Central Bucks West High School graduate Krista Parrish will release her latest CD, “Playing with Pendulums,” on Saturday at Moonstone Arts Center in Philadelphia.
The all-ages show will feature Parrish in her new lineup, a trio with husband Steven Murphy on bass, guitar and mandolin and drummer Michael Fazekas. Parrish, in addition to being the lead vocalist and songwriter, also plays guitar, mandolin and piano with the group.
Parrish spent her early performing years as a soloist building a following in the Philadelphia region. She then began playing live shows with her brother Corey Parrish as a duo act, which evolved into the Krista Parrish Band with the addition of her father Dennis Parrish and husband Murphy.
Following the sudden death of her brother in 2008, she took a break from playing shows to grieve and reevaluate her path. During this tragic and pivotal time, Parrish wrote two and a half albums of music including several songs inspired by Corey.
She subsequently released a live LP as well as an EP, “A Taste of What’s To Come,” all in anticipation of her new release “Playing with Pendulums.”The album features bold finger-tapping and finger-style instrumentals, indie-pop songs with introspective lyrics and interesting guitar tunings. One track, “Easier Said Than Done,” has already hit No. 1 on the Independent Artist Company’s Folk/Acoustic Rock/Americana indie chart as well as the All Genres chart.
“Krista Parrish has an infectious sound that blends elements of ’ 70’s art rock with superb modern tap guitar. She is a must-see,” says producer Glenn Barratt, of the Grammy Award-winning Morning Star Studios in Spring House, where “Playing with Pendulums” was mixed and mastered.Parrish acknowledges that the album boasts some intense moments, given that the bulk of it was written after her brother’s death.
“Though the music is drenched with love and Corey’s inspiration, you can take the emotion and feel it any way you happen to connect with it,” she says.
On Saturday, in addition to issuing her own CD, she will be releasing a double disc of her brother’s music, “Soundtrack to My Life,” with donations accepted on his behalf for Angel In Queens, a charity that serves nightly hot dinners to immigrant day laborers who are homeless in the New York City borough.
Moonstone Arts Center is at 110A S. 13th St. Show time: 8 p.m.
Tickets: $10 (includes light refreshments and a copy of the CD)
Information: 215-735-9600; www.moonstoneartscenter.org.
Krista Parrish: Press
PLAYING WITH PENDULUMS:TITLE TRACK
Nothing on my mind, nowhere to go and no one to see ... a perfect chance to put my feet up for another long night, and spend it with me. Alone here in my sanctuary with my little radio on listening to this ever so tranquil, reflective, soothing and timeless 'let the world go by' quintessential instrumental, memories and distant thoughts cascade endlessly through my mind like mist drifting lazily across a valley floor ... beautiful music, consummate arrangement, talented and accomplished musicians.
When The Day Is Done With Me, track 5 off the 2010 release, "Playing With Pendulums"
This song is a sparkling diamond that glistens ever so brightly,it is a shining wonder indeed. Krista has captured the essence of pure songwriting here on "When the Day is done with me", just sheer genius in both lyrical and musical content, a gem. Krista's vocals are rich and the music is textured with splashes of amazing colors, Her delivery is wonderful and the Trio really lays down an excellent track for sure. should be on radio, I mean real radio,loved the listen.....
SKYWATCHING, track 3 off the 2010 release, "PLAYING WITH PENDULUMS"
This song is like, sky high aural joy
WHEN, track 8 off the 2010 release, "PLAYING WITH PENDULUMS"
Recently Krista has formed a new trio with husband Steven Murphy and drummer Michael Fazekas. Switching off between piano, guitar and mandolin, the new trio has given Krista a lot of room to grow, experiment and share the writing process with her fellow musicians. "It's a match made in heaven and a blessing to be playing with two people whom I connect so strongly with musically." says Parrish. Krista is is now releasing her long awaited album, “Playing With Pendulums” with her new trio which was recorded with Glenn Barratt of Morning Star Studios. Here's the next 'rising star' found on IAC.. When is NOW!
