Dennis Parker brings his popular James Taylor Tribute to Moon Lake Campus for an unforgettable performance as the Mentone Americana Night series wraps up for the year. The band leader for Ricky Skaggs the past nine years, Parker has traveled and performed extensively with some of country music's stop stars. His resume includes stints with artists such as Joe Diffie, Lee Ann Womack, Tracy Lawrence, and Mark Chestnutt.
Parker will be joined by other world-class musicians at the Shigley Amphitheater as they present the work of one of America's favorite artists. “I became obsessed with James Taylor at a young age,” says Parker, who grew up in a musical family where bluegrass was the undercurrent of everyday life. “I heard him on a PBS special singing ‘How Sweet It Is,’ and it was like a breath of fresh air.”
The impact never left him. “I loved the way he voiced things,” says Parker. “He played like a piano player. There were these rich chords that I just didn’t hear a lot. I tried to play like him, to sing like him.”
As Parker’s career evolved beyond bluegrass festivals, where he won countless awards and regional notoriety, he found himself working among the best in the country music business. Along with that success came personal challenges, which Parker shares openly in his testimony. Yet no matter what he faced, he found Taylor’s music as a centering presence.
“In some dark periods of my life, his music was still there,” Parker shares. “It comforted me. It was a place of home for me. He talked about love. He talked about doing the right things. There’s so much truth in his music.”
Songs like ‘You’ve Got a Friend’ are universal in their appeal to the human heart, Parker says. “Everybody needs a friend. I think God speaks through music like that just as much as He speaks through the hymns. God is crying out for us to know Him, and for us to be better people, and Taylor’s music features so many of these principles that are just true.”
The event will open with the popular Mentone Ukes, along with a performance by local country artist Kevin Long. Admission is free. Bring the family, children, lawn chairs, blankets, dogs on leashes, and an appetite for a great evening of music!
Also check out other Music events in Mentone, Entertainment events in Mentone, Festivals in Mentone.
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