Episode 221: Ben Parks
Of Tree's Ben Parks joined me for Episode No. 221, and we've got a few things to cover, so let's get into it.
Ben is a son, a sibling, a father, a visual artist, and a musician.
On the artist front, please visit benjaminparks.info to check out his available workshops, studio space, exhibits, and commission-outreach details. His Instagram handle is @branchesoftree. For the musician in him, find details at benjaminparks.info/of-tree. That Instagram handle is @of_tree.
Ben and his buddy, Danny McGaw, have a dual-release show happening Friday, September 11th at 8:00 p.m. at 1413 W. 11th Street in Kansas City's West Bottoms. Ben's Of Tree outfit has a single, an EP, and a full-length release available where you stream.
Ben and I talked family, his visual-art approach, installs and exhibits, working with the community, and a bunch more. We also talked about a few of his favorite albums, which were these:
Smog's A River Ain't Too Much to Love (2005)
In the Pines' self-titled release (2008)
The Bunkhouse Vol. 1: Anchor Black Tattoo (2012), Fionn Regan
Gregory Alan Isakov with The Colorado Symphony (2016)
Sundowner (2020), Kevin Morby
During our chat, I stupidly referred to the Track Star show as "Star Track." Derp. I also spaced on the name of Morgen Agesen's Art Garden KC. My apologies.
Anyway...find tickets to Ben's release show via the EventBrite link on is Web site. Thank you, Ben, and thank you to all of you that support the program.
copyright disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the audio clips contained within this episode. They are snippets from the Phish track, "Tweezer," from their 1992 release, A Picture of Nectar, c/o Elektra Entertainment.