For a small suburban town, Doylestown has more than its share of talented, homegrown artists. Fliers for their shows are found in storefronts, their music spills out of places like Puck and just about everyone has seen a few them strolling down the street with their guitars.
But what makes them tick? What are their goals, and what are they doing to achieve them? And what are the best ways for a music lover to support local talent? For our second anniversary, we sat down with three artists we’ve covered over the past two years to get their insight on what it means to be a local, independent musician.
dtown: Where were some of your first shows, and what was the music scene like then?
Parrish: When I first started, I played a lot at John and Peter’s in New Hope, the old Grape Street [Pub] in Manayunk and a lot of bars. There were a lot of jam bands and hippies around, folksy singer-songwriter types.
It was fun. The audiences were always very receptive and kind and from all different age groups. They were definitely music lovers. I don’t think the audience was looking for mainstream music. It was more the college radio, indie audience.
dtown: Sounds like everyone has had varying experiences. What similarities and differences do you find when you play in different areas?
Parrish: More urban areas like Philly and New York are more scene-oriented than the suburbs. It’s easier for original music in the city, because there are more venues and more independent musicians around. Cities are sometimes more welcoming. It’s like that for me [in Bucks County] also, but I play here a lot. Maybe if I played a random place in Virginia, it might be a little more difficult to grab someone’s attention
dtown: Right, but besides the actual music, what strategies help in building your fan base?
Parrish: Places like Myspace and Facebook are great outlets. I gained so many fans from [online music distributor] CDBaby. People in other states and other countries heard my music, and I can’t even imagine how. Other ways are playing live shows and festivals, getting people to sign up for your mailing list, getting your songs on internet and college radio and finding people who give lesser-known artists write-ups in magazines.
dtown: So when it comes to our own backyards, what are some of the best ways for people to support local music?
Parrish: Coming out to shows, because some of these venues won’t even let you play unless you attract a certain amount of people. Also, buying people’s records instead of pirating music. I know it happens a lot, and I can understand why. But for an independent artist, album sales are so crucial. And getting on their Facebook page and becoming a fan. That shows people like A&R reps [the artist has] a hefty following.
The release of “Playing With Pendulums,” the new record by Krista Parrish, finds the Bucks County native on a path to wider audiences and more success in the music world. However, it’s not exactly the route the guitarist was expecting to take just a year ago. It also wouldn’t be the first time fate stepped in to change her direction.
Born into a family of musicians, Krista picked up the guitar as a teenager. Inspired by contemporary artists like Counting Crowes and Tori Amos, the most important influence was her younger brother Corey. Seven years her junior, he quickly mastered the bass, piano and drums. “We just had the most magical music connection,” Krista says. “He was the missing piece of the puzzle for whatever I played and vice-versa.” Taking cues from progressive-rock and classical guitarists, Corey wrote complex instrumental pieces that would later inform his sister’s music. The two played together regularly in bands or as a duo, and after high school, Krista majored in jazz performance at Bucks County Community College.
Inspired by her brother’s work, she started writing instrumental pieces to complement her pop-oriented efforts and began playing with Corey and his girlfriend. The trio planned to begin performing publicly once Corey, who suffered from stage fright, felt comfortable in the spotlight. That all changed, however, when he passed away suddenly in early 2008, under circumstances Krista is still reluctant to discuss. “I was crushed, and I just stopped playing. I didn’t want anything to do with music without him,” she says.
Krista soon found inspiration again working alongside Corey’s girlfriend on the music they were crafting just before his death. “Suddenly, I wanted to play all the time,” she explains. “I started writing like crazy, two or three songs a day.” When Krista returned to the stage that summer, her instrumental work was front and center. “There’s a big part of Corey in what I write now. I feel like he had a lot left to do, and his songs are coming out of me now,” she says.
Krista began readying songs for what became “Playing With Pendulums” last year. At the time, she was performing regularly in Bucks County and Philadelphia. Still, her sights were set on having her music featured in television and film soundtracks and composing original scores for those mediums. “My ideal career would be doing film and TV and playing two shows a month,” Krista says. “I love to play out, but I think I’d get homesick if I went on tour.”
