Jess Parker is a country-folk artist from Victoria who released the single ‘Help Myself’ earlier this year, her first release since 2020 albums Bread and Butter and Death Songs & Kitchen Spirituals. Parker’s music has sass and swagger, captivating musicality and also great storytelling, and all that is present in her live performance as well.
Performing a live set in Sydney recently, Parker introduced a standout track, ‘Wholesome Prison Blues’ – and that is now her new single. The song is having its premiere here today and you can listen here. It was, says Parker, ‘written after falling into a fever dream on a break at work, at the Old Castlemaine Gaol.
‘It’s a tale about a piano player who keeps a gun in their boot to fend off drunks, and ends up accidentally shooting a man who tries to steal their boots mid-song. This is a plea from their jail cell, an attempt to get back their honky tonk freedom.’
The song is taken from Parker’s forthcoming new album, and she launches the new single at The Gem in Collingwood, Victoria, on 22 September, with guests Sin City.