Parker Millsap is a young pup. He turned twenty-one earlier this year and he’s already released two albums. His literal holy roller testimonial “Truck Stop Gospel” has been getting significant attention on the Americana scene this year and he’s opened shows for Jason Isbell, Patty Griffin, and, on this occasion, James McMurtry. I decided to check out this young Okie singer/songwriter to see if he’s a contender, a pretender, or a guy that was just blessed with three minutes of inspiration.
Millsap’s songwriting influences include Lyle Lovett, Robert Earl Keen, Townes Van Zandt, John Prine, and Tom Waits – an exemplary set of role models for any young writer. He’s got just a tinge of red dirt gravel in his voice, just enough so he doesn’t sound like a displaced member of One Direction, despite his fresh scrubbed, wholesome appearance. Millsap was raised in a Pentecostal church, where speaking in tongues was as normal as passing the collection plate. That Pentecostal fervor informs his music – he can sing a straightforward ballad, but on the uptempo numbers, he howls and screams and bellows and throws his entire body into the music. He is a naturally unique and gifted performer.
The band is a simple three piece unit – Millsap plays guitar and harmonica, Daniel Fulks plays the fiddle and sings harmony, Michael Rose plucks on the stand-up bass. Every fiddler should look like Fulks, who has an extended beard that gives him that axe murderer/moonshiner look you want in hillbilly music. Despite his youth, Millsap is confident without being cocky. He can write confessional singer/songwriter material, cover traditional blues numbers, or rock the freight train boogie. At one point, I was worried that he didn’t have enough hooks to keep the set interesting. He then proved me wrong with “A Little Too Far,” a catchy lost love number that Jackson Browne could have written in 1975. He then displayed his emotional depth with an unreleased song called “Heaven Sent,” about a gay son writing a letter to his Baptist preacher father. Similarly to the way Jason Isbell can punch you in the gut, Millsap ended the song with the statement/question, “I was born in sin/Did you love me back then?” His song “Homeless,” is reminiscent of John Prine, “I wish I had a house, I’d fill it up with my life.”
Verdict – Parker Millsap has all the tools to become a major artist. He’s smart, literate, dedicated to his craft, courageous, handsome, and young. The Billy Bob’s set was one hour, opening act slot. It won’t be long before he’s a headlining act.
Grade – A-
Setlist:
You Gotta Move
Hades’ Plea
Quite Contrary
Morning Blue
Make Me A Pallet on Your Floor (Mississippi John Hurt cover)
When I Leave
Palisade
Too Far
Heaven Sent
Homeless
Truck Stop Gospel
