
Parker Milsap
Photo: Daniel Mendoza/Recording Academy
Parker Millsap On Covering Sly Stone & Why He Loves Living In Nashville | Newport Folk 2019
Oklahoma-born roots-rock performer Parker Millsap has been making a name for himself for years now, ever since the release of his debut album, Palisade, in 2012.
Still riding the wave of his third record, 2018's Other Arrangements, Millsap stopped by Newport Folk Festival 2019 to play a set, which included an electrifying cover of Sly Stone's "Everyday People."
"Amazon actually approached us to do the series they have called 'Amazon Originals' where they have people do cover songs," Millsap told the Recording Academy about the cover's origins "I really wanted to do a Sly Stone song 'cause I listen to a ton of Sly Stone. 'Everyday People' seemed like one I could get away with that people also knew, that everybody can sing along to. We hadn't played it live until we recorded it. And afterwards we were like, we should start playing this live. And people love it!"
The multi-instrumentalist also went deep on why he loves living in The Music City of Nashville, noting how genre-diverse its residents really are. (I.e., Nashville isn't just about country music.)
"I didn't realize how many musicians live in Nashville till I got there," he says. "When you think of Nashville you think of country music, but it's everything, man. Like, last night I met four people who live within a mile of me, and they're all musicians. I didn't realize the density of really talented and creative people [in Nashville]... That's my favorite thing about Nashville—the country people, the rock people, the metal people, the jazz people, the bluegrass cats, we all know the same people. We all have the same friends. It makes the world feel smaller."