Graham Parker Live
Sunday, April 5th at Callahan’s
2105 South Blvd.– Auburn Hills, MI
Ticket Cost - $20 ADV. - $25 DOS
Show Time 8:30pm
Sunday, April 5th at Callahan’s
2105 South Blvd.– Auburn Hills, MI
Ticket Cost - $20 ADV. - $25 DOS
Show Time 8:30pm
Thirty years into a storied career in rock ‘n’ roll that began with his band The Rumour, Graham Parker finds himself at the absolute top of his game and in the midst of a extended creative hot streak. Hot on the heels of a string of critically acclaimed Bloodshot releases—Your Country (2004), Songs of No Consequence (2005), the blistering live album 103 Degrees in June (2006)—Parker’s most recent release, Don’t Tell Columbus, crackles with desperation and redemption sung with rich, passionate power.
And hooks. Lots and lots of effortless hooks.
Yes, the new millennium has thus far been very good to GP and music fans reap the rewards. Always with his finger on the pulse, Parker skewers the current Presidential administration (“Stick to the Plan”) , self-destructive pop-tart flavors-of-the-day (“England’s Latest Clown”), and on his recent, iTunes-only single “The End of Faith”, he finds inspiration in Richard Dawkins’ and Christopher Hitchens’ recent books condemning religion.
Suffused with the heft of the epic, Don’t Tell Columbus’s lyrical and emotional resonance straddles the Atlantic and evinces GP’s stature as one of the most gifted writers in rock ‘n’ roll. From the personal and metaphorically grand “The Other Side of the Reservoir” to the swinging “Stick to the Plan,” this album ripples with tension between the melancholic, the urgent and the hopeful. Parker’s biting social commentary is in full force here; only GP can have you happily humming along to songs swaddled in desperate loneliness and internal mayhem.
Yes, the new millennium has thus far been very good to GP and music fans reap the rewards. Always with his finger on the pulse, Parker skewers the current Presidential administration (“Stick to the Plan”) , self-destructive pop-tart flavors-of-the-day (“England’s Latest Clown”), and on his recent, iTunes-only single “The End of Faith”, he finds inspiration in Richard Dawkins’ and Christopher Hitchens’ recent books condemning religion.
Suffused with the heft of the epic, Don’t Tell Columbus’s lyrical and emotional resonance straddles the Atlantic and evinces GP’s stature as one of the most gifted writers in rock ‘n’ roll. From the personal and metaphorically grand “The Other Side of the Reservoir” to the swinging “Stick to the Plan,” this album ripples with tension between the melancholic, the urgent and the hopeful. Parker’s biting social commentary is in full force here; only GP can have you happily humming along to songs swaddled in desperate loneliness and internal mayhem.
It is unhealthy, perhaps even obscene, that someone should be able to
come up with an album this good this far into their career.
Sometimes an artist is anointed a “legend.” Sometimes this artist’s body of work is so consistently lauded, of such ongoing interest and creativity, the audience might be tempted to take the level of craft for granted. Sometimes such an artist, after a time of flying beneath the radar, emerges with a run of stunning material ascending beyond time and genre. Sometimes this artist casts a shadow large enough they are known by just their initials. Graham Parker is such an artist and this is his time.
Sometimes an artist is anointed a “legend.” Sometimes this artist’s body of work is so consistently lauded, of such ongoing interest and creativity, the audience might be tempted to take the level of craft for granted. Sometimes such an artist, after a time of flying beneath the radar, emerges with a run of stunning material ascending beyond time and genre. Sometimes this artist casts a shadow large enough they are known by just their initials. Graham Parker is such an artist and this is his time.