SPH Presents: Concerts in the Chapel: Clay Parker and Jodie James
With Jacob Furr and Gabe Wootton
Doors 6:30pm, Show 7:30pm
“Clay Parker and Jodi James are not an ‘act.’ They are two stellar performing songwriters making whatever sacrifice necessary to share their art… because they believe it's important. It is. Listen to 'em… let 'em move you… you’ll agree.” – Verlon Thompson
We agree, and welcome Clay and Jodie back to Concerts in the Chapel. Local friends Jacob Furr and Gabe Wootton will be opening. There will be a full bar available and the usual pickin’ party afterward so instruments welcome!
Before their artistic paths converged in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in late 2014, Parker and James roamed the musical landscape as lone troubadours, each nurturing their own raw and genuine sound. Now, almost a decade after their first long-distance co-writing collaborations, the distinct sound of the duo has maintained a minimalist yet mercurial quality -- in part by reflecting the ways the artists themselves have changed both together and as individuals. They jokingly refer to themselves as "a band without a name," yet it is this designation of two separate identities that best describes their particular synergy; and the sweetest harmony resides in their ability to abide their own personalities while creating something entirely fresh that is continuously evolving. As noted by Wide Open Country, “It’s an example of two capable solo acts combining forces to discover new ways to celebrate regional roots sounds while creating something markedly modern." With James' country-soul reactiveness and Parker's blue and winding reflectiveness, the resulting sound is a blackout bingo card of Americana.
Clay Parker and Jodi James create worlds within their records by populating each song with points of view that are archetypical yet unique. With their third official release, Your Very Own Dream, the pair hone this technique to a razor’s edge. Even while having abandoned the traditional acoustic arrangements of their previous releases The Lonesomest Sound That Can Sound (2018) and their self-titled debut EP (2016), the concoction is equal parts plaintive folk existentialism, blue-note bluster, prairie-fire idealism, and fever-dream ballad. They have again delivered compelling songs that solicit repeated listens to decode -- the kind where everyone ciphers a separate conclusion and every supposition is correct. With Your Very Own Dream, Parker and James cast a spell with lyrical riddles distilled into poignant realism. The listener is invited to pull at the thread of each story told without the promise of finding a tidy bow when they get to the end.