Charlie Parr's New Music Video for "Boombox" Celebrates the Power of Music
Underground Roots DIY Legend Reflects on Life and Releases First-Ever Non-Live Album, Little Sun
Charlie Parr, the celebrated underground roots DIY legend, has released the official music video for his new song, "Boombox," which premiered at Rolling Stone alongside an in-depth interview. The video, directed and animated by Kev Craven, celebrates the unique and meaningful relationships people have with music.
Watch “Boombox” by Charlie Parr
"Boombox" is from Parr's acclaimed new album, Little Sun, which was released last month via Smithsonian Folkways. The album, produced by close friend and collaborator Tucker Martine (Sufjan Stevens, The Decemberists, My Morning Jacket), finds Parr reflecting on the world and people around him. Notably, it's his first-ever album to not be recorded entirely live.
Parr has been relentlessly on the road for the past two decades, earning his reputation as an underground DIY legend. He will continue to tour through this fall, including headline shows at Minneapolis' First Avenue, St. Louis' The Old Rock House, Little Rock's White Water Tavern, Kansas City's recordBar, and Madison's The Edgewater Hotel, among many others.
In addition to Parr (vocals, guitar, harmonica), Little Sun features highly acclaimed guitarist Marisa Anderson, background vocals from Anna Tivel, and Andrew Borger (drums, percussion), Asher Fulero (piano, Hammond, keys), and Victor Krummenacher (electric bass, upright bass, bass VI).
Parr has released eighteen albums since his 2002 debut, including Last of the Better Days Ahead in 2021, which was praised by No Depression as "chock full of memories and energy with a sprightly sense of adventure." In addition to his work as a musician, Parr also released his debut novel, Last of the Better Days Ahead, in the fall of 2022.
Born in Austin, MN and now based in Duluth, MN, Parr has eighteen albums since his 2002 debut including 2021’s Last of the Better Days Ahead, of which No Depression praised, “They don’t make them like Parr anymore—the sponge-like folk troubadour that imparts all he’s absorbed, beckoning us closer to sit cross-legged at his feet and listen, and to find crumbs of our own stories within his.”