spots; that place where regret and remorse part company. A bit of a modern take on timeless conditions. Check him out and you’ll probably agree – Charlie Parr is coming from a very real place, and this has, in fact, always been a crazy world.
DANIELMUTCH
Super rare solo banjo set from Dan, who can more frequently be found be-panda’d at the front of The Leg, having previously been prime instigator of numerous Edinburgh experiments in the loud and the lo-fi, including Khaya and Desc.
One more act t.b.c.
This show will take place in the schoolhousey confines of the black box Roxy Theatre, within the Roxy Art House, and will comprise 100% natural acoustic sound (for baby soft skin).
Tags: braw trails, charlie parr, daniel mutch, the black twig pickers
