(Self-released, CD, digital, vinyl)
Life is hard. It can kick you in the teeth when you’re already down. And when it all gets to be too much, there’s something so seductive about crawling back into bed, pulling the covers over your head and giving up on the day.
Reid Parsons wants to coax you out of that malaise. The Burlington singer-songwriter has been there and knows the futility of staying down. On her debut LP, Back to Back, Parsons’ jazz-inflected Americana and folk-pop songs double as encouraging pats on the back — and, occasionally, a loving kick up the backside.
Parsons wrote the majority of the album during the pandemic, and the contemplative, inward-looking drive in her compositions reflects that. On standout track “Show Me You Love Me,” her voice soars as she pleads for emotional honesty, issuing an anthem for cutting out the bullshit in relationships. It’s telling that so many of the album’s song titles are imperatives, such as “Get Out of Bed” and “Figure It Out.”
The often stark and confessional nature of her music might entice other songwriters to go sparse, but Parsons spent years arranging the songs on Back to Back, and it shows. The tracks are stuffed with instrumental excellence, though it might go unnoticed without close attention; such is the subtlety of her production.
Parsons uses space on the record as if it were a member of her backing band, letting the songs breathe while delicately placing horns just so, a guitar solo here, a stab of pedal steel there. The non-silent portion of that backing band packs plenty of punch: Trey Anastasio drummer Russ Lawton, trumpeter Connor Young, fiddler Danica Cunningham and saxophonist Avery Cooper are among the contributors.
With a few EPs, singles and a 2017 Advance Music Singer/Songwriter Contest win on her résumé, Parsons certainly isn’t an unknown in the Vermont music scene. Yet Back to Back is a new high-water mark for the Moretown native. The compositions are gorgeously simple but adorned by lush, masterful instrumental decoration. And at the center of it all is Parsons’ warm, powerful voice with just the right mix of soulfulness and effervescent dynamism.
While uplifting, the record isn’t some declaration of blind optimism. There are moments of darkness, as on the gothic country-tinged “Where Are You Now.” There’s also a wonderfully subversive horny undercurrent that emerges on a tense rendition of Bruce Springsteen’s “I’m on Fire.” Nonetheless, Back to Back is, at its heart, an outstretched hand and a simple directive: Keep going. Keep loving.
Back to Back is available on major streaming services and on CD and vinyl at reidparsons.bandcamp.com. Parsons plays Nectar’s in Burlington on Friday, June 6.
This article appears in May 7-13, 2025.
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