Saint Louis, MO: At the Pageant on November 23, 2016 are Parker Millsap and his band mates on stage supporting J J Grey and Mofro
Parker Millsap is back in Saint Louis and he is
playing the Pageant in the loop of University City. I've seen Parker and his
band mates three times now (The Rock House, Off Broadway and The Pageant),
Michael is playing a base guitar. Daniel is playing his fiddle. Now Parker's
band has a drummer too. It was a pleasure to chat with Parker a bit back stage.
He will be traveling to Indianapolis next where he will connect with Megan for
Thanksgiving. We talked a bit about his new found friendship with fellow musician
Sir Elton John. We talked about the weather. We talked about the bra-wall
backstage. Parker keeps up the pace and the expenses down, He has an easy
conversational style and is used to amateur smart phone photographers like
me. It was great to see Parker again.
Parker grew up in the tiny
town of Purcell, OK where he regularly attended a Pentacostal church with his
family for most of his youth. He doesn’t consider himself very religious but
the experiences with religion have have had an impact on his songwriting and
his sound. He blends fire and brimstone with rock, country and blues. He is a
story teller.
I stayed to hear JJ Grey and Mofro as well. Grey
and his current Mofro lineup offer grace and groove in equal measure, with an
easygoing quality to the production that makes those beautiful muscular
drum-breaks sound as though the band has set up in your living room.