Last night I had the privilege of interviewing my friend Parke Cottrell. Over the next week I'll be posting our conversation in three parts. The reason for posting the interview is my desire for more people to get to know this talented guy. Parke recently recorded his first CD, "Wake Up and Wake Up", which I was able to hear in his car before sitting down at Starbucks' patio to chat.
The album is labeled on his band's MySpace page as alternative/indie/rock, but under the production skills of Chad Robison the album evades all classification. Listening to one song makes me daydream that I'm skateboarding back in the 80s, while another song summons the spirit of John Mayer. Textually, I felt like I could be listening to something of a indie-rock opera. There's a lot of unabashed, unapologetic, heart on the sleeve music here. And I love it, probably because I know the dude who wrote it, and I know he's the real thing.
With its tasty arrangements, musical prowess, and pleasingly unpredictable melodies, this album will find steady rotation on many an iPod once it becomes available.
Parke's band is called The Brotherhood, and is made up of some young guys with steady chops. Visit their MySpace page. And if they show up near you, go see them.
Labels:
Interview,
Parke Cottrell
