New music season at Spaceship Earth

Feb. 18—A new music season is shifting into gear at Spaceship Earth Coffee in McAlester, highlighted by a couple of key bookings.

First up is John Fullbright on March 23.

He will be followed a couple of months later by Charlie Parr on May 23.

Both are acclaimed musicians in the Americana/folk/rock genre, with Parr also heavily into the blues.

Both musicians last performed in McAlester during the 2022 fall edition of the Dancing Rabbit Music Festival. Fullbright performed as headliner on the outdoor stage, while Parr performed inside Spaceship Earth Coffee.

How does Spaceship Earth manage to consistently book such acclaimed artists?

"Number one, there's a lot of really good artists out there," said Jeremy Beaver of Spaceship Earth Coffee.

"Our booker is J.T. Perry, from McAlester, who plays with the band Southall. He knows everybody on the Oklahoma music scene."

And why do so many of these artists like performing in McAlester?

"John knew about our venue," Beaver said. "We try to take care of the artists. We are careful of the kind of artist we bring. We try to be pretty selective about who we have."

Referring to Fullbright, Beaver said that over the years, Fullbright has become one of his favorite artists to listen to, not just among Oklahoma artists, but among all musical artists, period.

As for Parr, Beaver said "There are very few people doing this kind of music at this level that Charlie Parr does."

Although his music encompasses everything from Americana to folk and hints of bluegrass, it's deeply grounded in the blues.

"He's a walking national treasure," Beaver said, adding that he's looking forward to Parr's performance.

Fullbright's most recent album is "The Liar" released in 2022.

A native of Okemah, Oklahoma, his 2012 album "From the Ground Up" was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Americana album category.

In 2013, when he was a nominee for Emerging Artist of the year, he performed at the 12th Annual Americana Music Awards show in Nashville.

Fullbright was also awarded the ASCAP Harold Adamson Lyric Award at the 17th Annual Ascap Awards Foundation. Ceremony in New York City.

Parr is considered a master of the resonator guitar, as well as the six and twelve-string acoustic.

He is performing in McAlester on the heels of his new album, "Little Sun," which is set for a March 22 release by Smithsonian Folkways.

It follows his previous acclaimed Smithsonian Folkways release, "Last of the Better Days Ahead" — which is also the title of Parr's first work of fiction.

Parr has already released the first track from the album, titled "Boombox."

Tickets for Fullbright's show went on sale Thursday, for $30 per ticket, or $40 for a ticket that comes with one of his CDs.

They can be obtained at Spaceship Earth Coffee or online at spaceshipearth.coffee.

Details on tickets to Parr's show were still being finalized and will be announced later.