Lee Roy Parnell

Lee Roy Parnell goes back to the well (May 2006)

Lee Roy Parnell's voice is a little tired. He's just in from a two-week sweep on the road, re-adjusting to the timing of home life in Nashville, and he's caught in the catch-up mode of two very different internal clocks not quite syncing. Still, Parnell - a true Texas roadhouse texture as versed in the stinging blues of Stevie Ray Vaughan as the swirling swing of dear family friend Bob Wills - has a voice that blankets songs and emotions with an ease that comes from living, not forcing the moments he's inhabited.  ...

Lee Roy Parnell dares to "Tell the Truth" (Jul 2001)

Lee Roy Parnell's new album "Tell The Truth" represents a giant career change. After a run of big country radio hits from 1992-1996, Parnell found that the format no longer welcomed him. So, he's moved to a small label (Vanguard) and recorded a blues album. People who know Parnell only from his hit singles may consider that a huge musical leap as well. People who've actually heard Parnell's previous albums realize it's more of a small jump. Now Parnell's got to overcome that pesky perception of him as "Hot New Country star" while also hanging on to some of the fans he developed through his hits.  ...

Parnell stays true to his musical desires (Sep 1999)

What started off as recording songs for a new album turned into a greatest hits plus package for Lee Roy Parnell. And that suited the Texan who pumps some blues and lots of slide in his country tank, just fine. Well, that was the case until the reception at radio to one of the two new songs on "Hits and Highways Ahead" - "She Won't Be Lonely Long" - was less than stellar. The man who has had 7 songs reach the Top 10 from his first five albums only made it into the 40's on the singles charts.  ...

Lee Roy Parnell: not your flavor of the month (Jun 1997)

The fact that Lee Roy Parnell isn't part of the flavor-of-the-month country club was foreshadowed when he was a senior in high school in his native west Texas. Two weeks before getting his sheepskin, Parnell decided to call it quits. "You have to understand. I grew up in rural Texas. It was tough," he says with a laugh during an interview from Nashville. "If you let your hair grow down below your collar, they sent you home. A lot of people didn't think I'd amount to anything. Being  ...

Parnell needs no luck this time (Nov 1995)

Lee Roy Parnell did not take the easy way out this time around. And who knows? Maybe it worked to his benefit, at least based on the success he has enjoyed thus far from his latest release, "We All Get Lucky Sometimes." The easy way would have been to keep within limited musical confines, not challenging the listener too much. Another easy route would have been to utilize the usual assortment of Nashville session musicians to record the disc as he has done in the past. But the Texan did no such things on his fourth disc.  ...