Jenn Rawling & Basho Parks - $6

Saturday, May 19, 2012

\"Where do albums like this come from and why do they take so long to get here? Breaking down the perimeters of folk, Americana, roots etc, this duo\'s sound is almost like nothing else. Stone cold killer stuff.\" - Midwest Record

Jenn Rawling, songwriter/guitarist and vintage American folk and old-time country singer, joins masterful string player & harmony singer Basho Parks in a partnership of formidable musical talent and palpable sympathy. Rawling\'s playful, poetic lyrics are enhanced by her sophisticated sense of phrasing and pace. Parks\' violin and viola support her message with compelling musical figures that echo and elaborate the meaning of each song. The duo\'s debut CD, Take The Air , is an emotionally rich recording which unfolds more gifts with each listen.

Wisconsin-born Rawling spent many summers working atop a firetower in the Mt. Hood wilderness. Wrapped in that isolation, Jenn was able to give focused attention to songwriting. She is an artist governed by intuition, tapped into the poetry of human life, who bides her time painting, gardening, cooking and admiring salamanders. \"I\'m inspired by nature\'s seasons, and these are my love songs to the moon and stars, ballads to the birth of flowers, and human expressions of love and loss,\" she explains.

Born to hippie idealists in an adobe hut seven miles shy of Colorado\'s Mt. Blanca, Basho Watson Parks comes to us from radical origins. From symphonies to punk bands, bluegrass barn storms to roma-gypsy trios, organic electronica chamber music to classic country, his twenty-six years of string-playing experience span a huge swath of musical genres. A session musician in the Portland area for the past five years, B.W. recorded with On the Stairs, Fast Rattler, Sara Jackson Holman, and Jenn Rawling in 2011. Basho plays the violin, viola, mandolin, ukulele, and guitar, providing backing vocals on most songs as well.