Charlie Parr ups the ante with robust studio recording
On his latest release called Little Sun, the singer/ songwriter/guitarist Charlie Parr ups the ante trading the mostly no-frills recording style of his past releases for a more robust studio recording featuring an all-star crew of players and singers, not to mention a producer in Tucker Martine with high credentials. The boost on the production side pays big dividends coloring Parr’s songs and sound in a way unlike before. His latest receives the Ear Bliss looksee this week along with the new album from the former Philadelphia and now North Carolina-based singer and songwriter Rosali. Bite Down marks Rosali’s debut for revered indie Merge Records. With multiple albums since the mid-2010s already under her belt, the very sweet Bite Down is the first under the Rosali name since making the move to the Tarheel State and it is reflective on her journey. Let’s take a look.
Charlie Parr
Little Sun
Smithsonian Records
Folkways
When he digs into his guitar (as he customarily does), the singer and songwriter Charlie Parr has the ability to deliver melodies that sound so much more than just fingers on strings. Parr has done it time and time again over the course of a career that has yielded some 17 albums in a nofrills style since 2002. The latest Parr album called Little Sun is his 18th and marks the first time he has not recorded an album entirely live in the studio. In other words, it is the most produced album yet and for it he turned to the talented Tucker Martine whose credits span The Decemberists to My Morning Jacket to Sufjan Stevens. While there is plenty of fingers on strings, there is much more to behold from the sonic standpoint on this latest from the Minnesota-based Parr. The first taste in this different setting came at the beginning of the year with the album’s first single called “Boombox.” A fast moving and rambling track about the many-flavored musical sounds of his neighborhood with of course, a boombox, as its metaphorical focal point, it is pure Parr laying down an ever-addicting groove. It speaks to the power of music, no matter the style. The album’s other seven tracks are special from the twangy leadoff “Portland Avenue” (Marisa Anderson playing some tasty slide guitar) about a conflicted soul from the neighborhood to the wintertime-tinged tale that is the title track to the mesmerizing “Bear Head Lake” featuring some stunning guitar interplay between Parr and Anderson. Charlie Parr records have always been reliably great, but the bolster in instrumentation (piano, drums, harmonica, additional guitars) on Little Sun takes his sound to bigger level and a might good one, at that. Recommended.
(Listen to Charlie Parr’s Little Sun at https://charlieparrmusic.bandcamp. com/album/little-sun-2.)
Rosali
Bite Down
Merge Records
They’re the kind of songs that sneak up on you, weaving their way into something slightly larger and more alluring as they make their move from beginning to end. Such is the case with the new album called Bite Down from the now North Carolina-based singer and songwriter Rosali. After multiple albums for various independent concerns while based in Philadelphia, Bite Down marks Rosali’s debut for the revered indie Merge Records. It’s a good one. The album’s 10 songs take the listener on a journey, that being Rosali’s which in recent years has included multiple moves crisscrossing the country, not to mention saying goodbye to her long-time base of Philadelphia. The songs encompass all that has come with it, both the good and bad, and the need to keep moving forward. Says Rosali in the accompanying press release, “I resolved to bite down on the proverbial bullet; sink my teeth into the flesh and bone of being in the world, devouring the obstacles in my path and gloriously savoring all that is on offer—good and bad. Give me another serving, another moment, another challenge, give me another chance to meet life with insatiable hunger.” From the resplendent “Rewind” with its swirling guitars circling Rosali’s luminous voice to “My Kind” with its shadesof-Crazy Horse crunch and squall to the screwoff stance she adopts on “Slow Pain,” Rosali delivers a compelling quality of songs on Bite Down. Here’s thinking she’s lived each and every one. As on several previous albums, accompaniment comes from members of David Nance’s Mowed Sound band (including Nance) who have backed Rosali on multiple other occasions and who one writer referred to as “Rosali’s Quartet.” As Bite Down demonstrates, they obviously have a feel for the nooks and crannies of her songs and voice laying down the precise touches be it a rocker (the aforementioned “Rewind”) or a slow burner (“Hills on Fire”). Chemistry is at work here on an album that sinks its teeth in more with each listen. Highly recommended.
