Brooke Parrott

My brand new EP, ‘Buried’, will be officially out on June 1 and I’m really excited to share the artwork with you:

The layout was designed by Brittain Ashford, and the photo was taken by my mother Brenda Monroe when she worked for the forest service in the 70s.  The view is from her lookout tower on Prairie Mountain, where she kept an eye out for forest fires, often not seeing another person for days at a time.  In this photo, she’s looking out towards Oregon’s wondrous Three Sisters Mountains — on a clear day she could see all the way to the ocean in the other direction.

Something about the photo spoke to me - the solitude, the contemplation.  It fits the EP beautifully, and once you hear it, I hope you’ll agree.

Next week I’m headed to Europe on tour with my band, Loch Lomond, for 4 weeks of touring.  Can’t wait!  Come check us out…

And here’s a preview of all the tracks from our forthcoming EP, “White Dresses”:

Loch Lomond-White Dresses EP Trailer from Jason Leonard on Vimeo.

Man, does it feel good to be home, if only for a few days at a time! Being out on the road really makes you appreciate the kindness of strangers – strangers that quickly become friends. After spending the last 3 weeks or so on the road by myself; filling up the tank countless times, stopping for free rest stop coffee (yuck), and sleeping on any couch, air-mattress, or spare bed I could find, I’m back in Portland for a few days.

A 15 date tour that spanned from Eugene up to Vancouver, BC, and from Port Townsend, WA to Coeur D’Alene, ID; I met loads of new people, and really felt my presence in the pacific Northwest start to solidify. Thanks to a lot of press from local publications and radio stations, I had a fair number of people coming out because they read about me in the paper, or because their friend told them I was “not to miss”. Such validation from these wonderful, enthusiastic people!

I’ve uploaded a photo album from the tour - click through to see my notes about each place!

Next month I’ll be touring in California and Oregon (tour dates posted soon), working my way up to the Oregon Country Fair (!!), where I’ll be playing on Saturday at the Blue Moon Stage (1pm), and Sunday at the Shady Grove stage (11am). Hope all you fair-goers can make it!

Plus, I have some very exciting news that I’ll be able to announce in the next few weeks, so stay tuned…

Here’s a video of my best Stevie Nicks impersonation – singing ‘Dreams’ with friends The Shants at Cafe DuNord in San Francisco.

The Shants - Dreams (with Brooke Parrott) from skip on Vimeo.

Brooke

The Vinyl District recently asked me to write about my first and most influential albums, which is here in a post called “My First Record”… have a read!

Also, check out my May tour dates below - hope to see you at a show!

• 13 April, The Woods, Portland, OR
• 2 May, Comet Tavern, Seattle, WA
• 3 May, Calypsos, Coeur D’Alene, ID
• 4 May, TBC, Sandpoint, ID
• 5 May, Gibliano Brothers, Spokane, WA
• 6 May, Cebu Lounge, Hood River, OR - w/ Chris Marshall
• 7 May, The Granary, Eugene, OR - w/ Chris Marshall
• 14 May, Clockworks Cafe, Salem, OR - w/ Josh and Mer
• 17 May, Railway Cafe, Vancouver, BC
• 18 May, The Cabin Tavern, Bellingham, WA
• 19 May, The Mandolin Cafe, Tacoma, WA
• 20 May, Hi-Fidelity Lounge, Bremerton, WA
• 21 May, Boiler Room, Port Townsend, WA
• 22 May, Port Townsend Brewing Co, Port Townsend, WA
• 30 May, Spindrift Cellars, Philomath, OR

There may be no place like home, but it sure is fun to be on the road for a while!  Over the last 2 1/2 weeks, I toured from Seattle all the way down to Los Angeles, and had a riot playing shows and meeting new people along the way.  After playing a show in San Francisco, a chance encounter landed me singing a Fleetwood Mac song with a band called The Shants at Cafe Du Nord in SF, which was fun (and also nerve-wracking, because I don’t know the verse lyrics very well).  There I met the great boys of Truth & Salvage Co. (see them live if you get the chance!) who invited me to come see them play a show in Big Sur.  Such a beautiful place, I’m gonna have to go back there during the day sometime!

I made a video of the tour, to the tune of a cover song we recorded while in LA:

San Francisco show at Connecticut Yankee:

Farther south, I got a little sun and songwriting fix in LA, doing a co-write with the lovely Alysse Fischer.  Alysse is working on her first album, which will be recorded in April with my great friend and producer Wes Switzer.  We had a lot of fun writing, and got a catchy-as-hell song out of it.

After more exciting stuff in LA (which I leave you to guess at!), there was an early morning departure to drive back to Oregon.  I’m so thrilled to be back on this beautiful coast and getting to spend more time collaborating with all of my amazing musicians friends.  I’m planning several other tours for this year (on both sides of the pond!), so stay tuned…

Brooke

Hello!  Did you all have a nice holiday and new years?  Hope so.

