Ian Parker - Inside (2003)

b. 1976, Birmingham, West Midlands, England. Interested in music from an early age, Parker took up the guitar in 1985 and in 1993 with two school friends formed a band they named Strange Brew. The group did not last long and soon Parker was playing with Blue Horizon, a local blues band. Meanwhile, he was continuing with his studies at the University of Derby from which he graduated with a degree in psychology. Back in Birmingham, he formed a new band, Monty Turnbull, singing lead vocals. The group included ‘Morg’ Morgan (piano/organ) and various bass players and drummers until the late 90s when Chris Lomas (bass) and Tony Baylis (drums) joined the line-up. The band, now named Parker’s Alibi, became very popular on the UK and European blues circuits. They stayed together until early in 2002 and by the end of that year Parker launched the Ian Parker Band, with Morgan, Steve Amadeo (bass) and Andy Edwards (drums), the latter replaced the following year by Wayne Proctor. Playing guitar and singing in a vigorous and committed manner, Parker has established himself as one of the UK’s foremost blues artists. His signing to Ruf Records has helped spread his name to the USA and this, allied to his ongoing visits to Europe has consolidated his position as an international name. A further boost to his profile came with the 2007 single, ‘Your Love Is My Home’.