to-do:
Congratulations, Kate!! Please email me at chelseablanket@gmail.com to claim your prize!
My favorite brass jewelry pieces have been my go-to items this month. Nothing offsets and outfit like an outstanding accessory
Here's a little advice: Poncho's will make your life better. Go. Find. Wear. Simple as that
Burning Up The Sky by TheParsonRedHeads
SB: Introduce yourself.. How long have you been a band. Where are you from? How did you get the name "The Parson Red Heads" ?
Evan: We are The Parson Red Heads - 7 years ago we started the band while going to college in Eugene, OR, then we moved to Los Angeles and lived there for nearly 6 years - and 10 months ago we moved to Portland! So maybe to make it simple, we can just say we're from the West Coast. =)
The short-ish story about the name is this: we were looking up band names randomly in a jazz dictionary, and happened upon a group called the Pearson Redheads. They were from the 1920's, and only performed a few times, never recorded - so we figured it was safe to steal the name. BUT - the person who read the name outloud had misread it as the PARSON Redheads. So we were stealing the name the PARSON Red Heads, even though their name was actually the PEARSON Redheads (unbeknownst to us!). Of course, a couple years later, we decide to try to learn more about this old jazz band the Parson Red Heads, and can't find ANYTHING. We double check the jazz dictionary, and realize we had misread it from the very beginning ... so we have a completely original name.
SB: Tell us about your new record. What are your plans for the album. Where can we find your previous discography?
Evan: The new album was recorded over the past year and a half, half in North Carolina with Chris Stamey (of The dB's), half in Los Angeles with Raymond Richards (of The Parson Red Heads, Idaho Falls, and many many others). We are very proud of it - we definitely think it is the best thing we've ever done, and we can't wait for people to hear it! We moved up to Portland with it all finished, but no real way to put it out. Then we met Greg Glover, of Arena Rock, and the rest is history, albeit fairly boring history. He liked the record, we liked him, so we decided to team up - simple!
Our hopes for the album are just that we can get out on the road a bunch to support it, and that hopefully people will hear it and respond to it. You can't get your hopes up too much about any album, or hold your expectations at a certain level - because you never know what is going to happen. But it'd be really great to just be able to reach people we haven't reached previously, you know?
You can find our previous discography various places ... iTunes, Amazon ... those are good bets.
SB: What's the theme of this record? Any stories or influences go into writing this particular album?
Evan: There isn't a particular or intentional theme for the record, but I think in the end a lot of the songs revolve around the idea of growing up, learning, and the pursuit of being a good person, both personally, and to others - with a few love songs thrown in for good measure! I tend to be a fairly nostalgic person, as does Sam, so the songs go that direction quite often - looking back, but not just to dwell on the past, but to learn from experiences and keep moving forward.
SB: Describe your sound to us. It's obviously influenced by 70's folk rock, can you give us a list of some of your favorite albums and artists from the past?
Evan: We're definitely influenced by folk-rock music of the 60's and 70's - we also have been taking in a lot of 80's indie rock music over the past year, and I think that has added some new elements to our song-writing and choice of sounds. There are particular albums that end up being on rotation in the tour van quite a bit ... "Mirage" / "Tusk" / "Rumors" by Fleetwood Mac, "Murmur" by REM, "On The Floor of Heaven" by The Blue Shadows, "Notorious Byrds Bros" by The Byrds, "Guitars Forever" by The World Record, any of the Beatles albums ... I could keep going, but that is probably enough for folks to chew on for a bit. =)
SB: What does life look like outside of "The Parson Red Heads."
Evan: Life outside of the band isn't too glamorous, but it is pretty busy! We all work day-jobs (some of us multiple day jobs!), that are kind enough to work with our touring schedule - but it means we don't have a whole lot of downtime. Sam and Charlie work as baristas, Brette runs a housekeeping business, and I work for a web-design company, and for a local church ... so we've got our plates full! We like to catch local shows here in Portland as much as we can - there are so many great bands here in town (Old Light, Norman, Viva Voce, Mike Coykendall, Fruit Bats, Alela Diane, Denver ...), that there is always something good happening somewhere! Seeing good shows teaches me a lot, and really inspires me - so I like to try to catch a good show when I can.
But yes - like I said, not very glamorous. Fairly run of the mill, work our jobs, go to band practice, see a show, kind of life, when we're not recording or touring (the fun really stuff!).
SB: Describe the Parson's style. I've noticed in years past, you all wore white. Can you list your favorite places to shop or find your personal and performance pieces?
Evan: We often wear all white when we perform - not ALL the time, but quite often. It's a good way to kind of unify the band on stage, and creates a cool visual statement, I think. It's also a very good way to solve the ever-present "What am I going to wear at this show?" question. I can't speak for everyone, but when we were living in LA, there was a great Sunday sale at a vintage shop called Jet Rag - every Sunday, they'd fill the parking lot with PILES of clothes. You'd just dig through them, and everything was $1. I found so many white clothes to try out at that place. Not all of them were successful, but they were always interesting. =)
SB: The album comes out tomorrow, Tuesday the 16th. Where can we go to buy the album or see upcoming tour dates?
Evan: You'll be able to buy the album in most record stops, or online at iTunes, the Arena Rock website, or our webstore at www.hellomerch.com! All of our upcoming tour dates are on our Facebook page - (we've got a real website, but its still a work in progress)
SB: Anything else you'd like to tell Seablanket Readers about yourself, the band, the music, anything at all?
Evan: Oh gosh - nothing in particular! I just hope that folks go out and pick up the new album, and I hope they enjoy it. We put a lot of ourselves into it, and we can't wait to share it with people.
three words: white wash EVERYTHING. i love how a lack of color can be so bold
