Florida-born guitarist Walter Parks and his Unlawful Assembly — a unit that scales from trio to six-piece — dig deep into the American South's sacred and secular soil: old spirituals, swamp hollers, gospel, prison work chants, and Appalachian reels, all run through a current of blues, soul, and jazz. Expect something illuminating and alive, not a museum piece.
Walter Parks spent a decade as lead guitarist and sideman to Woodstock legend Richie Havens, performing at venues from Carnegie Hall to Madison Square Garden and Glastonbury. Born in Jacksonville, Florida, Parks developed a banjo-influenced fingerpicking style rooted in the sounds of Georgia's Okefenokee Swamp — research he eventually brought to the Library of Congress, where his field recordings and arrangements now live in the American Folklife Collection. In 2017 he formalized that project as The Unlawful Assembly alongside drummer and producer Steven Williams. The band weaves together the African American spiritual tradition — gospel, work chants, prison songs — with white homesteader music: shaped-note hymns and Appalachian reels. Vocalist Ada Dyer and trombonist Andrae Murchison round out the core lineup, with organist Michael Bellar and bassist Paul Frazier filling out the full six-piece configuration. Their 2023 album *Shoulder It* includes a co-write with Stan Lynch, the former Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers drummer.
