* En anglais uniquement
Americana singer/songwriter
Anders Parker has recorded as the alt-country act
Varnaline and played in the experimental band Space Needle as well as going under his own name. He's also collaborated with such artists as
Kendall Meade (
Mascott) and
Jay Farrar (
Son Volt). Based in Brooklyn,
Parker grew up on an old farm in New York's Hudson Valley listening to
Bob Dylan,
ABBA,
R.E.M.,
the Replacements,
Hüsker Dü, and
the Smiths. He began releasing records as
Varnaline in 1996, starting with
Man of Sin on Zero Hour. The following year
Varnaline included
Anders' bass-playing brother John Parker and drummer Jud Ehrbar, who convinced
Anders to play in Ehrbar's band Space Needle. After the folding of
Varnaline's record label,
Anders relocated to North Carolina and signed to E-Squared/Artemis Records and issued
Songs in a Northern Key in 2001, which was mainly a solo effort under the
Varnaline name. The solo album
Tell It to the Dust followed in 2004. In addition to a collaboration with
Jay Farrar called
Gob Iron,
Parker released a self-titled album in 2006 under his own name on Baryon Records. He recruited
Adam Lasus, who co-produced the second
Varnaline and Space Needle records (as well as
Clem Snide and
Helium). The album featured
Ken Coomer (
Wilco) on drums,
Eric Heywood (
Son Volt) on pedal steel,
Jennifer Condos on bass, and
Kirk Swan (
Dumptruck) on guitar. In 2011,
Parker hooked up with
Farrar,
My Morning Jacket's Yim Yames, and
Centro-Matic's
Will Johnson to record an album of previously unrecorded
Woody Guthrie lyrics.
New Multitudes was released in early 2012 by Rounder Records. ~ Kenyon Hopkin