Mel Parsons

Mel Parsons
Background information
Birth name Mel Parsons
Born (1981-10-21) 21 October 1981[1]
Westport, New Zealand[1][2]
Genres Indie folk, alternative country[3]
Occupation(s) Singer-songwriter, guitarist
Instruments Guitar, vocals
Years active 2007–present[4]
Labels Cape Road Recordings
Website melparsons.com

Mel Parsons (born 21 October 1981) is an indie folk and alternative country singer/songwriter from New Zealand.

Early life and education

Parsons grew up on a sheep and beef farm in Cape Foulwind, near Westport, on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island.[5][6] Parsons started out playing piano, and also picked up the guitar at about 14, finally getting serious in seventh form (about age 17) when applying for the Nelson School of Music.[7][8][4] After a year of music school, Parsons went overseas for a period, then returned to New Zealand to attend Auckland University, where she studied popular music and performance, along with history, anthropology and Spanish.[8]

Parsons has lived in various parts of the globe. She spent a year close to the Atacama Desert in Chile, and two years in the Rocky Mountains in Canada.[6][8][4]

Early influences on Parsons were Cat Stevens, Paul Simon, Mark Knopfler, The Police, Sinéad O'Connor, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Neil Young and Neil Diamond. Later influences were Tracy Chapman, Ray LaMontagne, Damien Rice, Gillian Welch, Ron Sexsmith, and The Shins.[9][10]

Career

In 2007, Parsons returned to New Zealand to start work on her first album. The album was written by Parsons, and recorded with co-producer Shaun Elley and her backing band The Rhythm Kings. The album Over My Shoulder was released in 2009.[11][12] Parsons created her own label, Cape Road Recordings, releasing her album independently while using the New Zealand music firm Border Music for distribution.[1] All of her albums have been released on her label.

In 2011, Parsons released her second studio album, Red Grey Blue, featuring Anika Moa and Greg Johnson on harmonies, Bruce Lynch on double bass, and Don McGlashan on baritone horn, along with others. The album was recorded in Studio One, Boatshed Studios, and The Spare Room, in Auckland, New Zealand.[13]

Parsons recorded her third studio album, Drylands at Surgery Studios. The album was engineered by Lee Prebble who along with mixing engineer Oliver Harmer, won the 2015 New Zealand Music Awards for best engineer for the album.[8] One of the songs Parsons wrote was a duet, and she decided to cold e-mail Ron Sexsmith to see if he would perform the other half of the song "Don't Wait", and he agreed. Another song on the album, "Get Out Alive", is the result of her writing about a dangerous car accident she was in where the car rolled four times and was totaled, but she walked out without serious injury, but found herself re-evaluating her life for a time.[14][15]

Parsons also performs rural woolshed tours across New Zealand with Amelia Dunbar and Emma Newborn (The Bitches Box).[5] Although she sometimes tours by herself, and sometimes with her backing band, she has also joined a large New Zealand performance collective, Fly My Pretties.[8][7] She also has toured Australia with Anika Moa. Parsons was invited to perform at the Folk Alliance International in 2014, 2015 and 2017.[16]

Personal life

Parsons currently lives in Canterbury, New Zealand at the foothills of the Southern Alps, an hour west of Christchurch.[6] She tours so frequently that she is rarely home.[6]

Recognition

Parsons was nominated for the following awards:

Parsons has won the following awards:

Discography

Albums

Over My Shoulder

Over My Shoulder
Studio album by Mel Parsons
Released 9 March 2009
Genre Indie folk
Length 39:12
Label Cape Road Recordings[12]
Producer Mel Parsons, David Long, Shaun Elley[12]
Mel Parsons chronology
Over My Shoulder
(2009)		 Red Grey Blue
(2011)

All tracks written by Mel Parsons[12].

No.TitleLength
1."Still Life"4:00
2."It's Been Good"4:38
3."Darlin' Darlin'"3:13
4."Pleasure & Pain"3:23
5."Against the Tide"4:10
6."Song for Mrs King"3:56
7."On Your Grave"3:40
8."Falling for You"4:46
9."Far Fetched Idea"2:53
10."Down in the Bar"2:36
11."You & I"1:57
Additional Production credits
  • All songs arranged by Mel Parsons and Shaun Elley[12]
Charts
Chart Peak position
NZ Top 40 Albums Chart —
Top 20 IMNZ Albums 16[21]

Red Grey Blue

Red Grey Blue
Studio album by Mel Parsons
Released 19 September 2011
Genre Indie folk, alternative country
Length 38:51
Label Cape Road Recordings
Producer Mel Parsons, Jeremy Toy[13]
Mel Parsons chronology
Over My Shoulder
(2009)		 Red Grey Blue
(2011)		 Drylands
(2015)

All tracks written by Mel Parsons, except where noted[13].