Fate struck once again, when songs she released to an internet radio site caught the ear of an entertainment lawyer. “He e-mailed me out of the blue to say he liked my music, and we just started talking from there,” Krista says. When she discovered he also managed a few bands that were on the cusp of national stardom, Krista asked if he’d be interested in working with her as well: “He said if I ever needed any help to contact him. I told him I’d really love to have someone managing me, because I don’t really know how to do it myself.”
At press time, Parrish is planning to officially sign on with her new manager at her CD release party in mid-May. But bigger plans are already in the works for the album. She’s working toward signing a deal with Velour Records, and through her soon-to-be manager, has already made contacts to license some of her songs for soundtracks.
And with more support than ever behind one of her releases, she plans to begin traveling the East Coast regularly. “It’s all kind of overwhelming,” Krista says. “I’m excited about going out and just trying not to be nervous. Whatever’s going to happen will anyway, so there’s no point in being scared.”
Even with all the changes swirling around her these days, Krista ultimately draws confidence from her new work. “When I started the project, I didn’t have any clear path. I just knew I needed to get these songs recorded and dedicate the album to my brother,” she says. “It was a really spiritual process this time around, and it was best time I’ve ever had making music.”
Go online at kristaparrish.com
Like the jazz artists she loves, Krista Parrish never plays a song the same way twice. Live at the Tin Angel, the guitarist sang only one or two of her songs – breezy blends of folk rock and jazz anchored by her rhythm section’s soul and funk grooves. Her set is characterized by intricate, ethereal instrumental pieces that ebb and flow with sophisticated chord changes and virtuosic runs. She regularly pushes the sonic boundaries of her acoustic guitar, rapping the side of it like a drum or fretting notes with both hands, rather than strumming it, to create passionate flourishes of sound. The changes from show to show are subtle, but even a cursory listen to her many live releases reveal the delicate variations in each performance. “Writing instrumental music is like painting a picture,” she says, “and each time a piece is played, I envision something different. They’re always evolving and adapting into something new.” Those variations also tell a story. “Influenced by life,” as she puts it, they create a narrative of the events that inspired them, including a tragedy that changed her life. Born into a family of musicians, Parrish began singing as a child and picked up the guitar as a teenager, inspired by the music she heard on the radio. “I loved the Counting Crows, The Cranberries and especially Tori Amos,” she recalls. “It was a great time for singer-songwriters.” But more important to her than hit records was her younger brother, Corey. Seven years her junior, he quickly mastered the bass, piano and drums, along with guitar. “We just had the most magical musical connection,” she remembers. “He was the missing piece of the puzzle for whatever I played and vice versa.” Taking cues from progressive rock and classical guitarists, Corey wrote instrumental pieces that would soon inform his sister’s music. “He played guitar with a drummer’s instinct,” she says. “He came up with rhythm ideas other guitarists wouldn’t think to play.” The two regularly played together in bands or as a duo. After high school, she majored in jazz performance at Bucks County Community College, “living, eating and breathing” the music for a few years. Her sultry voice and guitar skills lent themselves well to the genre, and Parrish began playing well-known jazz compositions regularly. But she soon found limitations in what she was doing: “I’m a songwriter at heart, and I couldn’t fully express myself playing and singing standards.” Inspired by her brother’s work, Parrish began writing instrumental pieces to compliment her pop-oriented efforts. Simultaneously, she and her husband, along with Corey and his girlfriend, began playing together. The plan was to start performing publicly as soon as Corey, who regularly suffered from stage fright, felt confident enough to perform their music on stage. It all fell apart, however, when Corey passed away suddenly in early 2008. Parrish stopped playing completely, trying to make sense of the seismic change in her life. “I was crushed, and I didn’t want anything to do with music without him,” she says. However, she found her inspiration again, working alongside Corey’s girlfriend on the music they were crafting just before his death. “Suddenly, I wanted to play all the time,” she recalls. “I started writing like crazy, two or three songs a day.” When Parrish began performing again that summer, her instrumental work was front and center. “There’s a big part of Corey in what I write now,” says Parrish. “I feel like he had a lot left to do, and his songs are coming out through me now.” Parrish is now back in full swing with regular gigs, a new studio album and an EP on the way. Her performances and songwriting have become more emotional and passionate: “I’m much more connected with my music now. Before this, I didn’t know what giving 100 percent really was.” Krista Parrish will be performing at Puck Live in Doylestown on July 18. Go Online at www.kristaparrish.com
