Jarod Parlee

Born and raised in Quispamsis, New Brunswick, Jarod Parlee grew up in a musical family where his grandfather, uncle, father and sister all wrote songs, played instruments and sang. This Maritime upbringing would become a central theme in Jarod’s writing in the years to come.

After graduating from university, Jarod moved to Hamilton, and later, London, Ontario and began playing regularly with Jason Moir. Through Moir, he would meet Dustin Jones. Moir and Jones would be major contributors on Jarod’s first demo, “Acoustic Madness” in 2003. While unreleased commercially, this demo provided a glimpse of the recording style that the three would use on “Winter Take All” several years later. Focusing on acoustic instruments and honest lyrics, this initial offering was well received and encouraged Jarod to keep writing new material.

When songs began coming together for “Winter Take All”, it was immediately clear that the album would tell the story of the Canadian winter. The mood of the songs ranged from Fall to Spring; from nostaligic looks at the past to desperate and haunting songs about loss and frustration and finally to the more hopeful optimism that comes with spring. When recording began in late 2007 in Toronto, the mood of the sessions was upbeat despite the dark subject matter of the record. Jarod played acoustic guitar and sang on all ten songs of the independent release. Moir provided bass, electric guitar and background vocals to the project while Jones played percussion and handled the engineering duties at his homegrown studio on Manning Avenue in Toronto.

More recently, Jarod has turned his attention to playing shows with the Wind Broken Stones. The band has recently finished recording their debut release, "Straight Into the Rising Sun" and have played dozens of shows across Southern Ontario over the past 15 months. According to Jarod, "It has been a really exciting time to be a part of the indie scene. We feel like we're on the very tip of the sword that is helping to carve out a new way in which fans can get the music that they want to hear."

www.myspace.com/jarodparlee
www.myspace.com/windbrokenstones