Lanesboro Arts is thrilled to present An Evening with Charlie Parr at the St. Mane Theatre at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, February 7, 2026! This concert serves as the capstone for the second year of the Rural Arts Production Training Program. Enjoy Parr’s excellent music and......More
Lanesboro Arts is thrilled to present An Evening with Charlie Parr at the St. Mane Theatre at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, February 7, 2026! This concert serves as the capstone for the second year of the Rural Arts Production Training Program. Enjoy Parr’s excellent music and celebrate the trainees’ achievements in performing arts production after a year of hands-on experience with mentorship by Northern Sun Productions. This event is currently SOLD OUT. A waitlist for any tickets that happen to become available will begin in the lobby of the St. Mane Theatre at 6:00 p.m. the evening of the event.Tickets are $35 for General Admission & $30 for Lanesboro Arts Members About Charlie Parr: In the music of Charlie Parr, there is a sincere conviction and earnest drive to create. The Minnesota-born guitarist, songwriter, and interpreter of traditional music has released 19 albums over two decades and has been known to perform up to 275 shows a year. Parr is a folk troubadour in the truest sense: taking to the road between shows, writing and rewriting songs as he plays, fueled by a belief that music is eternal and cannot be claimed or adequately explained. The bluesman poet pulls closely from the sights and sounds around him, his lyrical craftsmanship built by his influences. The sounds from his working-class upbringing—including Folkways legends such as Lead Belly and Woody Guthrie—imbue Parr’s music with stylistic echoes of blues and folk icons of decades past. Parr sees himself merely as a continuer of a folk tradition: “I feel like I stand on a lot of big shoulders,” he said in an interview. “I hope that I’ve brought a little bit of myself to the music.” With a discography simultaneously transcendental in nature and grounded in roots music, Charlie Parr is the humble master of the 21st century folk tradition. Parr started recording in Duluth in 2002, where he lives today. Life in the port town on Lake Superior has a way of bleeding into his work the same way his childhood in Austin, Minnesota does. Parr self-released his debut album, Criminals and Sinners, and did the same for his sophomore album 1922 (2002). With growing popularity abroad, Parr signed with Red House Records in 2015, where he recorded break-out albums Stumpjumper (2015) and Dog (2017). Parr’s music has an overwhelming sense of being present and mindful, and his sound is timeless. Parr’s mastery of his craft is only more apparent when contextualized within the history of folk tradition of which Parr has dedicated his practice The land and lives around and intersecting with Parr have always influenced him, from the hills and valleys of Hollandale, Minnesota to the Depression-era stories from his father. Parr strives to listen to everything: “I don’t see that I’d ever be capable of creating anything if it weren’t for these inspirations and influences, books and music as well as the weather and random interactions with strangers and animals. So, the well never runs dry as long as my eyes and ears are open,” Parr said in a 2020 interview. Before he was even 10 years old Parr was rummaging through his father’s record collection—sometimes drawing dinosaurs on the vinyl sleeves—and listening to country, folk, and blues legends, many of whom are staples in the Folkways catalog. When Parr sings and plays his resonator or 12-string, you can hear influences like Mance Lipscomb, Charley Patton, Spinder John Koerner, Rev. Gary Davis, and Dock Boggs. This is especially true in his playing, when, after a diagnosis of focal dystonia, Parr turned to greats like Davis, Doc Watson, and Booker White for two-finger picking inspiration. Gifted a 1965 Gibson B-45 12-string by his father, Parr has never had a formal lesson and learned by to listening records and watching musicians he admired. Parr’s first album with Smithsonian Folkways, Last of Better Days Head (2021), foregrounded his lyrical craftsmanship and sophisticated bluesman confidence, with spare production highlighting Parr’s mastery of guitar and elevating his poetry. Last of Better Days Ahead is a portrait of how Parr saw the world in that moment, reflecting on time and memories that have past while holding an enduring desire to be present. In his 2024 release, Little Sun, Parr weaves together stories celebrating music, community, and communing with nature. Putting forth an ambitious and raw album that exemplifies the best of Parr’s sound: a blend of the blues and folk traditions he continues to carry with him and the steadfast originality of a poet. About the Rural Arts Production Training Program: Lanesboro Arts created the Rural Arts Production Training Program to meet the need for more qualified production services for rural performing arts. Nine south east Minnesotans from Fillmore and Houston counties underwent hands-on learning with professional production technicians from Northern Sun Productions in 2024 and 2025. The participants trained in the basics of audio production, lighting control and design, stage management, and best practices at the St. Mane Theatre. Throughout 2025, trainees put their learned skills into practice, providing production support for Performing Arts events including Rhythms on the Root, Maygen and The Birdwatcher, Twin Cities Flamenco Collective and more under the mentorship of Northern Sun Productions. Learn more about this program here. This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts & cultural heritage fund. Please note: St. Mane Theatre tickets are non-refundable. If you are unable to use your tickets, you may turn them back as a tax-deductible donation to Lanesboro Arts. Please contact us at 507-467-2446 or [email protected] to arrange this.The St. Mane Theatre box office will open at 6:00 p.m. the day of the event. Tickets will also be sold in person beginning at that time.Each ticket purchased with a bank card will be charged an additional processing fee of $0.99. Patrons can avoid this processing fee by paying via cash or check in the Lanesboro Arts Gallery, or before the event in the St. Mane Theatre lobby.If you are unable to purchase tickets online or need additional assistance, you may try calling 507-467-2446 to purchase a ticket over the phone during business hours. Tickets are also sold in person during business hours at Lanesboro Arts Gallery.We will have a list of the ticket buyer names at the box office beginning at 6:30 p.m. If the buyer and their guests arrive together, no physical receipt or proof of purchase is needed to be admitted to the event–we will have a list!Alternatively, attendees can present a printed copy of the ticket PDF that was e-mailed to the ticket buyer or present it on a smart device.Lanesboro Arts is committed to accessibility for all people. Learn more about our access services.
St Mane Theatre, 206 Parkway Avenue North, Lanesboro, MN, 55949, US
