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FREE CREEKSIDE CONCERT: CHARLIE PARR

Thursday, July 16, 2026, 7:00 PM
Snow Fork Event Center

Stuart鈥檚 Opera House is excited to welcome you to the Snow Fork Event Center (home of the Nelsonville Music Festival) on Thursday, July 16, 2026, for a FREE performance by Charlie Parr at the Creekside Stage!

This FREE Creekside Concert is made possible thanks to the generous support of OHIO Live and the Baird Brothers Foundation.

ABOUT CHARLIE PARR

In the music of Charlie Parr, there is a sincere conviction and earnest drive to create. The Minnesota-born guitarist, songwriter, and interpreter of traditional music has released 19 albums over two decades and has been known to perform up to 275 shows a year. Parr is a folk troubadour in the truest sense: taking to the road between shows, writing and rewriting songs as he plays, fueled by a belief that music is eternal and cannot be claimed or adequately explained. The bluesman poet pulls closely from the sights and sounds around him, his lyrical craftsmanship built by his influences. The sounds from his working-class upbringing鈥攊ncluding Folkways legends such as Lead Belly and Woody Guthrie鈥攊mbue Parr鈥檚 music with stylistic echoes of blues and folk icons of decades past. Parr sees himself merely as a continuer of a folk tradition: 鈥淚 feel like I stand on a lot of big shoulders,鈥� he said in an interview. 鈥淚 hope that I鈥檝e brought a little bit of myself to the music.鈥�

With a discography simultaneously transcendental in nature and grounded in roots music, Charlie Parr is the humble master of the 21st century folk tradition. Parr started recording in Duluth in 2002, where he lives today. Life in the port town on Lake Superior has a way of bleeding into his work the same way his childhood in Austin, Minnesota does. Parr self-released his debut album, Criminals and Sinners, and did the same for his sophomore album 1922 (2002). With growing popularity abroad, Parr signed with Red House Records in 2015, where he recorded break-out albums Stumpjumper (2015) and Dog (2017). Parr鈥檚 music has an overwhelming sense of being present and mindful, and his sound is timeless.

Parr鈥檚 mastery of his craft is only more apparent when contextualized within the history of folk tradition of which Parr has dedicated his practice The land and lives around and intersecting with Parr have always influenced him, from the hills and valleys of Hollandale, Minnesota to the Depression-era stories from his father. Parr strives to listen to everything: 鈥淚 don鈥檛 see that I鈥檇 ever be capable of creating anything if it weren鈥檛 for these inspirations and influences, books and music as well as the weather and random interactions with strangers and animals. So, the well never runs dry as long as my eyes and ears are open,鈥� Parr said in a 2020 interview. Before he was even 10 years old Parr was rummaging through his father鈥檚 record collection鈥攕ometimes drawing dinosaurs on the vinyl sleeves鈥攁nd listening to country, folk, and blues legends, many of whom are staples in the Folkways catalog. When Parr sings and plays his resonator or 12-string, you can hear influences like Mance Lipscomb, Charley Patton, Spinder John Koerner, Rev. Gary Davis, and Dock Boggs. This is especially true in his playing, when, after a diagnosis of focal dystonia, Parr turned to greats like Davis, Doc Watson, and Booker White for two-finger picking inspiration. Gifted a 1965 Gibson B-45 12-string by his father, Parr has never had a formal lesson and learned by to listening records and watching musicians he admired.

Parr鈥檚 first album with Smithsonian Folkways, Last of Better Days Head (2021), foregrounded his lyrical craftsmanship and sophisticated bluesman confidence, with spare production highlighting Parr鈥檚 mastery of guitar and elevating his poetry. Last of Better Days Ahead is a portrait of how Parr saw the world in that moment, reflecting on time and memories that have past while holding an enduring desire to be present. In his 2024 release, Little Sun, Parr weaves together stories celebrating music, community, and communing with nature. Putting forth an ambitious and raw album that exemplifies the best of Parr鈥檚 sound: a blend of the blues and folk traditions he continues to carry with him and the steadfast originality of a poet.

WEATHER POLICY

In the event of severe weather, the outdoor Creekside Concert will be moved from Snow Fork Event Center to Stuart鈥檚 Opera House at 52 Public Square, Nelsonville, OH 45764. We will notify the public via social media by 2 pm day of show with any venue changes. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.