PParks

PParks is coming back to the future with his approach to music and artistry. "I reach back, acknowledging my artistic influences, and add my own styling, interpretation, and voice to create an innovative sound for future generations." Starting out in Memphis, TN, P was always involved with music. Singing Jackson 5 in his high chair was his first musical moment, and at only 5 years old "The Greatest Love of All" was his first solo at church. P always wanted to be involved in something, so his mother enrolled him in everything from bowling lessons to track & field. However, his passion for music prevaded and remained as the consistent theme throughout his formative years. In junior high school, he and his then group, First Impression, won a national video contest sponsored by MTV and K-Swiss--where the prizes were a music video to be aired on MTV and a pair of K-Swiss shoes for the whole entire school. Needless to say, P never had to lift a finger that year if he didn't want to but that didn't stop him from achieving academically. He went on to attend Memphis East High School, where he further honed his musical ear and academic plans. In 1997, he left Memphis and headed for South Bend, IN to attend the University of Notre Dame. At ND, he was able to deepen his musical knowledge and appreciation by joining the Notre Dame Glee Club, the Voices of Faith, and was featured as a solo artist and member of the jazz band "Vibe." Prior to their national success, Umphrey's McGee also invited PParks to lend his voice to the classic sound they honed at Notre Dame. Traveling abroad with the Glee Club to Rome, London, Paris, Munich, and Prague in the summer of 1999 ; P learned that music was truly a universal language and that he wanted to use it as his platform to communicate to the world. The next year, he started work on the Voices of Faith's first cd project, penning one of the highlight tracks for the group called "If That Ain't Love." That song was his first published and recorded work. His experiences at Notre Dame prooved to be very seminal in his life yet he felt that he still had more to learn. And so it was that he went off to pursue his dream at Harvard University. He sang with the Kuumba Singers of Harvard College and the Brothers of Kuumba (a small acapella subset of the KSHS) as a graduate student and enjoyed every minute of it. "Kuumba afforded me the opportunity to experience excellence in music but also gave me even more confidence in my own musical abilities." After Harvard, it would take PParks a few big jobs and hard knocks before he made it to New York City but he has arrived and embarked on his first solo cd project. Nearing the end of the recording process, he still believes that "...destiny for me is tied to destination...I believe my destiny will begin to accelerate and unfold further in NYC because this city is intrinsically linked to my destiny...it just is..." The world should know destiny is calling and PParks is ready...