Parsonsfield, Parker Milsap with Ghosts of Paul Revere
Saturday, April 30, 2016, 8:00 pm until 10:30 pm
Tickets $20 in advance/$25 at the door. Doors open at 7:30 pm. This event is all ages. There is some fixed seating plus dance floor.
http://www.ticketfly.com/event/1119457-parsonsfield-turner-falls/
PARSONSFIELD is a five-piece Americana band from Connecticut that infuses a rowdy, rock-'n'-roll spirit into its bluegrass and folk influences, blowing away any preconception of what you think banjos and mandolins should sound like.
Parsonsfield—Chris Freeman (vocals, banjo), Antonio Alcorn (mandolin), Max Shakun (vocals, pump organ, guitar), Harrison Goodale (bass), Erik Hischmann (drums)— has toured steadily since their debut in 2010. In 2013 they recorded their debut album Poor Old Shine (Signature Sounds Recordings), produced by Sam Kassirer (Josh Ritter, Lake Street Dive). The critics were impressed, with David Vescey from the New York Times noting, "I fully expect to hear more from this band as the years go on." and the U.K.'s Maverick Magazine calling it "A blistering energetic debut."
They weren't always called Parsonsfield (the band started out as Poor Old Shine, but changed in July 2014). The new name was born of the inspired experiences recording two albums in beautiful, rural Parsonsfield, Maine, at Great North Sound Society, Kassirer's farmhouse studio/retreat. It was there they met current drummer Hischmann, who was working as Kassirer's assistant engineer.
"We owe a lot to what happened there," said Freeman of their time at Great North. "Our sound really changed when Erik joined … it pulled us from being a more traditional string band to something that felt much more uniquely ourselves. It made us the band we are today."
PARKER MILSAP didn’t know not to sing like this. Listening to old albums as a kid alone in his room, he didn’t realize howling like a Delta blues ghost readying the world for rock-and-roll isn’t how a skinny white boy from Purcell, Oklahoma usually sounds. In the midst of a world so fond of condemnation as entertainment, Millsap’s rootsy rock-and-roll poetry offers open-armed love of people and their stories. New album The Very Last Day is the anticipated follow-up to his eponymous 2014 release, which netted him high-profile praise from NPR, the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and others, as well as a nomination for Americana Emerging Artist of the Year. Whether the 23-year-old is singing from the perspective of a convenience store robber haunted by his past, or as the King of the Underworld wild with passion, his character-driven songs mine deep wells of joy and despair to create gut-punching narratives that are sometimes hellish, sometimes heavenly, and always human.
