Category Archives: de musica

New Christmas song, new album are here! Thanks for checking out my music.

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Just like every year, I write an EP worth of songs and a Christmas song that I produce, record, and perform myself in our home studio.

This year’s release has three (yes, count ’em) love songs for Tracie, including one I wrote about the time before we met. There’s a song for each of the girls and then another for both of them together. And there’s also a song for Doggynino, our very first dog.

Writing and performing with my band is one of the things that I miss the most about my life before Texas. But the music in me remains strong and I can’t help but produce a “disc” each year.

This year’s record is called “Day after Night,” after the title track, a love song I wrote for Tracie.

That anyone listens to my music means the world to me. Thanks for checking it out. Click here to listen online and to download. Turn it up loud!

Take Me Down to Christmas Town

This track is a full-on country song about someone trying to get to a Christmas party. With delicious anticipation, the singer looks forward to how fun it’s going to be. It’s always been a dream of mine to write a popular Christmas tune. This ain’t it but man I had a blast putting this one together. That’s me playing my Tele btw.

Day After Night

Tracie really changed our lives when she launched her new career as a realtor, more than doubled our family’s income, and created a whole new financial path for all of us. It made me reflect on when we first met and how she delivered “day after night.” I love her so much.

Southeast Texas Girl

Years before I met Tracie, I followed her blog about her life on an island off the coast of Campania. I bet when my old French bandmates hear this one they will say “this could have been a Nous Non Plus song.” I love how the bridge resolves on this track.

I Love You Lila Jane

What can I say? She has me wrapped around her little finger. I wrote and recorded this after we saw the new Elvis movie. The chorus was inspired by his “If I Can Dream” (such an awesome track, the Elvis one, I mean).

One in a Million Girl

We love Georgia’s endless questioning of the world around her as she tries to make sense of how it all comes together. Watching her grow intellectually has been so wonderful. And we love watching her as she discovers new music that she loves. She’s a one in a million girl, no doubt about it.

Doggynino

I’ve written songs for all of our dogs but I had never finished this one until the girls reminded me that Doggyninno still didn’t have his own. I actually wrote this not long after he passed. But I was still so broken up about it that I could never finish it. I still cry every time I hear the last verse. We still miss him even though he was part of our lives for just a few short weeks. His name will never be forgotten.

Parzen Family Girls

This was the first song I wrote for the album. Now that I’m in the autumn of my life, their joy and the joy they inspire in me are what keeps me going, day in and day out. I don’t know who I would be today if it weren’t for the Parzen family girls. They are so awesome.

One Love of My Life

I’ve been so lucky to have had such a rich life full of adventures intellectual and epicureal and travels far and wide. But nothing has shaped me and my life like the one true love of my life. I don’t know who I would be today without her. She is an amazing woman and I’ll never stop being inspired by her grace and beauty. And I’ll never stop writing and recording love songs for her.

Thanks for listening to my music! It really means the world to me. Thank you!

A song our record company turned down finds a home. How my band Nous Non Plus thrived through music licensing.

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Late last week, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that two songs by my band Nous Non Plus had been used in the 2020 film “Sister of Bride,” starring Alicia Silverstone.

Of course, I was thrilled, as were my bandmates, that we placed a couple of tracks in a major flick.

But making the deal all the more sweet was the fact that one of the tracks, “C’est Vrai Bébé,” came from an album, “Le sexe e la politque,” that our record company rejected.

It took almost a decade but that song has finally found a home!

Making the deal even more sweet was the fact that I wrote that song for Georgia, our now 10-year-old, when she was still a baby.
Continue reading →

Cascina Baricchi: the best Barbaresco you’ve never tasted.

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Only a few savvy insiders in America know the wines raised by the amazing Natale Baricchi on his family’s farm, Cascina Baricchi, on the eastern edge of the Barbaresco appellation.

Partly because of wine but more so because of our shared passion for guitar (he’s got an amazing collection of handmade acoustic guitars, including some Spanish gems), Natale Baricchi, his wife Francesca, and I became good friends two years ago when I was teaching in Piedmont at the Slow Food University of Gastronomic Sciences in Bra.

Yesterday, the couple hosted me and my Franciacorta bromances Nico Danesi and Giovanni Arcari for dinner and an informal tasting of their Cascina Baricchi Barbaresco (accompanied by guitar, of course!). That’s Nico, Franciacorta winemaker of acclaim, in the photo above.

Francesca and Natale live in the commune of Neviglie, just to the east of the Barbaresco appellation. But their vineyards are in the Barbaresco DOCG. Because Natale’s father began making wine there decades ago, they are “grandparented” into the appellation (their case is an exception but for most producers the grapes have to be transformed into wine within the appellation borders). Natale’s dad was super tight buds with Angelo G., who helped him early on when he was first planting Nebbiolo there.

