January Tour Dates

A month of regular gigs, which are always some of my favorites since I get to take another stab at a gig that might have gone horribly wrong. The Cedar Lounge in Superior is a brand new venue for me, and I'm doing a whole month of Wednesdays here, just like the old days, maybe mostly alone, maybe not. Last year's Turf Club residency was so much fun that I wanted to do it again, there'll be different special guests each Sunday plus maybe some other surprises ... maybe not. Anyway I hope you can stop out for one. Devil's Flying Machine makes a rare appearance in Duluth, and we have a bass player now along with some weird new effects pedal that Christian bought, so it's guaranteed to be weird ... or at the very least, loud. My annual gig with Jim Randall at Trollhaugen and a couple new spots in Winona and Stillwater and hopefully some other stuff will bring me to the end of the month and the beginning of recording sessions for the new record. Have a great winter, everyone, check in with your neighbors, head out and see some friends, say hi when you can. -c.

1/1 The 331 Club w/ Corpse Reviver (Minneapolis)
1/4 Cedar Lounge (Superior, WI)
1/8 Turf Club w/ Mother Banjo (St Paul)
1/9 Papa Charlie's (Lutsen, MN)
1/11 Cedar Lounge (Superior, WI)
1/13 Homegrown Winter Fiasco @ Rex Bar w/ DFM (Duluth)
1/15 Turf Club w/ Dave Simonett (St Paul)
1/16 has been rescheduled to 1/9
1/18 Cedar Lounge (Superior, WI)
1/19 Mid West Music Store (Winona, MN)
1/20 Trollhaugen Lounge (Dresser, WI)
1/22 Turf Club w/ Dumpy Jug Bumpers (St Paul)
1/25 Cedar Lounge (Superior, WI)
1/27 St Paul Winter Carnival (St Paul, MN)
1/28 Lift Bridge Brewery (Stillwater, MN)
1/29 Turf Club w/ Feeding Leroy (St Paul)

I Ain't Dead Yet EP

I Ain't Dead Yet is now available from Red House Records in limited edition vinyl and digital download formats!

1. Something I Said
2. HoBo
3. I Ain't Dead Yet
4. Jaybird
5. Old Dog Blue

Recorded, mixed and mastered at Minneapolis' famed Wild Sound Studio by Steve Kaul (The Brass Kings), the recording features Parr backed by a band of friends: Mikkel Beckman (The Brass Kings) on percussion, Liz Draper (Okee Dokee Brothers, The Ditch Lilies, The Dumpy Jug Bumpers) on stand-up bass and Kyle Ollah on banjo and fiddle.

December Tour Dates

12/01 The Mousetrap Tavern (Eau Claire, WI)
12/02 The Lift (Dubuque, IA)
12/03 The Root Note (La Crosse, WI)
12/08 Sconni's Alehouse (Schofield, WI)
12/09 The Orpheum Theater (Hancock, MI)
12/14 The 331 Club (Minneapolis)
12/16 Steele County Historical Society (Owatonna, MN)
12/17 Oak Center General Store (Lake City, MN)
12/19 Duluth Stands With Standing Rock benefit at Red Herring Lounge
12/31 Opening for Ben Miller Band at Beat Kitchen (Chicago)

"Jaybird" on The White Wall Sessions

Pilote featuring Charlie Parr - "BoxKart"

Recording via BBC Radio 6. More details and purchase links at Pilote's Bandcamp.

"Slim Tall's Christmas on the Lam" on new Red House Records compilation

"If you like your Yuletide greetings to be of the raw and raucous persuasion, put Charlie Parr's “Slim Tall's Christmas On the Lam” underneath your tree. Just make sure your Christmas bush is firmly anchored so's the vibrations from his rattly resonator don't shake it loose from its moorings."--No Depression

Stream the entire compilation at Folk Alley and head over to the Red House Records website to get a copy in time for the holidays.

Live from Minnesota on KFAI's MinneCulture

"Although Charlie Parr calls Duluth home, the Minnesota folk singer rarely lays his head there. He's more often on the road, sleeping in his car, and singing at bars, county fairs, and in this "Live from Minnesota" performance, at the Paramount Theatre in Austin, Minnesota. Produced by Dan Zamzow. Concert recorded by Tom Garneau."

MATC Times interview

"I think the thing that I come back to a lot is the notion of equality and accessibility. That’s what I love about folk music. It’s ours. It’s our accessible music. We all have access to it and we can all participate in it. I think that notion of equal participation is something that we’re seeing less and less of in this country. It hurts your heart to see that go away, when there’s so few things that we can all participate in it’s hard, and folk music is one of the things that’s left  for us all to have and call our own."

