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Tickets £10.00
Doors 7.30pm
Support TBC
Ian Parker
8.45pm
This will be a mainly standing gig. |
Ian
Parker - 21st Century Blues Man
When you have been to an Ian Parker gig, it
becomes obvious why his fan base is forever
expanding. Not only is he an outstanding
guitarist, but he has to be one of the finest
song writers around. This ensures a cracking mix
of classic songs plus excellent, fresh new
material that helps to prove that we are still
open to quality music,
Expressed through a distinctive bitter-sweet
vocal delivery and harrowing guitar work, Ian’s
songs
 hold nothing back. His ability and
willingness to share with his audience, naked
honesty and genuine emotion, is what sets him
apart.
Drawing
on an eclectic range of influences, this young
man is fast becoming Britain’s best loved
blues/roots performer. A songwriter genuinely
literate, sometimes almost literary, Ian is an
original craftsman rooted in the blues but not
trapped by any desire to replicate the past. He
is without doubt a relevant contemporary blues
man.
Ian
signed to Ruf Records following a personal
introduction to US record producer, David Z
(Prince – Purple Rain). His debut album
‘INSIDE’
(Ruf1094) was
released in October 2003.
“ I was truly honoured to be involved in this
project.” David Z
In
March 2004, Ian appeared on Germany’s top live
music TV show, ‘Rockpalast’ as part of the
‘Crossroads Festival’. Ian and his band were
voted the number one act of the festival and a
live DVD of this incendiary performance was
released in June 2005, entitled
‘…WHILST THE WIND’
(Ruf3007).
In
addition to the DVD, a live album documenting
Ian’s performance in Hannover during his
December 2004 European Tour, was also released
in June 2005 under the same title
(Ruf1102). Both
releases met with high critical acclaim and
continue to notch up impressive sales.
 In
September 2005, Ian wrote and recorded five
songs for a Ruf Records project album,
‘PILGRIMAGE’ (Ruf1112)
which was recorded in Clarksdale, Mississippi
and Memphis, Tennessee, and released in January
2006. The recording of Pilgrimage, not only
extended Ian’s touring activities throughout
Europe and importantly into the US, it also had
a profound effect on the artist’s musical
direction and focus.
On
return from America in September 2005, Ian began
a lengthy artistic process based around his
rediscovery of the blues and soul artists who
had inspired him to begin playing as a teenager.
This period of consolidation culminated in the
recording of the album
‘WHERE I BELONG’ (Ruf1120), released in
January 2007.
‘WHERE I BELONG’
was recorded in Cheltenham, England and produced
by Matt Butler, whose extensive CV includes none
other than Sir Paul McCartney. Recorded analogue
to tape, the album has the rich and warm sonic
characteristics associated with the pre-digital
age, but there is nothing retro about this
release. ‘WHERE I
BELONG’ has something for all blues fans,
purists and progressives alike. It catalogues
the pronounced growth and self-discovery of a
modern blues artist who is here to stay.
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After the February '08 gig.
With so much
going on this week, we were all delighted at the
superb turn-out.
It is wonderful
to see a young musician of such talent. The lad
not only plays guitar brilliantly, but he is
also an outstanding song writer.
Yes, he can
throw in a couple of classics, but his original
material certainly stands up. We tend to place
Ian in the 'blues' genre, but his music and his
ability is broader.
Of course there is that
strong blues influence and the guitar work has
roots as deep as an English oak, but he does not
trod the twelve bar path.
Please check
back as we are trying to fix an Autumn date for
Ian and his excellent band back to the Cluny. |
