John Andrew Parks (by Robert Morgan Fisher)
He’s the seven-pound star sapphire you find hidden among the boulders in your backyard. The lost Picasso someone’s trying to unload at a garage sale. The rare coin jingling among the change in your pocke [+]John Andrew Parks (by Robert Morgan Fisher)
He’s the seven-pound star sapphire you find hidden among the boulders in your backyard. The lost Picasso someone’s trying to unload at a garage sale. The rare coin jingling among the change in your pocket.
When I first saw him live, he was performing solo with his guitar. To say that it was a great musical performance is a vast understatement. This was high theatre. Along with a voice that soars like an eagle bound for the distant stars, this man will prove to be one of the important poet/storytellers of our time. His connection with the audience was uncanny. To quote one critic, “The breath of the audience came to a halt, and that’s when I heard my own heart beating”. The act was filled with humor, pathos and the rhythm of a steam locomotive. It went from a Texas style bluster, bigger than life, to an intimate whisper that evoked some third, unseen entity seeming to sew us all together into one pulsating spirit. It was unique. Without a doubt, this gentleman was born to perform.
John Andrew’s early mentors were Roy Orbison and Marty Robbins, both storytellers and extraordinary singers. He had also been influenced by, and worked with, some of the great film score composers such as John Barry, not to mention his classical mentors. In his productions, you can hear a unique sonic style. A master lyricist, he starts by complementing his stories with signature phrasing in a dramatic three-octave range. However, as though that were not enough, John Andrew shifts into a seventh gear, using his skills in musical composition to turn each and every song into a miniature movie.
He was once dubbed “The King of Country Eastern” due to the broad stroke of his brush. I can understand this point of view. His story lines run from windblown prairies and old jalopies to shooting stars across the cosmic canvas. As Kenny Rogers once said on NBC Television, “Whether or not you like this song [Planet Texas], you have never heard a song like ‘this’ one before. John Andrew Parks is one of the greatest singer/songwriting talents I’ve heard in 20 years.”
Well that should be enough for now, but let me leave you with this one interesting anecdote: When John Andrew was once asked if he was concerned about falling between the cra
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