Check out the full interview "A down-home chat with Charlie Parr" on the MATC Times website.

November Tour Dates

11/03 - The Waterfront Bar & Grill (Menomonie, WI)
11/04 - Square Cat Vinyl (Indianapolis, IN)
11/05 - Club Cafe (Pittsburgh, PA)
11/07 - Sportsmen's Tavern (Buffalo, NY)
11/08 - The Waterhole (Saranac Lake, NY)
11/09 - ArtsRiot (Burlington, VT)
11/10 - Atwood's Tavern (Cambridge, MA)
11/11 - The Parlor Room at Signature Sounds (Northampton, MA)
11/12 - Elk Creek Cafe + Aleworks (Millheim, PA)
11/13 - Harry Smith Festival @ Elk Creek Cafe + Aleworks (Millheim, PA)
11/14 - Rockwood Music Hall Stage 2 (New York, NY)
11/15 - World Cafe Live Philadelphia - Upstairs Live (Philadelphia, PA)
11/17 - Centennial Station Arts Center (High Point, NC)
11/18 - The ArtsCenter (Carrboro, NC)
11/25 - DFM show at 331 Club (Minneapolis)
11/26 - DFM show at Red Herring Lounge (Duluth)

"HoBo" on The White Wall Sessions

KUMD Session (9/20/16)

"Parr hosted a night of American Primitive guitar at the Red Herring featuring guitarists Matt Sowell, a Philadelphia native now living in Minneapolis, and Michael Wohl from Seattle. We heard some great guitar talk and live tunes on September 20, 2016 when the trio joined us in the studio." Click HERE for the session.

October Tour Dates

10/01 - Paramount Theatre (Austin, MN)
10/02 - In Plain Sight Fundraiser @ Peace United Church of Christ (Duluth)
10/04 - The Sh*tty Barn (Spring Green, WI) TIX SOLD OUT
10/05 - The Sh*tty Barn (Spring Green, WI) TIX SOLD OUT
10/06 - Linneman's Riverwest Inn (Milwaukee, WI)
10/07 - The Hideout (Chicago, IL)
10/08 - The Mill (Iowa City, IA)
10/11 - Miner Brewing Co (Hill City, SD)
10/13 - Front Range Barbeque (Colorado Springs, CO)
10/14 - Hi-Dive (Denver, CO)
10/15 - The Garage on Beck (Salt Lake City, UT)
10/17 - Peppermill Resort Spa Casino (Reno, NV)
10/18 - Peppermill Resort Spa Casino (Reno, NV)
10/19 - Peppermill Resort Spa Casino (Reno, NV)
10/20 - Hotel Utah (San Francisco, CA)
10/21 - The Crepe Place (Santa Cruz, CA)
10/22 - The Hi Hat (Los Angeles, CA)
10/24 - Black Butte Center for Railroad Culture (Weed, CA) "We are sorry to announce the cancellation of our scheduled October 24th Boxcar Music Show with Charlie Parr and Mama's Broke due to logistical issues."
10/25 - Mississippi Studios (Portland, OR)
10/26 - Tractor Tavern (Seattle, WA)
10/27 - The Barlett (Spokane, WA)
10/28 - Eagles Club 326 (Bozeman, MT)
10/29 - The Pub Station (Billings, MT)

Featured Album Download: Backslider (2006)

"Every Wednesday from somewhere around 2002 until sometime into 2014 I played a residency at the Brewhouse in Duluth. Some weeks were pretty quiet, I would roll in about 9:00 and play folk songs until about midnight and ease on home, other weeks were a little more rowdy, Lane or Mikkel would show up with a washboard and sometimes Brother Dave and his harmonica, sometimes Alan Sparhawk, or Molly Maher or Dave Frankenfeld or Christian McShane or Trampled by Turtles would be around and the folks would move the tables aside and dance until 1:00am when we had to call it a day. No matter what happened, the “midweek bracer”, as we called it, was always fun and so we tried to capture all that fun on a record. I think we mostly failed. But here it is anyway, in all its ragged and noisy lo-fi glory, you can’t really tell what it was like to be there but you can tell we’re having a good time and probably had too much Starfire Pale Ale … Jake Larson deserves the credit for putting so much work into what turned out to be a pretty tall order, he recorded three nights worth of songs, mixed and mastered the entire thing, and did an amazing job with what he had – namely a weird-sounding room, a rowdy crowd, and a bunch of homebrew swilling musicians who couldn’t be bothered to stay on mic even for a minute. I love those shows, where the line between who’s playing and who’s watching disappears and we’re not performing for each other anymore, we’re just here – right now, together."--Charlie,


Plus limited time free bonus download of the October 2006 Backslider release show at the 331 Club available at www.charlieparr.com/download.html.