Krista Parrish Is Making A Big Impact Doylestown native Krista Parrish is making a big impact on the local and national jazz circuit. Her music infuses jazz, blues, folk, and funk to produce unique and haunting music. Born into a musical family; her mother a trained opera singer and her father is a classical guitarist and member of Parrish’s band, her both influences are apparent in her original and engaging sound. Parrish’s charming personality shines brighter than the stage lights, drawing the audience in and holding them for the entire performance. She plays and sings with such passion that makes everyone in the room feel her music. I had the honor of attending her performance this past Friday night at Puck, in Doylestown. The show was dedicated to the memory of her very talented brother, Corey Parrish. It was a heartfelt night and all who were in attendance could feel the love and passion in the performance. It was truly an amazing evening. Parrish has four CD’s to her credit, several local and national television appearances, and is in heavy rotation on the radio and online. Here music is available online. Krista Parrish is definitely an artist worth checking out. Click here for a live performance schedule. For more information on Krista Parrish go to kristaparrish.com.
January 26, 2008 -- Doylestown singer-songwriter Krista Parrish has been making waves on the local and national jazz circuit. Her funky, soulful jazz draws comparison to such artists as Fiona Apple and Norah Jones. "The first time I ever heard Ella Fitzgerald, something inside of me happened and I couldn't believe what I was hearing... I just wanted to sound like that," says Krista. She is the byproduct of a musical household. Krista's father is a classical guitarist and her mother, an opera singer. Parrish's command of the guitar could easily steal the show, if her voice weren't equally as magnetic. So it's obvious that those early influences have been fused into her music, creating a sound uniquely her own. Through our "Share your band" submission on 6abc.com, we received over 100 requests from her fans to do a feature. Tuned In taped Parrish at The Tin Angel in the Old City section of Philadelphia.
Krista Parrish - rising star of radio, stage screen & Internet
Krista Parrish seems poised to become an overnight sensation. And it's only taken her a dozen years of hard work to get there. That's about how long ago Parrish tried her hand at songwriting, penning an instrumental for the piano. Now, four CDs, countless local performances, numerous television appearances and Internet and local radio play later, Parrish is poised to take her career to the next level. The Bucks County native, who infuses jazz and blues with folk and funk, is set to release her latest album, "A Genuine Distraction," somewhere around Valentine's Day. Postponed from a mid-December release (Parrish will release "Half Myself," a five-song EP featuring tracks from "A Genuine Distraction," in December), Parrish insists that it will be well worth the wait. "I'm really excited for the new album," Parrish said enthusiastically. "In my heart, this collection of songs is probably my best work. I've had a lot of support and I've worked with some amazing musicians on it. It's really coming together. I'm just dying to release it. "I wanted to make an album that someone could put on and just melt into the music and it'd be a good distraction from everyday tedious life - just put it on and get lost in it. I can definitely feel that with this album and I hope that's how people feel when they listen to it." And while Parrish - who now writes for and plays primarily the guitar - has been playing many of the songs at her gigs, she's eagerly anticipating the opportunity for her fans to hear the songs performed by a full band. That chance will come Dec. 19, when Parrish's performance at the Tin Angel will be taped for 6ABC's "Tuned In," which features some of the top local recording artists and can be found online at www.6abc.com. "It's going to be a great opportunity to be able to promote the new album through the show," she said. "We've been playing songs off the album over the summer, but no one's heard it with the full band. I'm excited to share that with my fans and family." In the more immediate future, Parrish will open for The Band's Jim Weider Nov. 17 at Chaplin's: The Music Café in Spring City. It wouldn't hurt to check out Parrish, because chances are you'll be seeing and hearing her quite a bit in the near future. Parrish recently signed a deal to have three songs played on an upcoming television series, "Kim and Seana," which is currently exclusive to the Internet but is expected