Parker Gispert Rises, Shines as Solo Artist

While The Whigs continue to play occasional shows, they pulled back significantly on activity beginning in 2017, leaving frontman Parker Gispert with a lot more free time. “It occurred to me that if I wanted to record and tour that I was going to need to do it solo,” he says. “I’d always thought about it in the back of my mind as something that I wanted to do one day, but ‘one day’ had never really come.”

Now, nearly two years of focusing mainly on writing and playing new material on his own, Parker’s debut solo album Sunlight Tonight arrives on Nov. 16th via New West imprint Normaltown Records. The largely acoustic guitar affair, accented with light bass and drums, strings and trumpet touches, will be heralded with record release shows at Smith’s Olde Bar on Nov. 15 and the Nowhere Bar in Athens on Nov. 17, as Gispert continues his nearly nonstop touring, with nationwide dates booked all the way into March.

“I’d always been afraid of doing something solo because I thought it might mess up the band vibe,” he continues, “but now I’m able to see that it actually helps. When we do get back together to play, it’s fun and it’s fresh and it has a new life.”

Photo by Alexa King.