September Tour Dates

9/2 - Hook and Ladder Lounge (Minneapolis)
9/3 - Super Big Block Party 2 at The Red Herring Lounge (Duluth)
9/4 - FairFest (Fairfield, IA)
9/5 - Fox Valley Folk Music And Storytelling Festival (Geneva, IL)
9/7 - Buffalo Records (Kearney, NE)
9/8 - World Famous Wonder Bar (Casper, WY)
9/9 - Concerts @539 (Louisville, CO)
9/10 - The Swing Station (Laporte, CO)
9/15 - The Gnarly Varùlfr (Ely, MN)
9/16 - The Old Jehova House (Wheaton, MN)
9/17 - Festival Palomino w/ DFM (Minneapolis, MN)
9/17 - Prairie Burn (Hudson, WI)
9/20 - The Red Herring Lounge w/ Matt Sowell and Michael Wohl (Duluth)
9/21 - Le Musique Room (Saint Michael, MN)
9/22 - Boats and Bluegrass (Winona, MN)
9/23 - Busters Sports Bar & Grill (Mankato, MN)
9/24 - Party in the Prairie (Bloomington, MN)
9/29 - Ore Dock Brewing Co. (Marquette, MI)
9/30 - The Source Public House (Menasha, WI)

Moonshiner (live)

via Bluechairchronicles Blue

August Tour Dates

8/3 - Concerts on the Pier at Glensheen (Duluth)
8/4 - Jamie Harper Art Opening at Pizza Lucé (Duluth)
8/5 - Viking Bar (Minneapolis)
8/6 - Pizza Lucé Block Party (Minneapolis)

8/8 through 8/27 UK & Ireland Tour
(visit charlieparr.com/shows for ticket links)

July Tour Dates

7/2 - Catfish River Music Festival (Stoughton, WI)
7/3 - FitzGerald's Nightclub Music Festival (Berwyn, IL)
7/6 - KPFA radio session 9:30pm Pacific Time
7/7 - UC Botanical Garden at Berkeley (Berkeley, CA)
7/7 - KALX radio session 8:00pm Pacific Time
7/8 - Brooks St. Block Party hosted by Crow's Feet Commons (Bend, OR)
7/9 - Powderhaus Brewing Company (Garden City, Idaho)
7/12 - White Wall Sessions (Sioux Falls, SD)
7/15 - Lumberjack Days (Stillwater, MN)
7/16 - Grumpy's NE Folk Festival 12:30pm
7/16 - RiverSong Festival 5:30pm
7/16 - Roots, Rock & Deep Blues Festival 10:00pm
7/17 - Lake Superior Day at Barker's Island (Superior, WI)
7/20 - The Red Herring Lounge w/ DFM (Duluth)
7/21 - The 218 Taphouse (Virginia, MN)
7/22 - Forager Brewing Company (Rochester, MN)
7/23 - Palmfest at Palmer's Bar (Minneapolis, MN)
7/24 - Amsterdam Bar w/ DFM (St. Paul, MN)
7/26 - Tuesday Night Blues (Eau Claire, WI)
7/27 - Concerts on the Pier at Glensheen (Duluth)
7/28 - Awesometown MVP house concert (Fulton, IL)
7/29 - Falconer Vineyards & Winery (Red Wing, MN)
7/30 - Galactic Get-Down Festival (Lanesboro, MN)
7/31 - House of Mercy service (St. Paul, MN) 5:00pm

New Folkadelphia Session!

via Folkadelphia: "I need you to listen to Charlie Parr. In some ways, it feels like my mission in radio is to convince every single person cruising the FM dial, surfing the web, or visiting the Folkadelphia website or archive to dig and to dig extra deep into Charlie’s music. If you love roots and acoustic music, Charlie’s your guy. If you love history and the rich tradition of American folk music, I’m pointing you to Parr. If you jive with Folkadelphia’s mission to help bridge that gap between old and new, I can’t raise up a better example than Mr. Charlie Parr. What more can I say?"

KDHX Session (4/12/16)

"No Cover, No Minimum" Radio Podcast

Enjoy Charlie's performance from March 24 from the Rock Garden Room at Icon Lounge in Sioux Falls courtesy of South Dakota Public Radio! Listen HERE.

