Charlie Parr's takes new LP "Last of the Better Days Ahead" to Europe in May 2022
21-10-2021With his critically acclaimed new album Last of the Better Days Ahead now available on LP as well as CD and digital formats, US folk legend Charlie Parr has today announced a 2022 European tour.
Charlie Parr’s vast knowledge of traditional folk & blues and beautiful renditions of his own songs and those from the folk repertoire, not to mention his incredible fingerpicking on his trademark resonator guitar, have earned him a devoted worldwide fanbase and a reputation as one of the best roots musicians to catch live.
01/05: Dedemsvaart, NL - De Gashouder
02/05: Lint, BE - 't Groot Verzet
04/05: Bristol, UK - Exchange
05/05: Cork, IRL - Winthrop Avenue
07/05: Dublin, IRL - Soundhouse
08/05: Belfast, N-IRL - The Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival
10/05: Glasgow, UK - The Glad Café
11/05: Newcastle, UK - The Cluny 2
12/05: London, UK - The Lexington
14/05: Brighton, UK - West Hill Hall
15/05: Forest Row, UK - Hop Yard
17/05: Leeds, UK - Brudenell Social Club
18/05: Sheffield, UK - The Greystones
19/05: Manchester, UK - Gullivers
20/05: Birkenhead, UK - Future Yard
21/05: Abergavenny, UK - The Chapel
22/05: Norwich, UK - Norwich Arts Centre
25/05: Utrecht, NL - TivoliVredenburg
27/05: Breda, NL - Mezz
28/05: Rotterdam, NL - Rotown
29/05: Geel, BE - Cafe Pastis
Charlie Parr’s new album is a collection of powerful songs about how one looks back on a life lived, as well as forward on what’s still to come. Its spare production foregrounds Parr’s poetic lyricism, his expressive, gritty voice ringing clear over deft acoustic guitar playing that references folk and blues motifs in Parr’s own exploratory, idiosyncratic style.
Last of the Better Days Ahead is the first release for Parr on Smithsonian Folkways, the non-profit record label of the Smithsonian Institute. The label is home to a diverse roster of contemporary artists such as Our Native Daughters and Kronos Quartet and also preserves and releases historical recordings from artists like Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, Elizabeth Cotten and more.
Born and raised in northern Minnesota, Charlie Parr first grabbed a guitar at age 8. To date, he has never had a formal lesson, but wows crowds with his incredible fingerpicking on his 12-string baritone resonator, guitar and banjo.
Over the course of a prolific career spanning 13 full-length albums, the Duluth virtuoso has earned a passionate following for his strikingly candid songwriting and raw stage presence. Parr’s work digs deeply into his personal experiences with depression and the existential questions that weight it.
Throughout Charlie’s music you can hear his sense of place. These are songs from the iron country. They are tales from the paper mill. You can hear the fisheries and the Boundary Waters. In Last of the Better Days you are met by someone who prizes quiet reflection over hustle and who shuns distraction for a long walk in the woods.