About evalyn

If you are looking for programme bios and pictures, click here

Songwriter, poet and ironic social commentator evalyn parry is gifted with a sharp pen, a quirky musical sensibility and a wicked sense of humour. “Equally funny and dangerous” (CBC Radio), “parry breathes new life into the folk tradition with her politics, passion and poetry” (Penguin Eggs). evalyn’s outspoken, personal and political creations hold out a powerful vision of social change, while her irreverent wit holds nothing sacred.

“Engaging, clever and constantly surprising, Parry evokes tears and laughter in equal measure” ~ Herizons Magazine

evalyn’s latest release, Small Theatres, is a double CD package from Borealis Records, featuring one disc devoted entirely to her musical offerings and a second devoted to her spoken word poetry. Produced with renowned Canadian producer John Switzer (Jane Sibbery, Nathan), musical accompaniment on both discs is provided by a host of special guests, including parry’s brother, Richard Reed Parry, Sarah Neufeld and Pietro Amato (The Arcade Fire and Bell Orchestre) award-winning vocalist and bassist Suzie Vinnick, violinist Anne Lindsay (Blue Rodeo), two-time Juno-winning roots artist Jenny Whiteley, and legendary Canadian roots musician Ken Whiteley.

“ Inventive instrumentation and imaginative arrangements enhance the theatrical spark of Parry’s verbal wit…Adventurous stuff.” Greg Quill, The TORONTO STAR

The 10 elegantly orchestrated tracks on the music disc invite the listener into evalyn’s world: from her whimsical ode to mystery novels (“Another Mystery”), to a mysterious story of a man who wrestles bears (“Honey”), to a ridiculously cheery, countrified number about her stalker ex-girlfriend (“Please Stop Following me”), to the upbeat, girl-power anthem “Girls”.

A highlights of the disc is “Sailor”, a poignant true-story about a Great Lakes sailor reflecting on the miracle of his life after surviving terminal cancer and visiting the watery grave of the Edmund Fitzgerald on the 29th anniversary of its sinking, recounted to evalyn in a Sault St. Marie parking lot. When CBC Radio’s Shelagh Rogers heard “Sailor”, she also got wind of the story behind it. evalyn didn’t know how to contact the sailor…she didn’t even know his last name. Shelagh loved the song as much as she loves a good challenge…so on Sounds Like Canada evalyn put out the call to find Sailor Dave. Two weeks later, listeners had tracked him down, and evalyn and the sailor were “reunited” over the radio, and Dave Bellaire got to hear his song.

The second disc features six “startlingly engaging spoken word pieces” (Herizons), including “Bottle This!”, a powerful rant about the “bottled water scam” and its devastating environmental consequences; “Fourteen for December 6”, a haunting, personal reflection on the Dec. 6th massacre in Montreal in 1989, and “Love in the Greater Toronto Area takes Public Transportation”, which uses the stops on the subway line to trace a story of high school crush and her journey of coming out. “My Swedish Roommates” is a hilarious tribute to Parry’s IKEA furniture pieces “Ivar” and “Sten”, while “The Anne in my Mind” will delight Anne of Green Gables fans everywhere.

“Parry weaves a profound lyrical tapestry through each song…tackles socio-political issues with humour and intelligence” ~ Nanaimo News, BC

evalyn’s previous recordings include Live at Lula, a DVD of a live concert filmed by Riddle Films (released on Borealis Records 2006), featuring Evalyn and her all-star backing band of Suzie Vinnick, Anne Lindsay, Ken Whiteley and Brad Hart; Unreasonable, produced by Ken Whiteley (Borealis Records 2004), and Things that Should be Warnings, produced by Suzanne Nuttall (Ponygirl Records 2001) Click here for more about any of these recordings.

evalyn has been the recipient of the Colleen Peterson Songwriting Award from the Ontario Arts Council (2003) and the Beth Ferguson Upcoming Songwriter Award (2001), and a nominee for the KM Hunter Ward (2006). Her spokenword commentaries have been featured on CBC radio and television; her spokenword videos featured on BRAVO, and both her previous releases have enjoyed critical acclaim and charted high on national campus and community radio.

evalyn grew up running around at folk festivals, folk music running in her veins: her father David a member of the iconic Toronto folk ensemble The Friends of Fiddlers Green, and her mother Caroline a children’s music performer, author and folklorist. No surprise then that evalyn and her brother Richard (a member of Montreal’s Arcade Fire) have both emerged as innovative artists in their own right, part of the emerging second-generation Canadian folk music “dynasty”. evalyn’s material stands on the foundation of the traditional Celtic and American music she was brought up singing, but takes it in original and unexpected directions.

evalyn’s live appearances over the last few years include: The Halifax Pop Explosion; The Lincoln Center Out of Doors Roots of American Music Festival (New York); The Calgary International Spoken Word Festival; Hillside Festival (Guelph Ontario); The Vancouver Storytelling Festival; The Ottawa Folk Festival; Toronto Pride Festival; Harbourfront Centre (Toronto); North by North East; she has performed for numerous union events and conferences, political, legal and activist events. as well as numerous university and colleges campuses and folk venues.

“parry redefines folk music” ~ The Daily News, Hailfax

In addition to her musical adventures, evalyn is also an actor, playwright, theatre creator and educator. She is a founding member of Independent Auntie Theatre, with Anna Chatterton - a duo known for the award-winning comedy “Clean Irene and Dirty Maxine”. parry is also the Director of Youth Initiatives at Toronto’s Buddies in Bad Times Theatre. She likes to ride her bike.

What, you still want to know more? Well, soon there will be more.