Biography

Jeff Parker Songwriting Touring Musician & Producer

Bio:
Jeffrey was born in Arkansas City Kansas and raised on the plains of North-Central Oklahoma, in Newkirk. At an early age he and his family moved to St Louis, MO. were he was introduced to Blues & Rock & Roll, from that point on he was hooked on Blues, Rock & Roll, & the Cardinals. Both his parents were musicians, his father a jazz musician, theater actor and barbershop singer, and his mother a music teacher, pianist and organist.

Parker has been a performing musician and composer for 30 years. As a performer, he has traveled extensively throughout the United States and Canada with various road bands, playing all styles of music and sharing the stage and performing with acts such as Jefferson Starship, Alice Cooper, Buck Owens, Rodney Crowell, Johnny Paycheck, Baillie & the Boys, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Jerry Jeff Walker, Kevin Welch, Jimmie LaFave, Brewer & Shipley, The Great Divide, Cross Canadian Ragweed, and countless others.

Jeffrey has, for the past several years, found his original music in demand for film and television projects and it has been featured internationally on PBS and the Discovery Network. His work has also been featured in Museum exhibits such as the Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian. As a Producer/Engineer/Musician, and owner of Cimarron Sound Lab, Jeffrey for many years has been an integral part of Oklahoma's vibrant RED DIRT musical community, working with such artists as Tom Skinner & Farmboy, Bob Childers, The Red Dirt Rangers, Cross Canadian Ragweed (co-producer/engineer/musician “Carney”,” Live & Loud”), Jason Boland and the Stragglers, & The Great Divide.

On the national front, Jeffrey has also worked with the CMA/CMT winning Carrie Underwood, Nick Wheeler (All-American Rejects), Grammy winner Rita Coolidge, the NAMMY Award winning Cherokee National Youth Choir, Nammy Winner Gil Silverbird, and the world renowned Tulsa Oratorio Chorus. As a music educator, Jeffrey has taught well over l000 stringed instrument students over a 10 year period.

Jeffrey Parker
Production/Composer Credits

FILM & TELEVISION CREDITS:

King of the Cowboys –A Gabriel Films and Rodeo Circus Films production for the Discovery Network by Academy Award nominated director/producer Ramzy Telley, for the Discovery Network , which aired worldwide on The Learning Channel and The Travel Channel. Composed & produced music for film soundtrack. (Ty Murray’s quest for Larry Mahan’s Rodeo Record)

American Bullfighter -A Miramar/Unipix documentary by Academy Award nominated director/producer Ramzy Telley, for the Discovery Network , which aired worldwide on The Learning Channel and The Travel Channel. Composed & produced music for film soundtrack. (Documentary on Rodeo Bullfighters/Clowns)

Melvin A Midwestern Tale -NYU film school project produced, written and directed by Travis Graalman (Miramax), which won the “Outstanding Achievement in Original Score” Award at NYU’s "Tisch School of the Arts-First Run Festival 99". Scored film soundtrack.

Where the Dreamers Go - An Oklahoma State University art educational documentary that aired on OETA’s (PBS) "Oklahoma Magazine" and was distributed to Oklahoma schools for curriculum testing and study. Score for film soundtrack.

Reflections on the Little Bighorn - A PBS Documentary airing nationwide, Produced by students and staff at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, College of journalism and Mass Communications, under the direction and supervision of professors Jerry Renaud and Joe Starita. Composed and produced music for film soundtrack

Rodeo Mayhem – A Topics Entertainment DVD release, produced for home video sales through Best Buy, Amazon, & WalMart and other retailers. Produced by Academy Award nominated director/producer Ramzy Telley & Rodeo Circus Films.

Unfinished Journey, the Lewis & Clark Expedition - A Oregon Public Broadcast Radio production, Audio Documentary, aired on 100 public radio stations nationwide. Composed and produced music for film soundtrack.
The History Detectives - A Oregon Public Broadcast television production, for PBS, History Detectives is devoted to exploring the complexities of historical mysteries, searching out the facts, myths and conundrums that connect local folklore, family legends and interesting objects. - And sometimes shocking - insights into our national history.


MUSEUM CREDITS:
Trail of Tears Exhibit – Cherokee Heritage Center, Tahlequah, OK. A interactive multimedia exhibit depicting the Cherokee and their journey on the Trail of Tears. Worked in conjunction with Rich Heape Films, Inc., Dallas TX, Gerard & Assoc., Minneapolis, MN, Henley CO., Topanga, CA, National Parks Board, The Trail of Tears Assoc., Little Rock, AR. Producer/engineer for casting call, voice over, sound effects creation and recordings. Audio hardware programming and formatting (EPROM, Laserdisc, Computer, and Data tone)

Our Universes Exhibit – Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian, Washington D.C. “Our Universes” focuses on Native cosmology, the worldviews and philosophies related to the creation and order of the universe, and the spiritual relationship between mankind and the natural world. Organized around one solar year, the exhibition explores the annual ceremonies of Native peoples as a window on ancestral Native teachings. Under a “night sky” of fiber-optic stars and constellations, visitors can discover how celestial bodies shape the daily lives and establish the calendars of ceremonies and celebrations of Native peoples today. Eight Native communities Pueblo of Santa Clara (New Mexico), Anishinaabe (Great Lakes region and Canada), Lakota (South Dakota), Quechua (Peru), Hupa (California), Q’eq’chi’ Maya (Guatemala), and Mapuche (Chile), Yup’ik (Alaska) share tribal philosophies in distinctive community-curated areas which include Animated Short stories from each tribe. Worked at the direction of Cortina Productions, creating & recording voice recordings for animated Native American short stories in a multimedia format exhibit.

