Lee Roy Parnell

Emerging from a long tradition of eclectic Texas musicians steeped in roots traditions, Lee Roy Parnell wove together raw honky-tonk, barroom rock and roll, blues, boogie, Western swing, blue-eyed soul, and intermittent gospel touches. In contrast to many stylistically elusive performers, he achieved tangible success on the country charts during the early 1990s. Born December 21, 1956, in Abilene, Texas, he spent his childhood on his parents’ ranch; his father had traveled with a teenage Bob Wills through medicine shows, and Parnell made his first public appearance on Wills’ radio program at age six. During his teenage years he drummed in a local group before adding guitar and eventually specializing in slide technique. In his late teens he joined Kinky Friedman’s Texas Jewboys and relocated to Austin in 1974 to participate in the city’s emerging music community.

For more than ten years he performed in clubs across Austin, Houston, and the Dallas/Fort Worth area while refining both his playing and songwriting; he also married and maintained a daytime radio job. In 1987 he relocated to Nashville, promptly securing a publishing deal and a recurring slot at the Bluebird Café. Arista’s Nashville division signed him in 1989, and the following year he issued his self-titled debut album, a set of horn-driven country-soul. Although it earned favorable notices, commercial breakthrough remained elusive until 1992’s Love Without Mercy, which largely eliminated the horns in favor of spotlighting his slide guitar. “What Kind of Fool Do You Think I Am” and “Tender Moment” both climbed to number two on the country charts, while the title track reached the Top Ten. On the Road, released in 1993, yielded two further Top Ten singles with its title track and “I’m Holding My Own,” and his duet with Ronnie Dunn of Brooks & Dunn on Hank Williams’ “Take These Chains from My Heart” landed in the Top 20.

We All Get Lucky Sometimes arrived in 1995 and reflected a modest adjustment toward country-radio expectations, incorporating collaborations with Trisha Yearwood, Mary Chapin Carpenter, and Tex-Mex accordionist Flaco Jimenez. The album produced two Top Five hits: “A Little Bit of You” and “Heart’s Desire.” Commercially underwhelming, 1997’s Every Night’s a Saturday Night became Parnell’s final original release for Arista, which followed his exit with the 1999 compilation Hits and Highways Ahead. He subsequently joined the roots-oriented Vanguard label, making his debut for the imprint with 2001’s Tell the Truth. Returning to the studio in 2006, he released Back to the Well, which peaked at number ten on Billboard’s blues chart. After a hiatus exceeding a decade, he resumed activity in August 2017 with Midnight Believer.