Parachute

From informal high school gatherings where they experimented with music, the pop ensemble Parachute out of Charlottesville, Virginia built their way up to securing contracts with prominent record companies through persistent grassroots promotion. Having known each other since childhood, these musicians refined their blend of rock, funk, and modern blue-eyed soul across multiple releases on various major labels during the closing years of the 2000s and the opening of the 2010s, culminating in an independently issued, self-named collection in 2019.

In the year 2006, while still attending high school, the group of longtime companions—Will Anderson handling vocals and guitar, Johnny Stubblefield on drums, Christopher "Kit" French managing saxophone and keyboards, Alex Hargrave playing bass, and Nate McFarland on guitar—formed what was then called Sparky's Flaw. Local interest grew steadily, leading to increased favor at the adjacent University of Virginia campus, where they served as support for Robert Randolph. Following the success of their independently put out EP titled One Small Step from 2005, which broadened their reach, they aligned with Red Light Management and subsequently inked a deal with Smash Records, a subsidiary under the reactivated Mercury Records label.

Prior to commencing their last year of studies at the University of Virginia, Sparky's Flaw put out a self-titled EP during August 2007 and started preparing for a complete album project. Several months afterward, they switched their moniker to Parachute and supplied a track for a nationwide television advertisement campaign promoting Nivea. Their first major-label project, Losing Sleep, came out in May 2009 via Island/Def Jam, achieving a peak position of number 40 on the Billboard rankings. That autumn saw them supporting Kelly Clarkson on tour and making an appearance on the online program Live at Daryl's House alongside Daryl Hall. The next year involved further live performances, among them more shows with Clarkson as well as a headline tour joined by British songwriter Joe Brooks.

The group started incorporating fresh material into their live performances and eventually headed back into the recording studio for their second full-length effort, The Way It Was, which arrived in 2011. Their third studio album, Overnight from 2013 and issued through Mercury, steered them deeper into pop territory and achieved their best chart performance to date by landing at number 15 on Billboard's Top 200. Ahead of their subsequent record, the exits of bassist Hargrave and guitarist McFarland reduced Parachute to a three-piece lineup. The core members collaborated once more with veteran producer John Fields to finalize work on their fourth album, Wide Awake, which saw release in the beginning of 2016 under the Vanguard imprint.

Throughout 2017 the band maintained an active touring schedule and reconvened in 2019 to put out their fifth collection, bearing the straightforward title Parachute. This project emerged as a self-released effort in May after several preceding singles highlighted its standout tracks.