Rosali performs at The Rockwell in Davis Square in Somerville, MA on April 11. Verity Den is also on the bill.
LIVE SHOTS:
Spring has sprung and the live music scene is bustling. Here’s our weekly presentation of some of the happenings in and around the Ocean State. In South County, Courthouse Center for the Arts in West Kingston features CSNY tribute Trinity on Saturday night. David Bowie tribute
Rebel Rebel is there on March 30. Pump House Music Works (164 Kingstown Road) in Peace Dale presents the Steve DeConti Quartet on Friday evening. Saturday night features Joe Parillo & The New Ensemble. The weekend closes with Eliza Collins baring it all in her solo musical show “My Life is a Three Ring Circus” on Sunday evening at 7 pm. Monday nights at the Pump House are the Uke jam and Tuesday evening is the weekly
Old-time jam. Wednesdays are an acoustic lounge and open mic hosted by
Matt Fraza. The Ocean Mist in Matunuck features Sunday Funday with Those Guys on Sunday beginning at 3:30. Don’t forget every Thursday at The Mist is house band The Ocean Mistics and friends from 6-9 pm. The Greenwich Odeum in East Greenwich hosts Micky Dolenz of The Monkees fame on Sunday evening at 7 pm. Stars of the iconic 1973 film Jesus Christ Superstar, Yvonne Elliman and Ted Neeley, are there on March 30 and 31. Queen tribute Almost Queen comes to the Odeum on April 5. The Narragansett Café in Jamestown goes rockabilly on Friday night with The Teledynes. The New Nasty bring the classic rock sounds on Saturday night before Professor Harp closes the weekend with blues on Sunday at 4 pm. The Wood River Inn in Wyoming presents bluegrass with Sweet Meadow on Sunday evening at 5 pm. In Westerly, the Knickerbocker Music Center (35 Railroad Ave) hosts Sugar on Friday night with its mix of disco, funk, hip hop and R&B. Jeff Pitchell & Texas Flood are in the house on Saturday night. Sunday at The Knick is the next Youth-on-Mic open mic series for 6th to 12th graders who want to perform, sing or play music (whether original or covers) to an audience. Doors are at 5 pm. Andrew Victor plays a free show in the tap room on Sunday evening at 8 pm. Next up at the United Theatre in Westerly is famed guitarist
Leo Kottke on April 5. In the Northern reaches of the state, Chan’s Restaurant in Woonsocket features Allman Brothers tribute Peacheaters on Friday night.
Danny Klein’s Full House perform on Saturday night. At the Stadium Theatre in Woonsocket, Ace Frehley of Kiss fame is there on March 29 and Police tribute The Police Experience perform on March 30. The Blackstone River Theatre presents É.T.É on Saturday evening at 7 pm performing Québec traditional music. It will be an evening with Hubby Jenkins at the Blackstone on March 30. In Pawtucket, The Met Café presents Kitchen Dwellers on Friday night with Cris Jacobs (who has his first album in five years called One Of These Days out at the end of April) opening.
Crooked Coast is at The Met on March 30. Askew on Chesnutt Street in Providence on Sunday evening features acclaimed guitarist and song finder Jake Xerxes Fussell. Every Monday at Askew is Meatball Mondays & Open Mic with Adam Newell at Askew. Indigo Girls touch down in Providence on Saturday evening for a show at PPAC. The Columbus Theatre in Providence presents an evening of electronic and indie freak art-pop music from Mong Tong and babybaby_explores on Wednesday night. The Stone Soup Coffeehouse at the Music Mansion in Providence features
WS Monroe & friends on Saturday night. The Strand in downtown Providence hosts Jeff Rosenstock, Sidney Gish, and Gladie, also on Wednesday night. The
Newport Live music series presents Chris Spedding and Anton Fig in concert at the Newport Casino on Friday night. Also in Newport, Raul Malo of The Mavericks fame performs at the Jane Pickens Film & Event Center on Saturday night.
Dan Ferguson is a freelance music writer and host of The Boudin Barndance, broadcasting Thursday evenings from 6 – 9 pm on WRIU-FM 90.3 and streaming at WRIU on all major platforms.