to make its television debut in the summer. And if that show helps open even more doors for Parrish, all the better. "I'm really, really interested in getting into film and TV," she said. "I don't really see myself as this hardcore touring artist, so I'd definitely like to dabble in television and film." The exciting happenings in Parrish's professional life are matched on the personal level. She was married Oct. 14, and while she said the change in her life hasn't affected her music career, being in a serious relationship has had some effect on her writing. "When you're younger and there's so many different changes, I was more inspired then, and writing a lot more then," she said. "The love song thing is not something I really touch on any more and I think that's because I'm very settled and content in my love life." OK, so she doesn't quite fit the stereotype of the "tortured musician." But she's worked hard to get where she's at, both personally and professionally. And she knows that the opportunities that have been offered to her can disappear just as easily. "A lot of things are finally coming together, and I'm so grateful for it," she said. "I've done a lot of praying. It's scary, because it could all be taken away just like that, so you've got to just take it one step at a time and just hope that things keep going in that direction." But whether the future sees Parrish writing her "music for the mind" for the big screen or up on the stage, her music will always retain its broad range of influences. "When I write music I don't think about, 'This is going to be a jazz song,' I just write by what I'm inspired by," she said. "I don't like to feel like I'm going to be pushed into some genre, I don't want to get bored. I'm trying to keep myself entertained as well. "And I want to grow. I don't want to keep making the same album over and over again."
SWEET SOLACE
Amid Life's uncertainties and challenges, Krista Parrish finds it in music.
Krista Parrish is drawn to tragedy. It may seem an unlikely confession for the petite 27-year-old with a ready laugh and gregarious ease in conversation.
But Parrish is not talking about strange obsession or morbid fascination. Though she will admit that she's been through much in her short life-including several losses, the specifics she shies away from-there is something benevolent in her regard of the suffering that surrounds her.
It is as if being exposed to it, whether personally or as a witness on a broader scale, she is becoming more aware of our shared humanity and mustering a resilient compassion that inspires dreams much bigger than making music.
“There is so much sadness out there, so much pain,” says the singer-songwriter and guitarist, who serves as music director for Doylestown First Friday, booking local bands for benefit concerts on the Main Stage. “I feel that my life goal is to help people. I’m really into raising money and getting people’s attention for a cause, whether it’s the Hurricane Katrina victims or ALS or cancer-there needs to be more attention to those types of things instead of Paris Hilton being in jail for five minutes. So what?”
Music may not have as direct an effect in creating the changes she’d like to see, but Parrish, who performs Saturday at Puck in Doylestown in a “Ladies On The Edge” singer-songwriter showcase, is similarly magnanimous in her approach to song.
“I just want people to feel good, to take away a feeling of comfort and serenity,” she says of her jazz-inspired acoustic songs. “I want to write music that draws people together and makes them realize that we all have circumstances that we’re going through and it’s a tough world, but we’re all in this together and we can comfort each other and be there to support each other.”
While she acknowledges that much of her music has been inspired by the personal, in particular the dynamics of her devoted family-“We’re pretty tight and pretty crazy, but the love is really strong,” she says-she prefers a comforting ambiguity in song, relying on metaphors and oblique references that allows listeners to connect with their own experiences. Whether she’s singing about the risk to be venerable in love, the striving for optimism even in difficult times, the challenge to let loved ones find their way in life or the struggles to be comfortable in our own skin and confidently walk our path, she proves illuminating, never self-indulgent.
With four home studio albums to her credit-a fifth, “A Genuine Distraction”, being recorded at a professional studio in Valley Forge, will be out this fall-Parrish says she’s committed to making “music for the mind.”
“When I listen to lyrics with some of the stuff I hear on the radio, it’s, like, ‘What the heck are they talking about? A second grader could write that!’ I know they’re looking for something with a beat, something you can bob your head to, something catchy, but I think you can be catchy and intellectual at the same time.“ she says.
To that end, the Central Bucks West High School graduate plans to start her own label, which she we run from her home in Lansdale.
