Jess Parker is a very rare talent indeed with her mesmerising powerful vocal delivery and that fuzzed out guitar she has been dishing up Tarantino-esque Desert Blues and dark Australiana since hitting the Melbourne Blues scene just a few short years ago.
Her musical influences started out in the cradle with a diet of Motown records on speed dial from an awesome rhythm and blues singing Mother and a lighting
technician Father working with all the Aussie Rock bands through the 80’s and 90’s. ‘I don’t know if this was done on purpose but this combination of worlds is deeply rooted in the Blues and began my long obsession and fascination with the Blues. It wasn’t until my older brother Harley started playing guitar around the house when I was 10 that I realised I was inevitably headed down the musical path too. I would regularly pick up his guitar when he was at work, listen to old records and the radio and try to play along. I’ve never really stopped doing that.’
Jess is as generous a musician as she is a person and when pushed on advice to musicians starting the journey said ‘To anyone doing anything creative is to listen to yourself. Feel your way through the process yourself. There is no right or wrong way of playing as there are no boundaries when you are your own teacher’
Jess is not only an innovator in music but also in life. With her friend Cal Skimmin, she recently brought to life the Castlemaine Blues Club
which happens on the first Monday of every month at The Castlemaine Bowling Club. Blues artists of the highest calibre have already featured and there is a great line up of talent waiting in the wings. ‘I love the community I live in now and am so grateful to all my Goldfields Musical family and in particular to Colin Thompson (Director) and the crew at The Bendigo Blues and Roots Music Festival and to all my pals at The Castlemaine Blues Club.’
Her sole purpose in life is to share music with others and to bask in the cathartic experience of simultaneously giving and receiving in performance. ‘It is the thing that makes me feel the most connected with humanity.’
Jess Parker and The Troubled Waters are appearing at The 2019 Bendigo Blues and Roots Music Festival, for all the latest updates check out www.bendigobluesandroots.com.au
