Charlie Parr has shared a new video for “817 Oakland Avenue,” a standout from his recent Smithsonian Folkways debut Last of the Better Days Ahead. The dazzling animated clip was directed by Drew Christie, and features ever-evolving splashes of color that morph into the poetic imagery Parr sings about in the song. He sings of gratitude for friendship and community, and urges the listener to spread our love around – “It’s got to be all given away, so we can all feel the heat of its rays,” he sings. It is one of the songs that inspired No Depression to say, “The songs on Last of the Better Days Ahead show an artist at peak poetic lyricism. They don’t make them like Parr anymore — the sponge-like folk troubadour that imparts all he’s absorbed, beckoning us closer to sit cross-legged at his feet and listen, and to find crumbs of our own stories within his.”
Last of the Better Days Ahead is available now on CD and digitally from Smithsonian Folkways. LP will be released November 19th 2021.
Charlie Parr is touring the US this fall and winter, bringing his remarkable live show to audiences around the country twice over. Parr is able to command a room with only his voice and acoustic guitar, often displaying his remarkable storytelling abilities. A full list of dates is below.
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 a way for me to refer to the times I’m living in,” says Parr. “I’m getting on in years, experiencing a shift in perspective that was once described by my mom as ‘a time when we turn from gazing into the future to gazing back at the past, as if we’re adrift in the current, slowly turning around.’ Some songs came from meditations on the fact that the portion of our brain devoted to memory is also the portion responsible for imagination, and what that entails for the collected experiences that we refer to as our lives. Other songs are cultivated primarily from the imagination, but also contain memories of what may be a real landscape, or at least one inspired by vivid dreaming.”
Tour dates:
10.06 | San Diego, CA – Casbah
10.07 | Flagstaff, AZ – Coconino Center for the Arts
10.08 | Salt Lake City, UT – The State Room
10.09 | Denver, CO – Globe Hall
10.10 | Ft. Collins, CO – The Armory (SOLD OUT)
10.12 | Hill City, SD – Miner Brewing Company
10.14 | Billings, MT – The Pub Station
10.15 | Bozeman, MT – The Elm
10.16 | Missoula, MT – The Wilma
10.19 | Arcata, CA – Humboldt Brews
10.20 | San Francisco, CA – The Chapel
10.22 | Mariposa, CA – The Grove House
10.24 | Pioneertown, CA – Pappy & Harriets
10.26 | Phoenix, AZ – MIM
11.04 | Rochester, MN – The Castle
11.05 | Duluth, MN – NorShor Theatre
11.10 | Madison, WI – Majestic Theatre
11.11 | Indianapolis, IN – Square Cat Vinyl
11.12 | Berwyn, IL – Fitzgeralds
11.13 | St. Paul, MN – Palace Theater
11.14 | Mankato, MN – Halling Recital Hall
12.03 | Faribault, MN – Shattuck St. Mary’s
12.04 | Milwaukee, WI – Colectivo
12.05 | Benton Harbor, MI – The Livery
12.06 | Ann Arbor, MI – The Ark ^
12.07 | Pittsburgh, PA – Club Cafe ^
12.08 | Philadelphia, PA – City Winery ^
12.09 | Brooklyn, NY – Union Pool ^
12.10 | Boston, MA – Sonia ^
12.11 | Washington, DC – DC9 ^
12.14 | Raleigh, NC – Cat’s Cradle ^
12.15 | Asheville, NC – Grey Eagle ^
12.16 | Nashville, TN – Mercy Lounge ^
12.17 | Atlanta, GA – Smiths Olde Bar ^
12.18 | Memphis, TN – Hernandos Hideaway ^
12.19 | St. Louis, MO – Old Rock House ^
^ w/ Dead Horses