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."In My Heart" 3:02
2."I Won't Let You Down" 2:52
3."I'll Go"Parsons, Jeremy Toy3:11
4."Bones" 3:26
5."Damage" 3:39
6."Saturday Night" 4:22
7."Springtime Sun" 3:15
8."Things Will Get Good" 3:45
9."True Story" 3:32
10."We Will Find Love Again" 3:51
11."End of the Day" 3:56
Charts
Chart Peak position
NZ Top 40 Albums Chart 27[22]
Top 20 IMNZ Albums 8[23]

Drylands

Drylands
Studio album by Mel Parsons
Released 10 April 2015
Genre Indie folk, alternative country
Length 51:27[24]
Label Cape Road Recordings
Producer Mel Parsons, Gerry Paul[25]
Mel Parsons chronology
Red Grey Blue
(2011)		 Drylands
(2015)

All tracks written by Mel Parsons[25][2].

No.TitleLength
1."Far Away"3:37
2."Alberta Sun"4:15
3."Driving Man"4:33
4."Non Communicado"3:48
5."Don't Wait" (featuring Ron Sexsmith)3:43
6."Far North Coast"3:36
7."Good Together"3:22
8."Friend"4:34
9."Get Out Alive"3:45
10."Down So Long"4:17
11."First Sign of Trouble"4:18
12."Fireworks"2:48
13."Another City"4:51
Charts
Chart Peak position
NZ Top 40 Albums Chart 17[22]
Top 20 IMNZ Albums 1[26]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Mel Parsons – Interview". Under the Radar. 9 August 2010. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  2. 1 2 "Mel Parsons 'Drylands' Release Tour with Christof (NL)". eventfinda. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  3. ↑ "Mel Parsons". Mel Parsons. Archived from the original on 22 February 2018. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
  4. 1 2 3 Smith, Jacqueline (29 January 2010). "A stroke of folk". Entertainment. New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
  5. 1 2 Woolf, Amber-Leigh (30 March 2016). "Mel Parsons and 'Sons of a Bitch' to perform in Waikaia woolshed". stuff. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 McKee, Hannah (7 October 2015). "Mel Parsons tours iconic theatres with Fur Patrol's Julia Deans". The Dominion Post. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  7. 1 2 Reid, Wal (16 October 2016). "An Interview With Mel Parsons". NZ Entertainment Podcast. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 Dunstan, Robert. "Mel Parsons at Trinity Sessions – Friday 11 December". BSide Magazine. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  9. ↑ "Mel Parsons Newsletter Interview". Music.Net.NZ. 2 April 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  10. ↑ "Mel Parsons". New Zealand Music Commission. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
  11. ↑ "Mel Parsons & The Rhythm Kings". ObscureNZ. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 Over My Shoulder (CD liner). Mel Parsons. New Zealand: Cape Road Recordings. 2009. CRR081.
  13. 1 2 3 Red Grey Blue (CD liner). Mel Parsons. New Zealand: Cape Road Recordings. 2011. CRR082.
  14. ↑ "Finding the Balance Between the Pragmatic & the Poetic". The Music.com.au. 7 November 2016. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  15. ↑ Perkins, Mai (21 April 2015). "Review: Mel Parsons – Drylands". Pop Magazine. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
  16. ↑ "Mel Parsons Bio". Music.Net.NZ. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  17. ↑ Pease, Natalie (2010). "Found under 'folk'". New Zealand Musician. Vol. 15 no. 5. p. 18. ISSN 0114-9032. OCLC 173364583. Feb/Mar 2010. Lay summary.
  18. ↑ "Best Folk Album 2012". Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
  19. ↑ "Country Music Winners Announced". Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
  20. ↑ "2016 Music Managers Awards". MMF NZ (Press release). New Zealand. 14 May 2016. Retrieved 14 March 2017. The prize for 'Best Independent Tour' was awarded to Mel Parsons. Mel booked, promoted and performed her twenty-three date 'Drylands' Album Release Tour. If this was not enough she also arranged a five-date tour to some of New Zealand's most beautiful and iconic theatres with Julia Deans.
  21. ↑ "Top 20 IMNZ Albums – Week To 8 November 2012". Independent Music NZ. 29 November 2012. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
  22. 1 2 "Mel Parsons - Bio". Muzic.Net.NZ. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
  23. ↑ "Top 20 IMNZ Albums To 5 September 2013". Independent Music NZ. 23 September 2013. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
  24. ↑ "Drylands - Mel Parsons". AllMusic. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
  25. 1 2 Drylands (CD liner). Mel Parsons. New Zealand: Cape Road Recordings. 2015. CRR083.
  26. ↑ "Top 20 IMNZ Albums – Week To Thursday, 3 November 2016". Independent Music NZ. 11 November 2016. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
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