• His band's spiky sound has echoed through artists from Elvis Costello to REM.

    — The Guardian

  • One of the sharpest songsmiths of the U.K. rock scene in the late Seventies, Graham Parker always owed more to Dylan and Van Morrison than to his punk counterparts.

    — Rolling Stone

  • When he first emerged in 1976, Parker updated and recontextualized the ’50s archetype of the English Angry Young Man at the perfect moment – the dawn of the punk revolution, and- together with the Rumour – formed a bridge between pub rock and punk rock, as Parker kicked open the door for fellow angry young man Elvis Costello.

    — Uncut UK
Hometown: 
Upstate NY

“WHERE MOST PERFORMERS WILL SNAP THEIR FINGERS IN TIME, GP WILL SLAM HIS FIST INTO HIS PALM.” —A fan on the Bloodshot website

Sometimes an artist is anointed a “legend.” Sometimes this artist’s body of work is so consistently lauded, of such ongoing interest and creativity, the audience might be tempted to take the level of craft for granted. Sometimes such an artist, after a time of flying beneath the radar, emerges with a run of stunning material ascending beyond time and genre. Sometimes this artist casts a shadow large enough they are known by just their initials. GP is such an artist.

Since the 1970's when he burst onto the London scene, Graham Parker has been slinging a signature sound across continents and airwaves that has rightly earned him a spot in the pantheon of truly original and influential figures in rock and roll.

His early days with his band the Rumour (with whom he has two albums in Rolling Stone's 1987 "Top 100 Albums of All Time'--Howlin Wind and Squeezing Out Sparks ) Graham has coupled punk's energy with his deeply rooted love of American R&B, country and soul music.  The band built a reputation as an incendiary live act, as well. He's got a snotty barroom brawler's rasp and sneer, a soulman's swagger and an ear for indelible pop songcraft.

In the year 2000, St. Martin’s Press published a collection of short stories by Parker entitled Carp Fishing On Valium.

Bruce Springsteen once said that the only band he’d pay to see live was Graham Parker and The Rumour, and Graham’s renegade spirit and ear for hooks have only sharpened over the years.

Artist Website
Compilation Tracks: 
Recommended if You Like: 
Elvis Costello
Nick Lowe
Bruce Springsteen
Marshall Crenshaw
John Hiatt
Joe Jackson

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