8/12/2009 3:21:00 PM Living a rocker's dream: Parker Lundgren tours with Queensrÿche
Port Townsend’s Scott Lundgren (left) stands with his son, Parker Lundgren, following one of the 22-year-old’s shows on stage with Queensrÿche, a Seattle-based progressive metal band. Photo by Erin Lundgren
Port Townsend High School graduate Parker Lundgren (on stage, front left) performs with Queensrÿche in San Francisco as part of the American Soldier tour. Photo by Erin Lundgren
By Melanie Lockhart of The Leader
Ever since his teenage years, Parker Lundgren has dreamed of taking music to a professional level. But even in his wildest dreams, he never imagined that he'd eventually play guitar in front of 70,000 screaming metal fans.
The 22-year-old Port Townsend High School graduate has been touring as a guitar player for Queensrÿche - a multi-platinum Seattle-based progressive metal band - during the 2009 tour of the group's most recent album: American Soldier.
He's getting used to crowds of 3,000. But when he stepped out in front of 20,000 fans in France and again at Gods of Metal - Italy's largest metal music festival - in front of 70,000 who braved the pouring rain, the feeling was a new one entirely.
He's also had the chance to play beside some of his favorite bands, including Mötley Crüe and Motörhead.
"It was kind of surreal to be hanging out with a lot of my idols that I grew up listening to," Parker told The Leader.
The whole experience has been surreal, he said. "It's literally a dream come true. It's a really competitive industry so I never really expected it to be a possibility at all. I just kind of lucked out."
Little to big
It all started when Parker was a "little fish in a little pond," said his father, Scott Lundgren of Port Townsend.
"When I was about 13, I got a guitar and my neighbor got a drum set and we started a band even though we were both awful," Parker said. "We got some friends together and just started playing music."
Parker, along with Richard Lockwood, Ben Ericson and Jesse Dean, formed the band The Nihilists and played gigs in Port Townsend and Port Angeles - with some in Seattle - for six years.
"He used to get up and wouldn't brush his teeth. He'd grab the guitar instead," Scott said. "It was like sitting down for coffee - it was his fix."
He started out on acoustic guitar.
"Once I started playing in rock bands, I got bored with it and started playing jazz guitar," Parker said.
He joined the PTHS Jazz Band and took lessons from Chuck Easton.
Before long, Parker developed into a "big fish in a little pond," Scott said.
Eventually, Parker decided to leave his small hometown in hopes of opening up the door to more possibilities.
"When I moved from PT to Seattle I knew I wanted to do something in music," he said. "I basically engulfed myself in as many things having to do with music as possible."
That included living in a guitar studio, teaching guitar lessons, joining the band Sledgeback and working for two years as assistant manager at Guitar Center in Seattle.
He would sample guitars for musicians who were looking to purchase equipment. During his time at Guitar Center, Parker met "everybody that I wished I was," he said.
"I wanted to play guitar for a living; that was my goal. I met a lot of bands that were touring. I asked questions every chance I could to get advice."
Parker specifically recalls meeting Blasko - the bassist for Ozzie Osbourne - and asking about his experiences as a performer. Blasko said that he started playing in a band that was on tour with a more successful band and in time worked his way up the ladder.
"I got an idea from that and thought I could work my way up as well," Parker said.
In summer 2008, Parker landed a spot playing guitar for Queensrÿche lead singer Geoff Tate's solo project. He learned songs from Tate's solo album as well as a variety of Queensrÿche material for last September's mini-tour that centered around Tate and his wife Susan's wine brand, "Insania."
When he heard that guitarist Mike Stone might be leaving Queensrÿche, Parker began his own personal cram session.
"I took it on myself to learn the material ahead of time," he said. "At first it was that whenever I could, I would just learn some songs."
Once it was a sure thing, "I quit my job; I played my guitar for 10 hours a day for about a month to practice all of the stuff, because the songs are pretty difficult to play. When I came into the first rehearsal, I basically had all of the material."
Stone announced his departure from Queensrÿche on Feb. 3. Within two weeks, Parker was announced as the new touring guitarist.
Tour schedule
Since the first leg of the band's U.S. tour began in April, Parker has been nothing short of busy. There were 37 shows between April 16 and June 6. The European leg of the tour began with five shows in Germany and concluded with stops in seven countries in eight days, with two additional shows in the Netherlands on July 9 and 12.
"I'm sure you can imagine our schedule is jam-packed," Parker said. "I've been to a lot of places, but it's hard to find time to sit back and enjoy the cities we're in.
"In Europe we flew everywhere and we had all of our gear. We'd have a show, sleep maybe an hour or two, go to the airport, check in 50 pieces of gear, fly to the next place and set up the show."
Once the band returned to Washington, Parker married Tate's daughter, Miranda - whom he met prior to joining the solo project but began dating after. Then the group hit the road again.
The second leg of the U.S. tour began July 22 and runs through Saturday. Next week the band heads to Japan and Australia before returning to Washington to play at the Evergreen State Fair in Monroe on Sept. 2. The U.S. tour concludes in November. The final Washington show is at the Knitting Factory in Spokane on Nov. 5.
Music in the blood
The Lundgren family is no stranger to music. Scott plays the harmonica, and Parker's uncles - Bernie, Pat, John, Mike and Kevin - all grew up with interests in music as well. Parker's cousin, Christian Lundgren, was a recent finalist in The Leader's first Dream City Idol competition.
Scott credits his mother, Char Lundgren, due to her singing talent. "We certainly didn't get it from my dad's side of the family," Scott admitted.
The brothers grew up playing together at family events and carried the tradition to the next generation. Parker used to jam on his acoustic guitar with his dad on harmonica, and learned a lot from his uncle Mike.
"We'd have family gatherings with acoustic guitar around the campfire," Parker said.
Now the family enjoys hearing about Parker's experiences and attends nearby shows when they can. Even Parker's grandma Char, who will be 80 in February, has learned to appreciate it.
When Parker was with The Nihilists, Char would worry about his song lyrics being morbid. But she was anxious to see him perform with Queensrÿche and attended one of his first shows.
"She was by far the oldest person there," Scott said. "But she stood up and clapped and didn't wear ear plugs. She said, 'I want to see my grandson in concert once before I die,' so she went."
Stick to it
Parker's love for being on stage and rocking out is something "I'm going to try to make a career of as long as possible," he said.
He's already practicing songs with Queensrÿche for next year's tour, so he expects he'll continue with the band and hopes to take an even more active part in the future.
He's been writing songs since his first band formed. "Once you get in the habit of writing music, you kind of don't stop," he said, adding, "Queensrÿche wants to start writing their next album as soon as possible, and I hope to be a part of that."
Reader Comments
Posted: Thursday, April 22, 2010
Article comment by:
Daniel k
lol, now this SOB is teaching me how to play guitar, sweet xD
Gratz Parker
Posted: Thursday, August 13, 2009
Article comment by:
Mike P
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