Michael Parrish

The Michael Parrish Band, a country-blues ensemble, featured singer, guitarist and keyboardist Parrish alongside guitarists Chris Hansen and Jonny Sheehan, bassist Joe Engravalle, and drummer Tommy Kaelin. Born in the Bay Area, Parrish first headed to Chicago, where he served as pianist for blues vocalist B.B. Odum; producer and folklorist Tim Duffy then encouraged him to relocate to North Carolina and take part in field recordings that later appeared on the Music Maker label’s audiophile blues series. Following tours alongside Guitar Gabriel and Big Boy Henry, Parrish contributed seven tracks to the 1995 LP A Living Past: The Music Maker Patron Sampler and, later the same year, to Came So Far and Guitar Gabriel, Vol. 1. He and Duffy also performed together as the folk duo the Puritans. After promoting his self-released 1995 debut solo album Automobility on the Geographic Records imprint, Parrish moved back to New York City and assembled a group that included ex-Other Half musicians Hansen and Engraville, former Hatters drummer Kaelin, and part-time songwriter Sheehan; once the Michael Parrish Band issued their 1997 album Beautiful Rocks, the unit appeared on multiple dates of the H.O.R.D.E. tour.