Music:
Member Since: 5/8/2006
Band Website: paul-parker.co.uk
Band Members:
BAND MEMBERS:
~PAUL PARKER~ Lead vocals, guitar, mandolin, harmonica
well known as as a performing musician for over a decade both as a solo artist and as frontman to his band House of Alice. The man with one of the most infectious laughs on the local music scene.
~ADELLE HEATH~ Backing vocals, percussion, harmonica
~NIGEL BLOWER~ Rhythm guitar and occasional jokes.
HISTORY OF THE BAND:
The"Paul Parker and all the right friends" acoustic trio was formed early 2006. The band grew out Paul's solo gigs where he would often have friends join in. Adelle Heath (Paul's fiancee) and Nigel Blower (rhythm guitarist with the House of Alice) were frequent performers and eventually joined Paul to make up the new band.
Paul is the founder of the House of Alice a popular Shropshire band for over a decade and winner of a listeners' poll on Beacon Radio's Breakfast Show for Best Local Band (April 2006).
Paul is the frontman, singer and lead guitarist for House of Alice as well as a solo artist and composer in his own right. At the end of 2007 the "friends" started a new 5 person band which plays electric gigs at larger (louder?) venues. [SEE www.myspace.com/paulparkerandalltherighd www.alltherightfriends.co.uk]. At this point Paul decided to take no further bookings for the present for House of Alice and to concentrate on the two "friends" bands.
EARLY HISTORY OF PAUL PARKER AND ALL THE RIGHT FRIENDS (TRIO): written by Paul Parker in 2006-
The solo gigs began around five years ago, purely as a bit of fun. It became a chance for Paul to play songs that the House of Alice didn't do, and also a promotional vehicle to help promote the HOA name.
As time moved on the number of venues started to increase and the length of the sets got longer! During the years there have been many unusual cover versions in the acoustic style: "Hanging on the telephone", "Freebird", and "pinball wizard", to name but a few.
The band's current set set contains songs by artists such as counting crows, crowded house, REM, Bruce Springsteen, the Jayhawks, the Who and the basic philosophy of anything with a good tune that you can imagine singing and playing a hundred times a year.
The three piece line up really expanded the possibilities of the acoustic set up to include other instruments such as mandolin, piano, and various things that can be shaken in rhythm! As a result of this the set of songs has evolved to include songs by The Jayhawks, David Gray, Warren Zevon and a healthy dose of classic american melodic music.
However if you should be in the audience at any point in the future, requests are taken seriously when written clearly in capital letters on a five pound note! (Wine bars, £10). Visa and switch facilities may soon be available! Alternatively a round of drinks (for all band members, of course) can be quite persuasive.
While performing other people's songs there are many original songs that have been written and recorded. A new CD written by Paul and performed by Paul and all the Right Friends is ready for release and will be available to purchase at gigs. A solo cd entitled "Acoustic Alice" and the latest House of Alice cd "Long Way Home" are available at House of Alice gigs for the tidy sum of £5. (A bargain considering the price of a request!). The acoustic version of the title track of "Long Way Home" can be heard on "my videos".
So watch this space for details, join in and become a friend, and we'll see you somewhere down the yellow brick road!
FEBRUARY 2007 UPDATE by Paul Parker
We have played many gigs during 2006, and this year looks set to continue that way, so its time the set developed.
It has always been the intention of this acoustic line up to play and record some original music, so Christmas time was spent doing just that.
The result of all this work is two seven track cd s. The first is acoustic based and the second is recorded with electric guitars and much more volume!
All of these songs contain elements of the music that influences our style the most, namely acoustic and electric melodic rock, with a strong American influence.
These songs have been written over the last three years or so, and it feels like a good time to do this as Adelle, Nigel and I have been working well as a three piece acoustic set up and many of these songs simply wouldn't have worked with the more rock based sound of the House of Alice. The electric based songs from the second CD were pushed that way because I wanted to represent the songs as I thought they should sound and not keep the album completely acoustic. It also gave me the chance to experiment with playing other instruments, i.e., drums, bass, piano, mandolin, and rather basic harmonica! This recording style also allowed us to use Adelle's voice with the sound of a rock band, and the results have been very good indeed.
While the three of us worked very hard on the recording of these songs, a special mention should be given to Trevor Wilkins at tight digital studios. I have worked with him several times, but it was a first time for both Nigel, and Adelle. The task of recording 14 songs in such a short space of time was ambitious, maybe even stupid, but we got there and are extremely pleased with the results.
The cds will available for sale at our gigs, so feel free to part with some of your hard cash and let us feel famous for a little while. Also please feel free to visit our my space sites and give us your opinions on the music we shall be trying to sell to the whole world!
footnote: (An electric and an acoustic cd are both available to purchase at gigs).
Influences: br
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Type of Label: None
