LUCIUS PARR
IT ALL BEGAN IN A SMALL COUNTRY TOWN CALLED YOAKUM TEXAS WHERE THERE WASN'T A WHOLE LOT TO DO.
AT A VERY YOUNG AGE, LUCIUS WORKED IN THE COTTON FIELDS AND ON THE FARM TO HELP PROVIDE FOOD FOR THE FAMILY. OF COURSE, HE CHERISHED THE TIME HE HAD WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS BUT THE BEST THING THAT HE HAD GOING FOR HIM AT THE TIME WAS HIS LOVE FOR MUSIC. FORTUNATELY, HE WAS SURROUNDED BY A HOST OF MUSICIANS, HIS DAD, UNCLES, AUNTS AND GRAND MOM ALSO HAD THE LOVE FOR MUSIC.
COMING FROM A BROKEN HOME AND A VERY VERY POOR FAMILY IT WAS ALWAYS A DREAM OF HIS TO BE A MUSICIAN. SO HE MADE HIMSELF A GUITAR FROM A CIGAR BOX, SOME STRING AND WELL... THE REST IS HISTORY.
WHEN LUCIUS TURNED TEN YEARS OLD HE WAS PUT IN THE SCHOOL BAND TO PLAY THE TROMBONE AND FROM THAT POINT HE EXCELLED AND WAS CHOSEN TO PERFORM IN THE ALL-STATE BAND IN HOUSTON, TEXAS. UP ON GRADUATING FROM ASBERRY HIGH SCHOOL IN YOAKUM, HE RECEIVED A FOUR YEAR SCHOLARSHIP IN MUSIC TO PAUL QUINN COLLEGE IN WACO, TEXAS. AT THAT TIME HIS DAD GAVE HIM HIS FIRST GUITAR, SO LUCIUS LEARNED TO PLAY THAT GUITAR AND PLAYED WITH A GROUP IN COLLEGE.
HIS FIRST BIG TIME PERFORMANCE WAS WITH ETTA JAMES IN 1967 AT THE NITE LIFE CLUB IN WACO, TEXAS. LUCIUS SAYS, “THAT WAS THE BIGGEST NIGHT FOR HIM EVER” AND HE ACTUALLY MADE $25 WHICH WAS A BIG STEP UP FROM WHAT HE WAS USED TO. HE PLAYS R&B BUT HIS HEART IS INTO THE BLUES. LUCIUS GREW UP LISTENING TO ALBERT COLLINS (HIS COUSIN), BB KING AND A SCORE OF OTHERS.
LUCIUS MOVED TO PHOENIX, AZ IN 1968 WHERE HE PERFORMED WITH SEVERAL GROUPS BEFORE BEING DRAFTED INTO THE U.S. ARMY. HIS ORDERS WERE TO GO TO VIETNAM…INFANTRY (COMBAT) AND HE WAS POINT MAN IN ONE OF THE MOST CHALLENGING, FRIGHTENING, AND MIND ALTERING EXPERIENCES ONE CAN BEAR. AFTER BEING IN THE HILLS FIGHTING FOR THREE MONTHS LUCIUS WAS CALLED TO HAVE THREE DAYS IN THE REAR OR AS SOME MAY KNOW, R&R. BUT BEFORE LUCIUS COULD GO GET “CLEANED UP” HE HEARD MUSIC AND SO HE WALKED UNTIL HE FOUND A BAND PRACTICING AT THE OFFICERS CLUB. THERE WAS A GUY, BALDWIN GAMMAGE, (LATER TO BE KNOWN AS BROTHER GAMMAGE) OBSERVING THE BAND AND LUCIUS ASKED, “HOW DO YOU GET IN THE BAND?” BROTHER GAMMAGE FIRST GLANCE AND RESPONSE WAS “MAN! YOU ARE IN THE BOONIES! GO OVER THERE TO THAT HUTCH AND A GUY WILL AUDITION YOU.” HE AUDITIONED FOR TROMBONE AND BASS GUITAR. AFTER THE THREE DAYS IN THE REAR, LUCIUS WAS SENT BACK OUT TO WAR AND THEN BY GRACE AND MANY PRAYERS, TWO WEEKS LATER LUCIUS WAS CALLED OUT OF THE BOONIES AND INTO THE BAND. LUCIUS TOURED VIETNAM AFTER THAT PERFORMING FOR WOUNDED GI'S AND GI'S THAT WERE OUT THERE STILL FIGHTING. LUCIUS CREDITS BALDWIN GAMMAGE, THE LOVE OF MUSIC AND OF COURSE THE MAN UP ABOVE FOR SAVING HIS LIFE. AFTER BEING BACK IN THE STATES HE STUCK WITH THE GUITAR AND HAS BEEN A BLUES GUITARIST EVER SINCE.
LUCIUS HAS OPENED SHOWS FOR SUCH GREAT ARTIST AS BOBBY RUSH, BB KING, LOWELL FULSON, BUDDY GUY AND DEBARGE JUST TO NAME A FEW. HE PLAYED BEHIND BETTYE SWAN AND MARY WELLS. HE HAS PERFORMED ON STAGE WITH HIS COUSIN ALBERT COLLINS, JOHNNY COPELAND AND MOST RECENTLY HIS GOOD FRIEND CHARLIE DANIELS. LUCIUS HAS MOST RECENTLY PERFORMED ON STAGE WITH 3 DOORS DOWN, TRAVIS TRITT, CHRIS STAPELTON, LUKE BRYAN AND KID ROCK. LUCIUS SAYS HE IS SO BLESSED TO BE STILL PERFORMING THE BLUES AND OLD SCHOOL R&B.
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