Songwriter Spotlight: Michael C. Parris
Michael C. Parris (left) pictured with interviewer, Chee Chee Daniels-McGirt (right)
We sat down with Michael C. Parris to talk about his upcoming album release party and debut album Honey Bee. Michael’s solo project features an amazing group of Nashville musicians known as The 9 Finger Chicken String Band featuring Andy Leftwich, Chris Donohue, Benjamin Bynum, Viola Krouse, Krista Jo, Chrissy Strong, Will Kayuk, and Peter Rogan. Many of the musicians will be making the trek to Greensboro for the album release show at Oden Brewing Company on October 15th.
“I started playing music here (Oden) when Bryan started hosting Open Mic,” Parris recalls. “I started posting a lot of my songs to Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram and quite a few people from Nashville heard those. And I was lucky enough to have a lot of crazy things happen and get an album deal. And not only did I get an album deal, but I was able to work with some great musicians out of Nashville. One who's been a mentor to me is Will Kimbrough. He's in the Red Dirt Boys, which is Emmylou Harris’s band.”
Will Kimbrough is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer based in Nashville, Tennessee. He has produced many albums including Shemekia Copeland, Jimmy Buffett and more. “(He) really helped me become an artist,” Parris says of the Nashville producer. Kimbrough will not be at the show on the 15th but Emmylou’s bass player, Chris Donohue, Grammy award winning Andy Leftwich, and renowned harmonica player Benjamin Bynum will all be making the trip to Greensboro. “So we're going to have a lot of the band from Nashville back, and a lot of that probably wouldn't have happened if it weren't for this open mic,” Parris reflects.
Parris is from Randleman, well right below Randleman, North Carolina. “A little town called Millboro. There's a guy there named Richard Petty.” Parris elaborates, “We’re related, I’m his 4th cousin. So coming up, that was my big thing, you know, being related to Richard Petty.” Parris even has a song on the album inspired by the famous NASCAR driver titled, “Just This Southern Drawl,” which speculates “what Richard Petty’s cousin would have been doing during the old moonshining days,” says Parris.
“Don’t take yourself too seriously and always look on the bright side”
Parris began writing songs during his time in the Peace Corps in Jamaica. Parris includes “Big Time,” one of the songs he wrote while in the Peace Corps on his debut album Honey Bee. “Big Time” is from the perspective of a bootlegger on the run. It's just one example of how Parris is able to embody and imagine perspectives different from his own. Parris describes his debut album as, “something everyone can enjoy.” Listeners of Honey Bee can expect to hear nods to traditional country music, bluegrass, roots-rock and folk. “Each song tells a story,” Parris says of the album.
Parris has been attending Open Mic with Bryan Toney (Sundays at Oden Brewing from 6-9) since the beginning. He says as a songwriter who was used to playing at home in front of friends and family, coming to Open Mic felt like joining a community. Parris went on to include that Bryan Toney plans to play a set during the Honey Bee release party. He encourages anyone who may be interested in getting into songwriting or attending open mic to not be “afraid to share your truth and to not try to be like anyone else.”
Find out more about Michael C. Parris and stream Honey Bee at www.michealcparris.com. Just make sure you remember to include the “C” as Michael Parris without the C is actually a reggae singer.