June Tour Dates

6/2 - Bonfire Music & Arts Festival (Hillsboro, WI)
6/5 - Grand Old Days (Saint Paul, MN)
6/9 - Pete Fest @ Beaner's Central (Duluth, MN)
6/10 - Blue Ox Music Festival (Eau Claire, WI)
6/11 - The Red Herring Lounge 2 Year Birthday Bash (Duluth, MN)
6/12 - Nevis Sites and Bites (Nevis, MN)
6/17 - Lake Ave Live (Duluth, MN)
6/18 - Great Northern Radio Show at Myles Reif Center (Grand Rapids, MN)
6/19 - Dakota Jazz Club (Minneapolis, MN)
6/22 - Red Herring Lounge (Duluth, MN)
6/24 - The Edgewater (Madison, WI)
6/25 - Grand Oak Opry (Saint Paul, MN)
6/26 - Prairie Moon Winery (Ames, IA)

WPR SET LIST Session

Download the full session on SET LIST'S Bandcamp!

Tony's Acoustic Challenge interview

The Ark of Music - Stumpjumper review

"As a whole, Stumpjumper is raw and authentic, a piece of real music that real music lovers of any genre can appreciate. But there’s more here…this album (and all of Parr’s work for that matter) possesses an intangible value. Though difficult to identify, it has something to do with the fact that Mr. Parr dares to produce and inject truth and meaning into a culture that, currently, seems to turn arrogantly away from anything that causes one to think or feel sincerely. His music, scarred and weathered, is completely and totally vulnerable. And, in an age of cynicism and entitlement, Charlie’s vulnerability is not only rare, it is essential."

Read the full review at The Ark of Music.

UK & Ireland Tour - August 2016

Tiny Farm Duluth Podcast

"Charlie Parr strolled into the neighborhood yesterday—barefoot, even though it was cold and damp. We had a nice conversation about the hardships and joys of life on the road, dropping out of school, and how he slowly got into making music as a vocation."

Listen to Eddy Gilmore's conversation with Charlie at Tiny Farm Duluth.

All My Friends Are in Bar Bands Podcast

"Brian Wilson once said that he just wasn't made for these times. Imagine, then, how Charlie Parr feels - he's essentially the greatest 20s bluesman to have been born some 40 years after the fact. He might feel like he's from a different plane of existence entirely, but Parr's dozen-plus albums all immediately feel like home in their own unique way. Before a show at the Brass Monkey in Cronulla, Charlie tells all about life on the southbank and houses filled with music. He also shares what is probably one of the best stories ever told on this podcast toward the end." LISTEN HERE.

Blues for the Caribou River Wayside

This was recorded at Sacred Heart in Duluth one evening, all the tracks are first takes, there's no one there but me in this huge old church. I was using certain songs as a kind of jumping off point for improvisations, and for the most part I think I failed at bringing the songs to a place where they count as inspired improvisations. The "Ore Dock" thing is also a failed attempt at doing experimental guitar sounds, inspired by Bill Orcutt, Jack Rose, Alan Sparhawk etc. The small label that wanted to release it said it was too short but I didn't want to add anything to it, and so we left it behind. I got back to the idea with "Hollandale" and thought it was much better, but I still want to try again. My favorite part of music is this feeling that I get that nothing's ever done and set in stone even when it's been recorded, and when you make mistakes (and I don't believe that you can make mistakes in music) you aren't causing any harm, you can just let the air calm and try again or you can rearrange those "mistakes" into another bit of music.

Ireland Tour Dates - August 2016

Live at KDHX Podcast (4/12/16)

Coyote 93.7 Podcast (3-17-16)

May Tour Dates

5/2 DFM at Homegrown (Duluth)
5/6 First UCC of Northfield (Northfield, MN)
5/7 Gays Mills Folk Festival (Gays Mills, WI)
5/13 Laird Room w/ Horseshoes & Hand Grenades (Stevens Point, WI)
5/14 Virginia Ave Folk Festival (Indianapolis, IN)
5/18 Red Herring Lounge (Duluth)
5/21 DubuqueFest (Dubuque, IA)
5/22 Whirlygig at Indeed Brewing Co. (Minneapolis, MN)
5/25 Pioneer Place on Fifth (St Cloud, MN)
5/28 Gottagetgon Folk Festival (Ballston Spa, NY)

