Charlie Parr | Brighton
Charlie Parr Brighton
Charlie Parr live in Brighton at Green Door Store on 19th May 2026! Get tickets above, or from SeeTickets.
In the music of Charlie Parr, there is a sincere conviction and earnest drive to create. The Minnesota-born guitarist, songwriter, and interpreter of traditional music has released 19 albums over two decades and has been known to perform up to 275 shows a year. Parr is a folk troubadour in the truest sense: taking to the road between shows, writing and rewriting songs as he plays, fueled by a belief that music is eternal and cannot be claimed or adequately explained. The bluesman poet pulls closely from the sights and sounds around him, his lyrical craftsmanship built by his influences. The sounds from his working-class upbringing—including Folkways legends such as Lead Belly and Woody Guthrie—imbue Parr’s music with stylistic echoes of blues and folk icons of decades past. Parr sees himself merely as a continuer of a folk tradition: “I feel like I stand on a lot of big shoulders,” he said in an interview. “I hope that I’ve brought a little bit of myself to the music.”
With a discography simultaneously transcendental in nature and grounded in roots music, Charlie Parr is the humble master of the 21st century folk tradition. Parr started recording in Duluth in 2002, where he lives today. Life in the port town on Lake Superior has a way of bleeding into his work the same way his childhood in Austin, Minnesota does. Parr self-released his debut album, Criminals and Sinners, and did the same for his sophomore album 1922 (2002). With growing popularity abroad, Parr signed with Red House Records in 2015, where he recorded break-out albums Stumpjumper (2015) and Dog (2017). Parr’s music has an overwhelming sense of being present and mindful, and his sound is timeless.
Parr’s mastery of his craft is only more apparent when contextualized within the history of folk tradition of which Parr has dedicated his practice The land and lives around and intersecting with Parr have always influenced him, from the hills and valleys of Hollandale, Minnesota to the Depression-era stories from his father. Parr strives to listen to everything: “I don’t see that I’d ever be capable of creating anything if it weren’t for these inspirations and influences, books and music as well as the weather and random interactions with strangers and animals. So, the well never runs dry as long as my eyes and ears are open,” Parr said in a 2020 interview. Before he was even 10 years old Parr was rummaging through his father’s record collection—sometimes drawing dinosaurs on the vinyl sleeves—and listening to country, folk, and blues legends, many of whom are staples in the Folkways catalog. When Parr sings and plays his resonator or 12-string, you can hear influences like Mance Lipscomb, Charley Patton, Spider John Koerner, Rev. Gary Davis, and Dock Boggs. This is especially true in his playing, when, after a diagnosis of focal dystonia, Parr turned to greats like Davis, Doc Watson, and Booker White for two-finger picking inspiration. Gifted a 1965 Gibson B-45 12-string by his father, Parr has never had a formal lesson and learned by listening to records and watching musicians he admired.
Parr’s first album with Smithsonian Folkways, Last of Better Days Head (2021), foregrounded his lyrical craftsmanship and sophisticated bluesman confidence, with spare production highlighting Parr’s mastery of guitar and elevating his poetry. Last of Better Days Ahead is a portrait of how Parr saw the world in that moment, reflecting on time and memories that have passed while holding an enduring desire to be present. In his 2024 release, Little Sun, Parr weaves together stories celebrating music, community, and communing with nature. Putting forth an ambitious and raw album that exemplifies the best of Parr’s sound: a blend of the blues and folk traditions he continues to carry with him and the steadfast originality of a poet.
https://charlieparrmusic.bandcamp.com/
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Upcoming Love Thy Neighbour shows:
08102025 – Modern Nature. Alphabet
08102025 – Martha Tilston. Komedia
11102025 – Jah Wobble & The Invaders of the Heart. Lewes Con Club
12102025 – Martin Carthy. Lewes Con Club
13102025 – Gwenifer Raymond. Komedia
13102025 – Welly. Chalk
14102025 – Sam Moss. Folklore Room
15102025 – Long Fling. Hope & Ruin
15102025 – MF Tomlinson. Folklore Rooms
17102025 – The Utopia Strong. Hope & Ruin
19102025 – Pynch. Green Door Store
22102025 – Helen Ganya. The Brunswick
26102025 – The Lovely Eggs. Brighton
29102025 – Mumble Tide. The Prince Albert
31102025 – Lack of Afro. Patterns
01112025 – Scott Lavene. Hope & Ruin
02112025 – Search Results. Prince Albert
05112025 – CIEL. Patterns
05112025 – ROIS. Green Door Store
09112025 – Lonnie Holley. Lewes Constitutional Club
13112025 – The Crazy World of Arthur Brown. Concorde 2
14112025 – B.A. Johnston, Hope & Ruin
14112025 – Mik Artistik’s Ego Trip. Lewes Constitutional Club
15112025 – Stick in the Wheel. Lewes Constitutional Club
15112025 – Niall McNamee. Alphabet
18112025 – Laura Groves. The Prince Albert
24112025 – The Belair Lip Bombs. Volks
28112025 – mclusky. Chalk
28112025 – Ozric Tentacles + System 7. Concorde 2
04122025 – Immersion. Alphabet
04122025 – SANAM صنم (Beirut). Patterns.
06122025 – Chainska Brassika. Alphabet
13122025 – Cubzoa. Alphabet
13122025 – John Otway & his band. Lewes Constitutional Club
14122025 – Hard Skin. The Hope & Ruin
31012026 – Naima Bock. West Hill Hall
03022026 – Junior Brother. Prince Albert
17022026 – caroline. Chalk
20022026 – Mermaid Chunky. Revenge
19032026 – Gong + Henge. Chalk
20032026 – Beans on Toast. Concorde 2
01052026 – Love. Concorde 2
10052026 – Sean Rowe. Green Door Store
19052026 – Charlie Parr. Green Door Store
Accessibility: Fully accessible, on one floor. Disabled toilet, ask at bar for key. Full gender neutral toilets. Warning, cobbled floors which are uneven in places. If you require a carer ticket, please contact us at info@lovethyneighbourmusic.co.uk with evidence such as a blue badge or access card. If strobe lighting or standing for long periods of time is an issue, please contact us in advance so we can make arrangements.
Charlie Parr Brighton
Charlie Parr Brighton