Band stops by JMU on its first official tour of U.S.
Posted on November 8, 2007
Parachute Musical is a rock version of a fairy tale. After break-ups, constant member changes and disenchantment with the reality of the music business, a pivotal moment and a strange twist of fate in singer, songwriter and pianist, Josh Foster’s life changed the future of the group. Parachute Musical will be visiting Harrisonburg and the JMU campus today and can be heard on WXJM, 88.7FM for an interview at 5 p.m. and seen at TDU at 10 p.m..
Promotion for their new album Everything is Working out Fine in Some Town is what brings the piano rock quartet to Harrisonburg. Starting last night the group, Josh Foster, Tom Gilbert, Kyle Cornett and Ben Jacoby began their fall tour in Knoxville, Tenn.. The guys will travel all over the south including Virginia, Florida and Alabama.
“This is our first real tour,” Foster said. “We never toured with the first album because members were involved in another group and coordinating between two bands is impossible.”
Parachute Musical released its first self-titled album in 2003 with current members Gilbert, Jacoby and Foster. However, after struggling with the DC music scene, Foster was left to salvage the band on his own but became disappointed with the direction his band and life were headed.
“I got a sales job with great pay and all,” Foster said. “I gave up on music.”
As a result of witnessing a great live show, Foster decided to fly to Nashville, Tenn the following morning to meet up with his long-time friend from middle school and former band mate Tom. As Josh was arriving, Ben, another former band mate who had been visiting Nashville the week prior, was departing. It was “like fate.”
Since reuniting and recruiting bassist Kyle Cornett, Parachute Musical has been improving musically, culminating in the release of its sophomore album, due out early next year.
“On this album our voice is really spoken,” Foster said. “It defines us and I think the comparisons will stop.”
Though the band is a blend of jazz, Latin, rock and ballads driven by piano melodies, Parachute Musical has still managed to be compared to and grouped with prestigious artists, including Stevie Wonder. Foster still recalls the day Parachute Musical was called a group with “a tinge of Stevie Wonder white-boy soul” by The Nashville Scene, a weekly local newspaper.
Among others, Parachute Musical is often compared to the fellow pop-rock piano-driven group Ben Folds Five, though Foster fails to see many similarities beyond a piano and curly brown hair.
However, the group’s upcoming release stands out because of more than it’s ability to integrate mix of many genres into a single album. The emotional and intimate lyrics, written by Foster, recall a personal account of the past two years of his life. Issues ranging from sickness and alcoholism to broken families and engagements are approached through the 10-song full-length album.
“I can’t write make-believe stories in my songs,” Foster said. “I need to write and play songs that mean something. It’s my release.”
The next goal of the busy quartet is to make their way onto festival rosters including the annual CMJ Music Marathon and Film Festival and the South by Southwest Festival Conference as well as onto an independent label.
“Labels can’t do much for artists anymore,” Foster said. “But they can help place artists on tours with other similar, great bands.”
In the future, Parachute Musical hopes to tour more extensively with other independent acts, hopefully expanding their audience and reaching fan bases already forming as far north as Canada.
With the Green Day cover band Matt and the Blacktones, members of Richmond-based, and Harrisonburg-loved Murphy’s Kids, opening the show. For Parachute Monkey, the free TDU show will bring in fans in the Harrisonburg area.
For more on Parachute Musical check out their myspace at MySpace.com/parachutemusical.
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