To bay the bills, Parrish teaches voice, guitar and piano. She would like to offer her students an affordable space to record their music, as well as the benefit of her own experience recording and producing albums, with the help of her fiancé, Steven Murphy, a bassist and guitarist who also plays mandolin and banjo.
“Everyone, when they start out, they think rock star, but the way the music industry’s gone, it’s so hard for a singer songwriter to make it, “ she says “Pop is so in your face-Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan-and that’s not me so I kind of put those dreams aside.”
“I’d love to be in a position to just tour around and have whoever I want on my label that I believe in and have it be just about the music-healthy music, positive music, something you hear that’s going to make you think, something more personal and more inspiring.”
For Parrish, it was a love of writing that sparked an interest in becoming a singer-songwriter. Growing up in a musical family-her father is a classical guitarist, her mom an opera singer and her brother Corey also plays guitar-she had a natural affinity for singing. He parents performed locally as the Faith Parrish Orchestra, and occasionally, she would get up on stage and sing with her mom.
“I would see my mom up there in these beautiful dresses with her makeup and her hair and think, ‘I want to do that’. I wanted to be a singer,” she says. “The guitar playing, I knew that would take a little more work and be a challenge, and I liked that. I wanted to make my daddy proud and be his little guitar player. In the beginning, I started out wanting to make my parents proud, but then it became something that comforted me. When I was I my room, just playing my music, I felt safe-like nothing can touch me now, no one can hurt me.”
She had already begun piano lessons at age 7, but the guitar from the start proved more intriguing. Then while in high school, she discovered she could marry two of her joys-writing and playing music.
“In school, English was my favorite subject. I loved writing short stories and poems,” recalls Parrish. “That’s how I got into this. I was playing guitar and I realized I could write stories to go with the music.”
Jonatha Brooke, Shawn Colvin and Tori Amos were among the artists she turned to for lyrical and musical inspiration.
“I was really into Tori Amos, so I was writing a lot of weird stuff, “ Parrish Says, confessing with a laugh that she refuses to let anyone hear her first album. “I wanted to be weird and eccentric like Tori Amos, but that wasn’t my calling. She’s better at it, so I’ll leave that to her.”
While early influences such as Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston and Patti LaBelle helped define her voice-supple and soulful with a broad palette that is equally at home conveying sweet playfulness or smoky-timbered yearning, saucy disdain or dusky introspection-it was her immersion into jazz that left the greatest impression. Parrish majored in jazz guitar and voice at Bucks County Community College and minored in piano.
“That’s where all this stuff opened up for me. Discovering Ella (Fitzgerald) and Bill Evans, John Coltrane, Carmen McRae-I felt this is where it’s at for me,” says the performer, whose vocals, along with her sophisticated finger-picking and chord progressions, often recalls the sultry elegance and fresh inventiveness of the heyday of such greats. “I just didn’t know how intricate music could get-and the whole improv thing where you didn’t have to stick to this chord or this melody, all these sounds just rocked my world.”
While she admits to her own uncertainty at time about what it is she should be doing, she always returns to music.
“I would probably be in therapy if I wasn’t a songwriter,” she says with a laugh. “My relationship with music is like my relationship with my family. It just feels like home.”
