Today’s spotlight shines on an artist who truly loves music. Talented, kind-hearted, and honest, Landon Parker  knew from a young age that music was in the cards for him. Growing up in a small town in North Carolina, Parker was exposed to many different kinds of music throughout his upbringing.

“I grew up hunting and fishing.” he began. “My parents were separated, so I lived with both my dad and my mom, and they both had different styles of music. When I was riding around with my mom, she was listening to The Chicks, Shania Twain, Jo Dee Messina, and my dad was listening to Black Hawk and Brooks & Dunn.”

Parker also recalls listening to country radio, crediting artists like Brooks & Dunn as a big inspiration. “I love singing about my little, small town, and how I grew up, and I think a lot of people can relate to where I came from.”

When he was a child, his family truly encouraged him to sing and play music, as an outlet. “I always sang, but I didn’t know if I was really good or not. My dad bought a karaoke machine and I started singing and my dad was like “you’re really good,” he shared. Adding later, “That was kind of the first start of music, but I didn’t know.”

After a series of unfortunate events, including the passing of his grandpa, Parker found himself feeling depressed and turning to music to cope. “My dad got me a guitar, and I pretty much just sat in my room and learned how to play guitar and took all those feelings and put it in to music.”

The Turning Point:

At sixteen years old, Parker’s friends and family continued to encourage him to pursue music; despite, the tragedies he had to endure. “I had a girlfriend at the time, when I was 16, and I called her on the phone one night, and told her I was playing music, and she was like, “why don’t you sing me something.” So I did, and she goes “I’m going to tell all my friends and I’m telling the whole school, and you’re going to post a video up on YouTube.” So we did, we posted some covers on YouTube, and everybody loved it,” he shared, recalling the moment that he began to realize that music could be a career for him.

Parker went on to pursue music professionally, starting as a solo artist, and eventually moving out to Nashville to be in a band. “I had my solo career in North Carolina, and a band called Chasin’ Crazy, reached out to me. […] Long story, short, I loved the band and I moved out here for that band.”

For five years, the singer performed and made music with his band, leaving him at a crossroads. “We basically went our separate ways after 5 years, and the guy who was managing the band reached out to me and my producer reached out to me and said that they wanted to sign me to a publishing and management deal, and in that moment, I didn’t know what I was going to do with my life.”

Eventually the singer chose to stay in Nashville and cut his teeth as a solo artist. Parker’s story proves that music has healing powers. “I think I found something really good in it, and just the power of music.”

Today:

Flash forward to present day, Parker is making waves in the music scene, creating music that relates to his story and his experiences.

“When I went solo, I kind of didn’t know what I wanted to be or what I wanted to sing about,” he began, “I actually had a dream that my grandpa was talking to me and I woke up and wrote down everything I could remember from that dream [which became an unreleased song called “She’ll Bite”.” He later added “That was kind of the start of my solo career. I think I want to write about my life experiences and who I am as a person. […]  I want that to translate to other people, so they can relate to my music too.”

Parker’s current single, “Your Baby Girl” is exactly that, a song that people can relate to. Inspired by his marriage to his wife, the single is a touching father-daughter song written from the perspective of the groom. “I was like I think I’m going to try to write you a father-daughter dance. […] Basically, I was like envisioning the entire wedding day. […] It was like the perfect day. […] Just kind of went through the wedding day and put it down on the computer, and I actually went back to the voice memos because a lot of songs change so much, but that song didn’t change much from the day that I wrote it.”

Moving ahead, Parker has more new music coming down the pipeline soon. His fan-favorite unreleased song, “Back At The Bar” will most likely be his next single. Definitely keep the entertainer on your radar!

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