PERSONAL (Instrumental Film Music) PROJECT:
Composer/Producer of the Instrumental Concept Series COYOTE ZEN, Contemporary Jazz/World/New Age Music, Releases include "Blood of Many Nations" (Feb 2000). "Medicine Dog" (Dec. 2001), “Coyote Zen” (June 2004) on PAW Records. NAMMY nominated New Age Artist, #1 MP3.com Jazz Artist, NAV Top 20 Artist, Amazon.com top 20 Seller.


ALBUM PRODUCER/ENGINEER CREDITS:
Co-producer/engineer for Cherokee Nation projects; "Cherokee Gospel Music National Holiday 2000", and the 2002 NAMMY nominated "Cherokee Children’s Songs”, 2002 NAMMY winning “Voices of The Creator’s Children” featuring Rita Coolidge, and 2003 NAMMY nominated “Building One Fire” featuring Gil Silverbird. Co-producer/engineer on Bliss McCain’s “Grandview” which won an 2001 OMA (Ozark Music Awards) for “Album Of The Year”. Co-Producer for Cross Canadian Ragweed’s “Carney” and “Live and Loud”. Co-Prododucer of “Red Dirt Sampler- A Stillwater Songwriters Collective”.

Jeffrey is an integral part of producing Oklahoma’s vibrant "Red Dirt" music community, playing with, producing & recording such singer/songwriters as; Cross Canadian Ragweed, Jason Boland & the Stragglers, Mike McClure & The Great Divide (Atlantic Records)., Greg Jacobs, Tom Skinner, Bob Childers, Bill Erickson, Randy Pease, Farmboy, Dusty Children, Monica Taylor, (all on Singer-Songwriter label, Binky-UTR-Squirrel Records of Baton Rouge, LA) The compilation Stillwater Songwriter "Red Dirt" Sampler (Americana- Folk label, DustBowl Records, Redford, MI. Oklahoma Today magazine included 3 of the albums in their Top 60 Oklahoma releases (Jacobs, Childers & Skinner, July 1999 issue). Jeffrey has engineered and/or produced 50 albums/projects over the last 20 yrs.

PAST STUDIO CLIENTS/ARTISTS:

Country/Americana/AAA/Red Dirt
Byron Berline ~ (Flying Burrito Brothers, Emy Lou Harris, Eagles) Guthrie, OK
Chubby Carrier ~ Scott , LA (Grammy Winning Blues Artist)
Malford Milligan ~ Austin Texas (Storyville Atlantic Records)
Cross Canadian Ragweed ~ Stillwater, OK
Jason Boland & the Stragglers ~ Stillwater, OK
Ramona Reed ~ Clayton, OK (Bob Wills Texas Playgirl, voice of Martha White Grand Ole Opry)
Jimmie Lafave ~ Austin, TX
Bob Childers ~ Stillwater, OK
Buffalo Terry Joe Ware (Ray Wylie Hubbard) ~ Norman, OK
Mike McClure and Great Divide ~ Stillwater, OK
Cross Canadian Ragweed ~ Yukon, OK
Jason Boland & the Stragglers ~ Stillwater, OK
Red Dirt Rangers ~ OKC, OK
Frank Neville-Ned Ledoux (Chris Ledoux Band) Kaycee, WY
Jim Paul Blair ~ Muskogee, OK
City Moon ~ OKC, OK
Bliss McCain Band ~ Fayetteville AR
Liz Calendar ~ Dallas Texas
Monica Taylor ~ Stillwater OK
Tom Skinner ~ Bristow OK
Greg Jacobs ~ Checotah, OK
Bill Erickson ~ Tahlequah, OK
Randy Pease ~ Evansville, IN
Mike West and Myshkin ~ New Orleans, LA
Medicine Show ~ Stillwater, OK
Kyle Everett ~ Ft Worth, TX

Native American
Rita Coolidge ~ Cherokee
Cherokee National Youth Choir ~ Cherokee
DD Eichsioson Choir - Cherokee
Greg Howard ~ Cherokee
Larry Sellars ~ Cherokee/Sioux/Osage
Gil Sliverbird ~ Navajo/Apache/Cherokee
Gayle Ross ~ Cherokee
Choogie Kingfisher ~ United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians
Detra Kingfisher ~ Cherokee
JB Dreadfulwater and the Cherokee Choir ~ Cherokee
Ryan Wahpekeche ~ Kickapoo
Colbert Michael Burris ~ Chickasaw
Lisa LaRue ~ Cherokee
John Timothy ~ Creek
The Sequichie Trio ~ Cherokee
Norman “Hominy” & Liz Littledave and the MelodyAires ~ Cherokee
The Girdy Family Singers - Cherokee

Jazz
Northeastern State University Jazz Ensemble
Bobby Watson
Scott Wendholt
Will Cambell
Arthur White