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Al Parrish grew up in Toronto singing in church choirs and playing tuba in the high school band. A friend convinced him to join an after-school rock band by saying, "You play tuba, you could play bass," . So he did. His musical experience covers everything from pop, country, bluegrass, rockabilly, and rock & roll to heavy metal.
In 1989 that repertoire grew to include folk/roots when he and three friends created Brean Derg Muc, a Toronto-based, pseudo-Irish band that took the Ontario folk festival scene by storm and saw two years of brilliant success. Al's fondness for folk music outlasted the band, and after several years of freelancing with October Browne, Kirk Elliot, Aaron Solomon, Cape Breton singer/songwriter David Stone and many others, he was invited to join Tanglefoot and began playing with the band in January 1994. His arrival brought about a major infusion of energy for which Tanglefoot became known. Al plays a Lou Currah double bass nicknamed "The Beautiful Joe".
Since Tanglefoot's last UK tour and their final farewell concert at the end of 2009, Al hasn't been sitting still, he's been working on his solo repertoire including some of his own newly written songs, a new CD and getting out there gigging. Not only does he play his beloved hand-built stand-up bass, but he also plays acoustic guitar... and sings, of course.
What to expect from an evening with Al Parrish: bags of stage presence for starters, a few tall stories, fabulous singing, good humour, some Tanglefoot songs, of course, but also a wide repertoire of traditional and contemporary songs from 'MacCrimmon's Lament' (in Gaelic) to 'When the Bass Players Took Over the World' via 'White Squall' , 'Fall Down Like the Rain' and Stephen Foster's 'Hard Times' with additional verses by Al.
www.alparrish.ca
