Nick Parker

Nick Parker

Nick Parker is a singer-songwriter from Glastonbury whose work sits in folk, country, acoustic and folk rock traditions. He begins playing guitar at 13, then switches to mandolin at 14 so he can join his brother Ant’s band, and he starts out performing with his sibling in a group called The Mandolin Brothers before the name changes to Why?.

Early bands

As part of Why?, Parker spends around 10 years playing shows across the UK and Europe, performing a style described as folk, rock and skiffle, later referred to as “friffle”. In February 1998 he moves from mandolin to six-string guitar and, with guitarist Mark Stidson, forms the guitar band Tobermory. After a run of changes, small tours and label interest, Tobermory plays its last gig in 2004.

Solo work

After Tobermory, Parker forms The Gadabout Crowd, a more folk-rock project that lasts only a short time before he decides to perform under his own name. As Nick Parker, he records his first solo album, The King of False Alarms, a 12-track release produced and engineered by former bandmate Luke Stidson. The album is recorded in a cottage in North Devon during June 2010.