Charlie Parr

Like his pals the Black Twig Pickers of Ironto, Va., Charlie Parr possesses the uncanny ability to sound ancient yet modern at the same time. Although he hails from the home of Bob Dylan (Duluth, Minn.), Backslider documents a singer and guitarist well versed in the Piedmont blues of such legends as Blind Blake and Blind Boy Fuller. For the uninitiated, this means Parr doesn't brood. Instead, his masterful fretwork bounces with a pep informed by Appalachian folk and ragtime.