IAN PARKER
IS AT THE 2008 INTERNATIONAL BLUES CHALLENGE -
Watch Ian Parker from the
UK is featured on Memphis, TN Channel 3 at the International
Blues Challenge - GOOD LUCK IAN!
Expressed through a distinctive
bitter-sweet vocal delivery and harrowing guitar work,
Ian’s songs hold nothing back. His ability and
willingness to share with his audience, naked honesty
and genuine emotion, is what sets him apart.
Drawing on an eclectic
range of influences, this young man is fast becoming
Britain’s best loved blues/roots performer. A songwriter
genuinely literate, sometimes almost literary, Ian is an
original craftsman rooted in the blues but not trapped
by any desire to replicate the past. He is without doubt
a relevant contemporary blues man.
Ian signed to Ruf
Records following a personal introduction to US record
producer, David Z (Prince – Purple Rain). His debut
album ‘INSIDE’
(Ruf1094)
was released in October 2003.
“ I was truly honoured to be
involved in this project.” David Z
In March 2004, Ian
appeared on Germany’s top live music TV show,
‘Rockpalast’ as part of the ‘Crossroads Festival’. Ian
and his band were voted the number one act of the
festival and a live DVD of this incendiary performance
was released in June 2005, entitled
‘…WHILST
THE WIND’
(Ruf3007).
In addition to the
DVD, a live album documenting Ian’s performance in
Hannover during his December 2004 European Tour, was
also released in June 2005 under the same title
(Ruf1102).
Both releases met with high critical acclaim and
continue to notch up impressive sales.
In September 2005,
Ian wrote and recorded five songs for a Ruf Records
project album, ‘PILGRIMAGE’
(Ruf1112) which was
recorded in Clarksdale, Mississippi and Memphis,
Tennessee, and released in January 2006. The recording
of Pilgrimage, not only extended Ian’s touring
activities throughout Europe and importantly into the
US, it also had a profound effect on the artist’s
musical direction and focus.
On return from
America in September 2005, Ian began a lengthy artistic
process based around his rediscovery of the blues and
soul artists who had inspired him to begin playing as a
teenager. This period of consolidation culminated in the
recording of the album
‘WHERE
I BELONG’
(Ruf1120), released in
January 2007.
‘WHERE
I BELONG’
was recorded in Cheltenham, England and produced by Matt
Butler, whose extensive CV includes none other than Sir
Paul McCartney. Recorded analogue to tape, the album has
the rich and warm sonic characteristics associated with
the pre-digital age, but there is nothing retro about
this release. ‘WHERE
I BELONG’
has something for all blues fans,
purists and progressives alike. It catalogues the
pronounced growth and self-discovery of a modern blues
artist who is here to stay.
Artists Roster
