Like his brother, Minnesotan, and kindred spirit Bob Dylan, Charlie Parr comes across as a fictional character who happens to play and sing nothing but the blues. For instance, in this video of a rare appearance with backing musicians, the latter plays “1922 Blues” from his 2011 album, Cheap Wine, displaying a vigorous engagement with the music and the ensemble, one that belies his deceptively disheveled appearance. Parr is also a prolific recording artist who’s issued a string of studio albums on various labels over the years, each of which, in its own way, documents his devotion to the elemental genre. The latest, 2024’s Little Sun, is not the least of these titles, which also boasts a full complement of sympathetic accompanists.
