PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
The Arts Council
Contact: Kevin Ledgewood
205-758-5195, x5
ACOUSTIC NIGHT WILL FEATURE WALTER PARKS PLUS JIL CHAMBLESS AND SCOOTER MUSE
(Tuscaloosa) Acoustic Night will feature a performance by Walter Parks on Friday, August 5, 2011 at 7:30 p.m. at the Bama Theatre’s Greensboro Room. Also performing will be local musicians Jil Chambless and Scooter Muse. Presented by The Arts Council, Acoustic Night features new and upcoming singer/songwriters from around the country throughout the calendar year in the intimate setting of the Greensboro Room.
The Bama Theatre is located at 600 Greensboro Avenue in downtown Tuscaloosa. Cover charge for the evening is $5, and a full-service bar will be available. For more information about the theatre visit bamatheatre.org or follow the group on Facebook at “The Arts Council – Bama Theatre – Cultural Arts Center” and also on Twitter. Call 205-758-5195 for further information.
Walter Parks
Over the past three decades, Walter Parks has forged a distinctive international career as the lead guitarist for Woodstock legend Richie Havens. He also forms half of the folk-duo The Nudes and is guitarist and leader of the swamp/blues-outfit Swamp Cabbage. With the release of Walter Parks on Judy Collins’ Wildflower Records in September 2010, he has made his debut as a solo artist. Born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida, Parks notes that “classical music was offered in public schools when I was a kid,” and his music career began with studying the viola in the sixth through eighth grades. Parks eventually transitioned to the guitar and, in 1973, he formed his first music group. Playing Navy bases, country clubs, cotillions, DeMolay Halls and even church dances, the group called itself The Parental Tears Band. Parks followed various career paths including business/retail, but the energy of New York City, where he now resides, continued to draw him back. While his music projects might seem to be from opposite worlds, they all express elements of his diverse background and balance integral parts of his personality. A common thread through all of Parks’ projects is his use of non-traditional guitar chords inspired by the chord voicings of jazz pianists and steel guitar players.
Jil Chambless and Scooter Muse
Two members of the band Henri’s Notions, the longest performing Celtic band in the Southeastern United States (more than 30 years!), Jil and Scooter have also performed frequently in a trio with Scottish singer Ed Miller at many festivals throughout the US and
Scotland. For the last several years Jil and Scooter have been fortunate to work alongside many of the finest artists in Celtic Music, resulting in many spontaneous collaborations.
First introduced to Celtic music when she joined Henri’s Notions in 1989, Jil Chambless has since become one of the finest singers and flute players on the Celtic circuit. In December 2009, Jil released her first solo CD, The Ladies Go Dancing, produced by the legendary Brian McNeill. Brian has stated that Jil is “…truly a great singer!” Jil brings to any audience a wonderful listening experience from haunting ballads to upbeat songs with a smooth delivery that never fails to bring both smiles and tears in each and every performance!
Although Scooter Muse has his roots in Bluegrass and is quite an accomplished 5-string banjo player, in the late 1980s he moved into the world of Celtic guitar and soon after founded the Full Moon Ensemble, performing for 8 years across the US and in Scotland before joining Henri’s Notions in 2003. In 2005 Scooter released his first solo recording of original guitar instrumentals, Saddell Abbey, which he is proud to say was purchased by the Scottish Tourist Board in Kintyre. The Saddell Abbey Trust of Scotland calls the recording, “…a haunting and beautiful piece of music.”
In 2010, Jil and Scooter began performing as a duo to promote their individual solo projects, playing a variety of venues from small house concerts to major Celtic festivals. May 2011 marks the release of their first duo CD, The Laverock Sang, consisting of 12 great tracks of both traditional and contemporary Celtic songs and tunes.
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