2008 Woodie Awards
Parr and Pert' Near's folk rifts 'Pioneer'
Andrea Weber
Issue date: 11/15/07 Section: Intermission
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Charlie Parr played Pioneer Place Wednesday night. It was a good turn-out for a great show. It's a shame there were about 60 seats out of 176 left open. Pert'Near Sandstone opened, and Dave Simonett of Trampled by Turtles sat in for a few tunes.
Parr started playing guitar when he was 7 or 8 but never took any lessons.
"It took me 20 years to learn what I should've learned in two," he said.
He is a purely humble individual.
Parr described his transition from being uninterested in school to wanting to play guitar all the time, bum around and read books. He majored in philosophy, "And after I got out of college I couldn't get a job doing philosophy so I got a job working with homeless outreach programs in Minneapolis and St. Paul and did that for about 12-13 years."
When Parr experienced burn-out working with the homeless population and fighting all the legislation that surrounds it, he decided to lay-off for awhile and started playing more. Now he plays five to seven days a week on the road and at least four days a week off the road.
Parr described his work traveling, playing folk music, writing and recording.
"Playing guitar is never like work, it's just what it is," he said. "The songs are still comin' around, and the last time I recorded was in the spring, more or less, and it went really well, better than any recording that I've done so far."
Parr's lyrics seem to express a desire for social change.
"I don't think it's a message that's there on purpose though," he said. "I mean I don't set out to write songs to talk about."
Although his friends, like Kevin Kniebl of Pert' Near Sandstone, describe him as an impressive songwriter, Parr said, "I'm not a songwriter really. (Songs) just kinda show up and I write them down and they're either good or they're not good. If they're not, I throw them away and try to forget that I wrote them. If they're good, I sing them."
He was raised by parents, who were both factory workers, and said he had a good upbringing and a solid home life.
"I realized later it's because my parents worked as much as they could, working Saturdays and overtime on holidays just to make sure that we had everything we needed," he said. "Then when I started working with people who are homeless, I started to realize how precarious a lot of people's situations really are."
What does Parr foresee for himself and his family?
"Everything's always kind of tenuous, but I want to go home and spend the next couple of months taking care of my kids," he said.
He said he and his wife are planning to sit down and record some stuff together, probably in the living room.
Parr's got a lot of recording plans for some unique albums, like a limited release on vinyl with a couple friends on harmonica and washboard.
"I just want to keep making folk music," he said. "I don't wanna plug anything in or anything like that, I just wanna keep making folk music."
Parr started playing guitar when he was 7 or 8 but never took any lessons.
"It took me 20 years to learn what I should've learned in two," he said.
He is a purely humble individual.
Parr described his transition from being uninterested in school to wanting to play guitar all the time, bum around and read books. He majored in philosophy, "And after I got out of college I couldn't get a job doing philosophy so I got a job working with homeless outreach programs in Minneapolis and St. Paul and did that for about 12-13 years."
When Parr experienced burn-out working with the homeless population and fighting all the legislation that surrounds it, he decided to lay-off for awhile and started playing more. Now he plays five to seven days a week on the road and at least four days a week off the road.
Parr described his work traveling, playing folk music, writing and recording.
"Playing guitar is never like work, it's just what it is," he said. "The songs are still comin' around, and the last time I recorded was in the spring, more or less, and it went really well, better than any recording that I've done so far."
Parr's lyrics seem to express a desire for social change.
"I don't think it's a message that's there on purpose though," he said. "I mean I don't set out to write songs to talk about."
Although his friends, like Kevin Kniebl of Pert' Near Sandstone, describe him as an impressive songwriter, Parr said, "I'm not a songwriter really. (Songs) just kinda show up and I write them down and they're either good or they're not good. If they're not, I throw them away and try to forget that I wrote them. If they're good, I sing them."
He was raised by parents, who were both factory workers, and said he had a good upbringing and a solid home life.
"I realized later it's because my parents worked as much as they could, working Saturdays and overtime on holidays just to make sure that we had everything we needed," he said. "Then when I started working with people who are homeless, I started to realize how precarious a lot of people's situations really are."
What does Parr foresee for himself and his family?
"Everything's always kind of tenuous, but I want to go home and spend the next couple of months taking care of my kids," he said.
He said he and his wife are planning to sit down and record some stuff together, probably in the living room.
Parr's got a lot of recording plans for some unique albums, like a limited release on vinyl with a couple friends on harmonica and washboard.
"I just want to keep making folk music," he said. "I don't wanna plug anything in or anything like that, I just wanna keep making folk music."