I’ve been busy busy busy getting my life settled back in the US for the time being.  It’s easy to forget how many small details need to be taken care of!  New (old) car, getting a phone, apartments… crazy.

After spending some time writing in Eugene, I finally got up to Portland a week ago, and Portland seems to have welcomed me with open arms.  Everyone has such a collaborative spirit, it’s so refreshing and inspiring!  Last week I went to check out one of the best recording studios in Portland - Jackpot!.  Some amazing people have worked at the studio - Elliott Smith, Jenny Lewis, M. Ward, She & Him, Richmond Fontaine, Sleater-Kinney, Cat Power, The Decemberists.  I could go on and on!

Finally, I’ll be doing a West coast tour with fantastic band The Lighthouse and the Whaler in March!  I’ll post dates/cities here (on the “Shows” page) as they get finalized in the next week or so.

Thanks for the support!  So excited about everything that’s going on right now.

Brooke

After 3 years living and playing music in London, it’s time to head back to the good ol’ US of A.  I’ll be relocating to the up-and-coming music town of Portland, Oregon to work on my second album.  I’ll also be touring a lot around the US, so if you want me to come play near you, let me know!

It’s been an amazing ride, and some 40+ London shows, including some unforgettable ones with Lauren Pritchard, Robert Forster (Go-Betweens), John Parish, Treetop Flyers, Darrel Scott, Kimmie Rhodes, Annie & the Beekeepers, and many more.  Thanks goes to all you Londoners who came out to support me time and again!  I’ll be back to tour in support of my new album next year.

My last show in London will be on November 23, at The Slaughtered Lamb, with The Wooden Sky.

Here are some unreleased tracks to say thanks!

This deserves it’s own post!!  A few months ago, I started my project on Pledge Music to raise funds to put towards my second album, and all my friends, fans, and family have been so supportive of the project.  I can’t thank you all enough for your kindness - monetary and otherwise - it’s such an amazing feeling to have you all with me throughout this process.

If you missed the deadline, you can still preorder the album here until it’s released next year.

Hey!

I just got back to London from my tour in the NW of the US and the showcase I played in New Orleans.  It was an absolutely amazing experience, and a lot of exciting things have come of it, some of which I hope to be able to share with you soon!  Thank you so much to everyone who came out to support me and my music - I had such a blast.

As most of you know, I am working on a new album, which is likely to cost well over $10,000 for studio, musician, and producer costs.  I was able to record my first album, ‘Another City’, very inexpensively by recording in the middle of the night, and with the help of many friends from Berklee College of Music.  This time, I don’t have those resources at my disposal, and I need your help!

So… I’m using a site called Pledge Music, where you can preorder the new CD, or choose from a menu of other things I thought you might like.  You can just donate if you prefer!  When you order any of these items, you will get a copy of the new CD when it’s done, as well as access to exclusive updates, videos, and songs that I’ll be posting throughout the process.  You do need to create a user account, but the site is secure and your credit card won’t be charged until the project has reached it’s target.  There’s a video on the project page explaining the concept:

Pledge here: http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/brookeparrott

I am so excited to share these new songs with you, and I hope that you will take the time to check out my project on Pledge Music.  I could not continue to make music if it weren’t for your support over the years — I can’t thank you enough!  Please don’t hesitate to let me know if you have any questions.

See a live video of my new song ‘If You Don’t Know’ (featuring old bandmates Wes and Asha!) by clicking here.

For Londoners, my first show back in town is at the Slaughtered Lamb next Wednesday, Sept. 8th, with long-time friend Annie & the Beekeepers.

Thank you so much!

Brooke

On Monday, I played a show with John Parish at Monto Water Rats in London - definitely one of my favorite gigs in London to date.  Not only did loads of my lovely friends and fans come out to support me, but it was just a great atmosphere in general; everyone seemed to be out for the enjoyment of it all.  In a scene that can sometimes be filled with I’ve-seen-it-all-nothing-impresses-me types, it was so refreshing to have such an enthusiastic and musically-appreciative crowd.  I truly enjoyed playing the show and talking to everyone afterwards!

Photo credit: Devin Hunt

In other exciting news, today I got my copy of Maverick Magazine in the mail!  Inherently enough exciting by itself, this one happens to contain a two page feature on me.  It’s really nicely written, and I’m so pleased that they chose to write about me and my music.  Some quotes, as written by Laura Bethell:

“A devastatingly gorgeous debut”

“A warm passionate voice that is soft in approach and straight to the point in tone”

“Another song on the album, Rest, shoots sparks through the soul with its sentimentality and a story that is stirring”

If you’d like to get your own copy of the article, just go to Maverick’s website and use the code MAV971 to get a discount.