An Oklahoma native brought up in the Pentecostal church, which he s since departed, 20-year-old Parker Millsap will make you a true believer with his self-titled Okrahoma Records/ Thirty Tigers debut album. Accompanied by his collaborators, high school buddy Michael Rose on bass and fiddle-player Daniel Foulks, the young tunesmith delivers his religious-laced parables, character-driven narratives and relationship tales with the fire-and-brimstone fervor of a preacher, restoring our faith in the power of song.
Influenced by the dust-bowl neutrality of John Steinbeck, Millsap s memorable creations include the wife-murdering bible-thumper of Old Time Religion, the self- made church-on-wheels minister in Truck Stop Gospel, the questioning believer of When I Leave, the meth cooks in Quite Contrary and the gambler who spends all his money buying lottery tickets in Yosemite.