Peter Parcek

"[1] In his career, Parcek has been the opening act for other artists who include Roy Buchanan, Son Seals, Susan Tedeschi, Lazy Lester, Joanna Connor, and others.

He heard music by Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Albert Collins, and others, before his mother amassed sufficient Green Stamps to purchase her son a nylon-string guitar.

[4] Upon resettling, Parcek continued his study of major blues artists in live shows, many of them at the 1970s Shaboo Inn near Willimantic, Connecticut.

He relocated from Middletown to Boston, Massachusetts, and began to hone his guitar playing skills, by practicing up to 10 hours a day.

[2][4] He worked during the day as a school counselor and instrument salesman, before joining a Boston-based blues outfit, Nine Below Zero (not the British band of the same name).

[2] He was joined by guest appearances from Ronnie Earl and Al Kooper, helping to create a mixture of Parcek original songs with his interpretation of those written by Mose Allison and Freddie King.

[2] Michael G.Nastos of AllMusic noted "His sparse instrumental backdrop seduces you, while the vocal content of his songs about life and living reels you in further.

[8] Al Kooper made his second appearance on a Parcek album, specifically on the instrumental re-imagining of the Harlan Howard penned, "Busted.

"[6] In a style of his own, Parcek described his music 'soul guitar', a fusion of blues, gypsy-style jazz, rock, funk, and shades of country.

He can play cleanly like Peter Green but prefers to shroud both his guitar sound and vocals with a haunting, voodoo shear.

[2][11] The album's tracks included Parcek inventive interpretations of "Beyond Here Lies Nothin'," "Eleanor Rigby," and "Waiting for the Man.

"[7] Mary Gunther wrote in Blues Blast magazine, "Boston-based guitar virtuoso Peter Parcek bounces back from a wrist injury that threatened to sideline him permanently with this powerful CD, celebrating the joy of living while baring the full, bluesy depth of the pain and struggle we all endure in these troubled times... A powerful album of blues-rock that was conceived out of his own personal struggles, the three originals and eight covers here span about 80 years of musical history, all of which has undergone thorough reinvention... Like Buddy says, Peter Parcek's a master.