January 25, 2019

Meet Kathleen Parks of Twisted Pine in The Greater Boston Area

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kathleen Parks.

Kathleen, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I was born and raised in New York’s Hudson Valley and grew up in a very musical household. My Irish heritage on my mother’s side inspired me at an early age to get into fiddling and dancing, and with jazz and funk influence coming from my father’s trumpet playing, I quickly became very ok with the idea of mixing these genres all into one.

In 2012, I accepted a full scholarship to Berklee College of Music for Violin Performance and Songwriting. Since then, I’ve graduated and have begun a professional music career writing, arranging, and performing with many bands, but am bringing to focus Americana-based, Twisted Pine and my Great-American-Songbook & 60’s-pop-

inspired duo, Kat Parks and Brad Bensko which I both play, sing, and write for. The duo is about to release its first full length album of original music this March followed by a tour throughout the New England. Meanwhile, Twisted Pine is touring both locally, nationally, and internationally year-round and has put out two albums out on Signature Sounds with another one soon to be recorded.

Over time, I’ve had many a fortunate opportunity to share the stage with so many wonderful artists such as The Boston Symphony Orchestra, The Punch Brothers, Aoife O’Donovan, Margo Price,

Jacob Collier, Darlingside, Darol Anger, Peter Rowan, John Sebastian, Claire Lynch, John Doyle, Allison Brown, Bobby Vinton, Eugene Friesen, Dr. David Wallace, The Suitcase Junket, Michael Cleveland, John Whelan, Jimmy Sturr, Paul Rishell & Annie Raines, Lindsey Webster, and more.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It hasn’t always been smooth. Being in the performing arts can be daunting at times, and especially after graduating college I’ve had to find my way as a performer of making my own schedule of gigs and lessons and keeping up with the booking part of it. It’s something I’ve had to work hard on but after a while and after finding a booking agency and manager to help Twisted Pine get out and on the road more easily, it has helped keep the schedule flowing. Now, I just focus on booking myself in a solo or duo setting.

As far as the music itself goes, it can be easy to find yourself in a writer’s block, but with the people you meet and are continuously inspired by, you always find something or someone to keep you motivated or to collaborate with. So, creating a schedule for my writing has been something else I’ve had to work on.

Being on the road for a while is also something you find a rhythm to (if there even is one.) Taking care of your physical and mental health while out on tour is something I’ve had to really pay attention to. That’s why I’m so appreciative of venues that provide healthier foods to eat, and friends and family that have a comfortable place for the band to rest.

Please tell us about Twisted Pine.
In Twisted Pine, I am one of the lead singers and songwriters, as well as fiddler for the band. Many nights a year I get to perform alongside my wonderful bandmates Rachel Sumner (Guitar, Vocal) Dan Bui (Mandolin) and Chris Sartori (Upright Bass)

It has been such an incredible journey getting to write and work with Dan, Rachel, and Chris. Both Rachel and I trade back and forth between lead and harmony singing, and we both have very different styles as far as our individual voices but can very easily blend as one. It is so much fun!

I love performing in this band because it is so unique in the sense that we have no genre bounds. We are an acoustic band that once stemmed from bluegrass, which is where our instruments and harmony singing originally come from, but we always fine a way to continue to stretch the limits and bounds of what we perform, write, and arrange both vocally, instrumentally, and groove-wise. We can play you a fiddle or mandolin tune and sound like we just stepped off the sunny Appalachian trail or funkify the night by turning up the Bass and letting our improv rip – instrumentally and vocally. Come to a Twisted Pine show, we’ll be sure to give you a good stank face – and that’s a good thing.

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I have been very fortunate in my past and am very thankful for the path that I have traveled so far. There have been times where I would over stress or let others steal away my time and attention in a negative way, that’s something no one should deal with. But I’m really just starting out still, and am always looking for advice from the musicians and friends that I look up to or hold close. Any advice I can get, I keep precious.

But If I could start over, I would tell myself to practice my scales because when I was a kid, I loathed playing scales. But today, I find them very useful, and if I had practiced them more then maybe I wouldn’t have to practice them as much now. So if that’s all I’d change, I’ll keep it!

Pricing:

Album – Dreams by Twisted Pine is $9 on BandCamp.com
Album – Twisted Pine by Twisted Pine is $15 on BandCamp.com

Contact Info:

Website: http://www.kathleenparksmusic.com/
Email: kathleenparksmusic@gmail.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/twistedpineband/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/twistedpinemusic
Other: http://www.twistedpineband.com/ https://www.facebook.com/katbradband/

Image Credit:
Joni Lohr, Bill Madden, Hannah Cohen, Green Mountain Bluegrass, Louise Bichan, Joanna Chattman

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