FrendShip Session

April Tour Dates

4/1 - The Badlander (Missoula, MT)
4/2 - The Filling Station (Bozeman, MT)
4/4 - Hi-Dive (Denver, CO)
4/6 - Live Oak Music Hall (Fort Worth, TX)
4/7 - Dan's Silverleaf (Denton, TX)
4/9 - Baton Rouge Blues Festival (Baton Rouge, LA)
4/10 - Magic City Blues Society BlueStages (Birmingham, AL)
4/11 - 12th & Porter (Nashville, TN)
4/12 - 1900 Park (St Louis, MO)
4/13 - Mackey's Hideout (McHenry IL)
4/14 - The Lift (Dubuque, IA)
4/15 - Chopps Bar (Mankato, MN)
4/16 - Hymie's Vintage Records (Minneapolis, MN) 11AM
4/16 - KFAI benefit @ Eagles Club #34 (Minneapolis, MN) 7:30PM
4/17 - Ashland Folk Festival (Ashland, WI) 5PM
4/20 - Legacy Glassworks (Duluth, MN) 9PM
4/28 - The Waterfront (Menomonie, WI)
4/29 - Mid West Music Festival (Winona, MN)
4/30 - Silver Dome Ballroom (Neillsville, WI)

Lutsen Mountains Gondola Session

Live on WCCO Mid-Morning

"Otis Meets the Devil"

New song "Otis Meets the Devil" appears on the House of Mercy compilation Devil Music. Charlie will perform at the Duluth release show at The Red Herring on March 13th.

 Sample: ♫  Otis Meets the Devil -  Various Artists. Listen @cdbaby http://bit.ly/1p4RWP2

On sale now digital or disc at CD Baby:
www.cdbaby.com/cd/devilmusic

ABC Radio National Session

Click here for the full session and interview.

"Crazy Mama" with Eagle & The Wolf

Live at Harmonie German Club with Eagle & The Wolf.

March / Early April Tour Dates

3/10 - Karpele's Manuscript Museum (Duluth)
3/11 - Cedar Cultural Center (Minneapolis)
3/12 - The State Theatre (Zumbrota, MN)
3/13 - Red Herring Lounge (Duluth)
3/16 - Papa Charlie's (Lutsen, MN)
3/17 - Minocqua Brewing Co. (Minocqua, WI)
3/18 - Linneman's (Milwaukee, WI)
3/19 - The Orpheum Theater (Hancock, MI)
3/20 - Ore Dock Brewing (Marquette, MI)
3/23 - Red Herring Lounge (Duluth)
3/24 - Icon Lounge (Sioux Falls, SD)
3/26 - Choice City Stomp Spring Swing (Laporte, CO)
3/27 - Concerts @539 (Louisville, CO) *House concert: click "Contact" link for email address to RSVP
3/28 - Garage on Beck (Salt Lake City, UT)
3/29 - Pengilly's Saloon (Boise, ID)
3/31 - Tractor Tavern (Seattle, WA)
4/1 - The Badlander (Missoula, MT)
4/2 - The Filling Station (Bozeman, MT)
4/4 - Hi-Dive (Denver, CO)
4/6 - Live Oak Music Hall (Fort Worth, TX)
4/7 - Dan's Silverleaf (Denton, TX)

February Tour Dates

2/4 - The Source Public House (Menasha, WI)
2/5 - Great Nordic Beard Fest (Ely, MN)
2/6 - Many Rivers Montessori's Midwinter Meltdown (Duluth)
2/8 - Potted Meet Mondays (Minneapolis)
2/12 - DFM show @ The Red Herring Lounge (Duluth)
2/18 - The Root Note (La Crosse, WI)
2/19 - The Root Note (La Crosse, WI)
2/20 - Dunn Dunn Fest (Chicago)

***Australia Tour Dates***
2/25 - Lizottes (Newcastle)
2/26 - The Vanguard (Sydney)
2/27 - Harmonie-German Club (Canberra)
2/28 - Heritage Hotel (Bulli)
3/1 - Brass Monkey (Cronulla)
3/3 - Sooki Lounge (Belgrave)
3/4 - Harvester Moon Café (Bellarine)
3/5 - Caravan Music Club (Oakleigh)
3/6 - Way Out West Roots Music Club (Williamstown)

***Return 3/11 @ The Cedar Cultural Center***

"HoBo" on the Bischoff Sessions

Bischoff Sessions - Charlie Parr from Neary Studios on Vimeo.

2016 Australia Tour

Details here: www.facebook.com/CharlieParrAustTour

Live at Duke Gardens (6-23-15)