David Parmley & Continental Divide

DAVID PARMLEY & CONTINENTAL DIVIDE – Church House Hymns

David Parmley & Continental Divide’s members have been involved with many albums over the years. Parmley, for example, recorded 15 projects with the Bluegrass Cardinals during an 18-year timeframe. In that prolific band with his father, guitarist/singer Parmley went pro at age seventeen. These musicians also have plenty of experience with notable groups like Lost & Found, Easter Brothers, and Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver. Originally from Los Angeles, Parmley moved to Nashville in 1993 to pursue a solo country music career. A year later, "David Parmley, Scott Vestal & Continental Divide" formed to explore progressive bluegrass. Guys like Harley Allen, Aubrey Haynie, Mike Anglin and later Jimmy Bowen, Rickie Simpkins and Randy Kohrs were members too.
After winning the 1995 IBMA Emerging Artist Award, the band reorganized in 1998 into what we know them as today with the emphasis back on more traditional, gospel and original material. In 2005, they released "Long Time Coming" (CMH records) including some former Cardinals in the lineup (Randy Graham on mandolin, Dale Perry on banjo, Barry Berrier on bass) along with the hot fiddling of Kentucky state champion Steve Day or Mike Hartgrove. That was the first recording that David and Randy made together since the early 90s when they recorded "What Have You Done For Him." Now, this 2007 gospel project has Parmley, Graham and Perry working with Jimmy Cameron (vocals), Kyle Perkins (bass) and guest Ron Stewart (fiddle).

Shortly after its release, this album became a strong contender for IBMA nomination as Gospel Recorded Performance of the Year. I never tire of David Parmley’s smooth, distinctive lead vocals and strong rhythm guitaring. It would’ve been nice if liner notes showed song-by-song vocal credits, but we know that all but Perkins and Stewart contribute in the vocal department. All but two songs on "Church House Hymns" were chosen by polling the band’s fans. For that reason, and because these are songs that band members grew up singing, make this project a personally meaningful and heartfelt offering. They open with a strong statement about being in ‘The Gloryland Way." Classics like "Will You Meet Me Over Yonder," "Are You Washed in the Blood," and "Won’t it be Wonderful There?" ask some straight-forward questions for Christians to ponder. At mid-set, a popular number from The Stanley Brothers, "Just Over in the Gloryland" paints a vivid picture of a home with mansions fair and where the saints abide. In "The Unclouded Day," Parmley reinforces the same recurring gospel theme about a land far beyond the skiies where no storm clouds rise. From the repertoire of Flatt & Scruggs, "You Can Feel it in Your Soul" has Dale Perry’s fingerpicked guitar driving the band’s quartet.
Despite questions you may have about the ways of sin and what you have to do for Christ, "Church House Hymns" will leave you feeling that old-time religion. The closer, William Cowper’s "There is a Fountain," was recorded in 1975 by the Bluegrass Cardinals, and this new similarly a cappella rendition is a moving summation even though three of the entire song’s six verses aren’t sung. David Parmley and Continental Divide chose to leave us with the words "Then in a nobler, sweeter song / I'll sing Thy power to save / When this poor lisping, stammering tongue / Lies silent in the grave." A fine and righteous statement, indeed, just like their entire gospel album. (Joe Ross)
- Blue Grass Now Magazine

CROSSROADS JOURNAL: Bluegrass Primer (by Ed Moschler) May 2007
Redbud Festival review

David Parmley & Continental Divide rolled in and delivered a “big-time” presence. David (lead vocals, guitar), along with Randy Graham (tenor vocals, mandolin), and Dale Perry (bass vocals, banjo, finger-picked guitar) are three of the legendary Bluegrass Cardinals – and they brought skill, variety, soul, bounce, humor, and professionalism to the stage. They were showing off their new release “Church House Hymns.” Songs from the project - like “Are you Washed in the Blood” and “Farther Along” - were clean, crisp, and well done. David pulled a top-notch old favorite out, “I Know a Good Thing”, as well as DP&CD classics such as “New Tin Roof” and “Long Gone”. You could hear a pin drop as he belted out a monster performance of “Wake Up”. Randy delivered the Bluegrass Cardinals’ gospel accapella anthem “There Is a Fountain” as well as it can possibly be done, and the group rollicked on their semi-accapella “Get Right or Get Left”. Overall, they brought their “A” game – presenting two tremendous shows on the stage.


- Crossroads Journcal ~ Greensboro, NC