This group of female singer songwriters can all definitely hold their own, but, since, they found each other this past winter, they've become a musical force and are about to wrap up their Ladies on the Edge performances next week. They were submitted by Linda Seybert, who's worked with Krista Parrish for some time now, who said: "these 5 women are the most amazing and diverse artists this area has ever produced." They've wowed live audiences from World Café Live in Center City to Puck in Doylestown, rocked Philly in print (Philly Edge) and with their appearances on NBC and ABC. WOTW: How/When did you get started down this career path? Krista: Both my parents are musicians so my brother and I followed in their footsteps as it came very naturally. I started playing guitar at age 14 and have never put it down. Songwriting began at 17 yrs. old and the rest is history. WOTW: What do you like best about performing? Krista: I'm in a position to help people, to reach people and I intend to use my career to bring awareness to larger issues and charity organizations I believe in. Plus, I get paid to do what I love; who could ask for anything more? WOTW: Of what are you most proud? Krista: I'm proud of my will to go on trying to make it in a very saturated industry. WOTW: What, if any is your guilty pleasure? Krista: Hmmm…I have many…but ice cream wins! WOTW: What advice would you like to share with aspiring singer-songwriters? Krista: Whatever you do, don't let someone tell you the world has enough singer songwriters, if you have a voice, sing and if you have a song, share it with others. You can catch the last in a series of Ladies on the Edge performances Saturday, August 11th at Chaplin's, the Music Café in Spring City, PA
Krista Parrish, Doylestown CDs: Introspection is latest of four; Her 5th album is due out sometime this summer (2007) -"GENUINE DISTRACTION". Style: SoCal jazzy riffs and scat; Other: Has own music lesson business and teaches at Paul Green School of Rock; plays with guitarist father and brother, mom sang opera, parents society band supported family; Bucks County Community College music program grad; To be wed in May 2008. PE: Kindly inform what's on your iPod or CD player right now? KP: The Shins, Norah Jones, Fiona Apple, Ben Folds, Enya, John Mayer, Ella Fitzgerald and Kaki King PE: Did you first begin singing at a church? KP: I sang in church as a child. My first solo was in Second Grade at St. Ephrem's in Bensalem. I went on to sing many solos after that. Though I do not sing in church anymore, I always sing for God. PE: In parts, there's a jazzy component to your CD. Has that been an impediment or an advantage? KP: Philly has a long and rich jazz tradition that continues to this day that is largely and sadly ignored, with the possible exception of European ears. People take me more seriously as a musician, but there is a small market for jazz and that is why I incorporate other styles into my work. Sticking at one style has never been my thing. I get bored and need to change it up anyway. PE:Are all 13 songs on INTROSPECTION pointed at any one specific individual? No need to name name's, just the relationship. KP: The album was a story of a year and a half of my life... leaving one significant relationship, doing some serious soul searching, focusing on my music and me, becoming whole enough to give myself completely to someone else, realizing I'd found the person I will be with forever & dealing with family issues. It covered a lot and I put the songs in the order that things happened and focused on my inner feelings hence the title INTROSPECTION--it was just that for me. Most of the songs the I wrote were actually in a journal that had the word INTROSPECTION on the cover. It just made sense to me to use it for the album name. PE: On 'Sure Good Find' you sing, "I used to be numb, now I feel everything" if you could expound on that a little... KP:I wrote that song about my then boyfriend, now fiance. I used to get wrapped up in people that I couldn't trust. I built walls around me so that I wouldn't have to feel the frustration of a relationship gone wrong. I had finally found comfort and home in someone & I could let myself feel again. The funny thing is, I've written so many songs during the time I tried to numb myself and I guess they helped me through-there must have been some part of me that was allowing the pain in. PE:Has WXPN been receptive? What track(s)? Which DJ(s)? KP:I have gotten airplay on WXPN. Sleepyhollow has played WHERE ARE YOU NOW, BEST OF ME and MOMENT FOR YOU off of Introspection. They also played something off my first album but I cannot remember the name of that song! How horrible is that? PE: What 3 CD's might your fans be surprised that you whole heartedly, thoroughly enjoy? KP: Jack Black-Tenacious D, Tribe Called Quest-Beats, Ryhmes and Life + The Dave Grisman Quartet-Dawganova Shows: Puck Live, Printer's Alley, Doylestown: March 23, 8 p.m Milkboy, Lancaster Avenue, Bryn Mawr: April 28th, 7:45PM Tin Angel, 20 S Second St., Philadelphia: May 26, 8 p.m.
Musically astute, interesting, original, adventurous...and that doesn't even begin to venture into her incredible voice, and refined chops as a musician. She cross blends genres, and does so with such a subtle finesse. She is charming, saucy, and serious...with a twinge of comedic sarcasm that illuminates throughout her writing sensibilities. She has her own way of telling a story...and it is never banal. Parrish is an exciting artist, beautiful...and is as cool as the sounds she makes. KIAC Internet Radio
