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“Equally funny and dangerous” (CBC Radio)

Award-winning songwriter, poet and ironic social commentator evalyn parry is gifted with a sharp pen, a quirky musical sensibility and a wicked sense of humour. From 19th century cycling heroines to 21st century sailors; from “feminine protection” to bottled water to the quest for the Northwest Passage, evalyn’s outspoken creations hold out a powerful vision of social and personal change, while her irreverent wit holds nothing sacred.

Accompanying herself on guitar, water bottle, shruti box and loop pedals, parry shoots from the hip and aims for the heart. Fierce, funny, poignant and provocative, over the past decade parry has toured music, storytelling, pride, poetry and theatre festivals across the continent, taking her unique perspective on the world and transforming it into art that spans genres, genders and generations. Her work has been widely broadcast and anthologized; her three CD’s have enjoyed wide critical acclaim and she will release the highly-anticipated recording of her latest, inventive musical project, SPIN (starring The Bicycle as Muse, Musical Instrument, and Agent of Social Change) in 2011.

evalyn is the recipient of the Colleen Peterson Songwriting Award from the Ontario Arts Council, the Beth Ferguson Upcoming Songwriter Award from the Ottawa Folk Festival, nominee for the KM Hunter Ward (OAC) and winner of the Ken McDougall Award for upcoming director.

evalyn grew up running around at folk festivals, folk music running in her veins: her father David a member of the iconic Toronto folk ensemble The Friends of Fiddlers Green, and her mother Caroline a children’s music performer, author and folklorist. No surprise then that evalyn and her brother Richard (a member of Montreal’s Arcade Fire) have both emerged as innovative artists in their own right.   evalyn’s material stands on the foundation of the traditional Celtic and American music she was brought up singing, but takes it in original and unexpected directions.

Her live appearances over the last few years include: The Banff Centre, The Yukon International Storytelling Festival, Hillside Festival (Guelph Ontario); Word on the Street (Toronto), The Lincoln Center Out of Doors Roots of American Music Festival (New York City); The Calgary International Spoken Word Festival; The Small World Festival, Atlin Music and Arts Festival (BC), The Vancouver Storytelling Festival; Home County Folk Festival (London, Ontario), The Ottawa Folk Festival; Toronto Pride; The Halifax Pop Explosion;Ottawa Pride; Peterborough Pride; Guleph Pride;  Harbourfront Centre (Toronto); North by North East; she has performed for numerous union events and conferences, political, legal and activist events. as well as numerous university and colleges campuses and folk venues.

“parry redefines folk music” ~ The Daily News, Hailfax

In addition to her musical adventures, evalyn is also an actor, playwright, theatre creator and educator. She is a founding member of Independent Auntie Theatre, with Anna Chatterton and Karin Randoja,  known for their award-winning comedy “Clean Irene and Dirty Maxine”, and Dora Nominated production “Breakfast”.  parry is also an Associate Artist at Toronto’s Buddies in Bad Times Theatre.

She likes to ride her bike.

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