GIG: CHARLIE PARR
When you first catch a glimpse of folk singer Charlie Parr, you just know he’s a man with stories to tell. A self-confessed outsider, the bushy-bearded, gruffy-voiced troubadour plays both originals and old-world folk and blues, accompanying himself on National resonator guitars, 12-string guitar and the occasional banjo. His music is raw and gritty, sung from an old soul heart surviving in a modern world. “I write about stuff that bothers me”, Parr explains. “I think my role has been to amplify bad things without providing any kind of solution or solace … I don’t necessarily think that’s a good thing, but the songs come out the way they come out, and I can’t help it.” He really is a man like no other, a storytelling, take-me-as-I-am kinda guy, whose affecting, often melancholy songs are truly mesmerising. His live shows have been called, “fierce, foot-stomping and utterly rollicking.” If you combine that with Parr’s stories of death, poverty, Ned Kelly and other such things, you’ve got the makings of one heck of a night out. Charlie Parr will play Sydney this week in support of his latest album, When The Devil Goes Blind.
Sep 30, 7pm, Notes, 75 Enmore Road, Enmore, $31.65 –$56.10, Oct 1, 7pm, Brass Monkey, 115a Cronulla Street, Cronulla, $25.50, 1300 762 545, oztix.com.au