Natale likes to hold his wines back. His current release is Barbaresco 2014 (most producers have already released their 2016). We also tasted the 2004. Both wines were extraordinary. The 04 was one of the best wines I’ve tasted this year, nearly fully evolved and drinking gorgeously.

It was all accompanied by Francesca’s homemade vitello tonnato, a little bit of insalata russa, freshly cut tomatoes, a wedge of farinata, and a slice of crusty bread. Superb!

Natale and Francesca are in the processing of changing U.S. importers. I think a lot of people will be very happy with the results in terms of availability moving forward.

And when I see you in person, I’ll tell you a voce about some of their noteworthy clients. Once you taste the wines, you’ll understand why so many Nebbiolo greats collect these.

Man, it’s great to be back in Italy again. Seeing my friends, tasting new releases and vintages, and remembering what makes my world go around.

Thank you Natale and Francesca! I love you guys! (Thanks also for letting me play you the new song I wrote for Tracie! That meant the world to me.)

Falling In Love Again, a new song for Tracie P by Parzen Family Singers

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It’s been a great summer for our family so far and it’s been a magical time in our lives as we can get out again and our work is thriving.

And… I’m falling in love again.

“I’m Falling In Love Again”
written, performed, recorded, and produced
by Parzen Family Singers
Baby P Studios
Houston

Do you ever wonder
How the stars aligned
Strangers passing in the night
Honky tonks and wine

What was it that caught your eye
When I happened to pass by
Was it just that note I wrote
In a long ago July

Every little bit of sunshine
Every little bit of rain
Every little bit of joy and laughter
Every little bit of tears and pain

Every little bit of sunshine
Every little bit of rain
I’m falling in love again
I’m falling in love again

When I was a little kid
They told us a fairytale
All you had to do in life was to
Set your ship to sail

Find the perfect lover
Then it may come true
What makes the world go round & round
When I first looked at you

Every little bit of sunshine
Every little bit of rain
Every little bit of joy and laughter
Every little bit of tears and pain

Every little bit of sunshine
Every single day
I’m falling in love again
I’m falling in love again

Who could ever know
How much our love would grow
Who could ever see
What our love could be

And as you look at me
It’s no mystery
I’m falling in love again
I’m falling in love again
I’m falling in love again
I’m falling in love

Houston, we have a problem party and EVERYONE is invited: HOUSE PARTY MAY 18, live music and wines by Cantele

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Here’s the deal: if you have my phone number, if we are friends on Facebook and/or we follow each other on Instagram, YOU ARE INVITED!

HOUSE PARTY
CHEZ PARZEN
SATURDAY, MAY 15

LIVE MUSIC, POTLUCK, WINE

TIME: 1 P.M. until the wine stops flowing
WHERE: our house in Houston (PM me if you need the address)
WHAT TO BRING: your favorite pot luck dish, your instrument

On Saturday, May 18, the Parzen family, the Parzen Family Singers, and Cantele are going to be hosting one of our legendary HOUSE PARTIES.

Doors open at 1 p.m.

Kids play solo and combo starting at 2 p.m.

Adult music begins at 4 p.m.

When does it end? When the wine stops flowing!

One of my best friends Paolo Cantele will be in town and he’s providing wine all day and night from his family’s winery.

My band Parzen Family Singers will be making its debut performance.

All kids and adults are welcome to sign-up for open mic! Bring your instrument. There will be backline, including keyboards, provided.

Bring your favorite pot luck dish.

Our parties are super fun and always kid-friendly. And SERIOUSLY: EVERYONE IS INVITED! Just PM me if you need our address. Everyone is welcome and there will be plenty of food and wine to go around.

Please don’t be shy: COME TO OUR PARTY and ROCK OUT with us!

Christmas Songs: “Why Can’t It Be Christmas Every Day Of The Year?” by Lila Jane and Georgia

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“Christmas Songs” week continues today with the Parzen Family Singers holiday ditty from last year, “Why Can’t It Be Christmas Every Day Of The Year?” sung by Lila Jane and Georgia.

That’s a photo of the sisters, below, from earlier this year when the weather was still warm enough for them to perform their “pandemic flash mob” concerts on the street outside our house.

They go to a music magnet elementary school. Across our neighborhood, at the same time each week, kids from their music program would set up and play songs from their Suzuki Method books for neighbors. It was a program organized by Lila Jane’s awesome cello teacher, who’s also our good friend.

The health crisis has been so tough on kids, our own girls included. But music has been such a great balm for them: They both take piano lessons, Georgia plays violin and guitar, and Lila Jane plays cello. And on many weekends, we jam together, write songs, and I teach them about the recording arts (something I enjoy immensely).

All the photos in the video above are from last year. It was wonderful to revisit them and to remember what life was like at our house before the pandemic. It’s still going to take a while but it will be like that again…

I hope that their song and video can bring a little bit of sunshine into your lives today. Thanks for listening. And Merry Christmas from the Parzen Family!

