There were undoubtedly many factors that led Alabama folk singer Abby Parks into the craft of songwriting. One was her Southern heritage, born to a mother whose native Georgia roots made for a rich story-telling tradition that fueled Abby’s imagination from a young age and gave her a back-door appreciation for the art of oral tradition. Add to this an inborn passion for music, originally sparked by listening to popular radio of the seventies and old vinyl LP’s of great artist...
There were undoubtedly many factors that led Alabama folk singer Abby Parks into the craft of songwriting. One was her Southern heritage, born to a mother whose native Georgia roots made for a rich story-telling tradition that fueled Abby’s imagination from a young age and gave her a back-door appreciation for the art of oral tradition. Add to this an inborn passion for music, originally sparked by listening to popular radio of the seventies and old vinyl LP’s of great artists such as Joni Mitchell, The Beatles, CSNY, Fleetwood Mac, and Judy Collins. Top that off with a life spent moving with her family from the age of ten onwards to live in a vast array of locations including Maryland, Colorado, Germany, and even England—and you have the necessary ingredients to create a colorful variety of story songs drawing on family, culture, and music tradition.
Parks developed a great affection for songs she’d heard that were in the folk and songwriting traditions. Lyrics that told stories and delved deeper into the human psyche than typical pop songs gave her a desire to take her music in that direction. She started writing songs in college, but by the time she had moved to the U.K. with her family in 1995, Parks had enough songs under her belt to begin performing live and she ventured onto Danny Kyle’s stage in 2000 at the Celtic Connections Festival in Glasgow, Scotland. Finally settling in Oxford, Alabama, Parks released her debut CD Moving On in 2005 and performed throughout the southeast in venues ranging from coffeehouses and churches to theaters, clubs, and festivals.
As her songwriting matured, Parks turned her attention to the rich Southern heritage she could lay claim to, having reacquainted herself with the South (her family left Atlanta, Georgia when she was only ten). Stories told to her throughout her life about her family’s background became the source for many of her songs off her latest CD The Homeplace, including the title track “The Homeplace,” “Lambert Road,” and “Wild Dogs.” Recorded at Huntsville’s Sound Cell Studio, The Homeplace was produced with the help of Doug Jansen Smith (Take 6, Brian McKnight, Willie Nelson, Bonnie Raitt, Phil Collins). The CD features imaginative instrumentation accompanying her unique finger-style guitar playing, creating an evocative atmosphere for Parks to spin reflective narratives in song.
Abby Parks is a member of the Folk Alliance and the Roots Music Association. She has had airplay on public, college, and internet radio nationwide. She has also taught the guitar professionally for 15 years.
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