Christmas Songs: “(General, Please) Keep My Baby Safe This Christmas Eve”

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“Christmas Songs” week continues on the blog today with a Christmas song I wrote together with my Nous Non Plus bandmates in 2011. At the time, Tracie and I were still living in Austin where we wrote, performed, and produced our album “Freudian Slip” (a track from that record recently appeared in “Emily in Paris”).

Austin music legend David Garza helped us produce the album and played on nearly all of the tracks. Another Austin great, Kyle Thompson, played drums.

The song was inspired by a Southern Californian blogger who called herself “Marines Girl.” Tracie and I followed her as she wrote about what it was like to be married to someone who was stationed overseas.

My loyal and ever-ready bandmates, always ready to embrace my crazy ideas, lovingly helped me flesh out my original idea for the song. It’s one of the few English-language tracks we ever recorded and David plays an amazing guitar solo on it.

I’ll never forget the moment we played it for our record company: They were like, “you wrote a sad Christmas song?” Needless to say, they refused to release it.

But it’s one of my all-time favorites from our catalog and I loved writing, performing, and recording it.

Those are lead singers Céline and Jean-Luc with David in the photo below (at EAR studio where we did most of the live tracking).

Here’s a short clip of us rehearsing with David and Kyle in our living room in Austin. Most of the band was stayed with us while we were making the album and we did some of the tracking in my home studio. It was one of those really great times in our lives. Tracie and I were still newlyweds and we were just beginning to try to start a family…

And here are some random images from Nous Non Plus over the years.

I sure miss those times but it’s also wonderful to listen to these songs. It’s like each one captures a moment, a memory, and a feeling that could have only happened at that particular place and time.

Thanks for letting me share it with you here. And I hope you like the track. Merry Christmas, everyone!

Christmas Songs: “Nothing Good Rhymes with Santa Klaus”

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From the department of “you can talk about your Donald Trumps and Rush Limbaughs”…

Like every songwriter who happens to be a nice Jewish boy from a nice Jewish family (read: my mother’s other sons are both lawyers), it’s always been a lifelong dream of mine to write a great Christmas song.

In keeping with the holiday spirit this year (and with the knowledge that so many of you are stuck at home chained to a computer screen and thus might be more open to some hokey Christmas jingle divertissement than in a normal year), today I’m sharing one of my favorite roasted chestnuts, “Nothing Good Rhymes with Santa Klaus,” a song I wrote, performed, and recorded with our friend and writer extraordinaire Gwendolyn Knapp in Houston in 2018.

December 2018, you ask? It feels like a lifetime since we wrote the lines:

I read the Sunday Papers about the world’s faux pas
You can talk about your Donald Trumps and your Rush Limbaughs
When you’re eating at your drunk in-laws
Talkin’ ’bout the war on Santa Klaus

Please note that the plural of faux pas is pronounced foe paws.

That’s me and Gwendolyn, below, playing a gig as The Go Aways (iTunes link for our one album released) in the time before the time of the pandemic and what a good time it was.

Thanks for being here, thanks for listening (and for helping to make my childhood dream come true), and most importantly, MERRY CHRISTMAS YA’LL!

More good Christmas music (well, I guess “good” is a relative term) is on its way!

NEW SONG: “I Can’t Wait For The Eight Nights Of Hanukkah.” Happy Hanukkah, everyone!

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Please consider giving to our GoFundMe to raise funds for the MLK Day 2021 parade in Orange, Texas where Tracie grew up and where we’ve been protesting a newly constructed neo-Confederate monument since 2017. Thank you for your support.

In a normal year, the Parzen Family usually hosts 2-3 blow-out parties a year, each with a kids music recital and parents jam session (sometimes lasting late into the evening).

Everyone — and I mean, EVERYONE — is invited and welcome and there’s always plenty of great wine, food, and music to share.

But over the last few years, our Hanukkah parties have become the pièce de résistance. That’s because of Tracie’s (now) famous latkes and jelly-filled donuts which she makes on the spot, sometimes for 50+ people!

We’re really bummed that we can’t have our holiday party this year. So instead we made this video with images from years past. The superb photos from last year’s party come by way of the amazing Annie Mulligan, our friend and fellow Parker parent.

Happy Hanukkah, everyone! Raise a glass to freedom!

I Can’t Wait For The Eight Nights Of Hanukkah

From the album It’s So Easy In America Tonight (November 2020)
available on the Terrible Kids Music label
Written, performed, and produced by
Parzen Family Singers at
Baby P Studios
Houston, Texas
Engineered by daddy.

Something’s happening soon
And I’m over the moon
And it’s going down tonight

You know it’s gonna be fun
Cause it’s the number one
It’s the Festival of lights

I can’t wait
For the eight
Nights of Hanukkah

Dreidel I will play
As you light
The menorah

Way back in history
Judas Maccabbee
set his people free

And then miraculously
The oil burned more than a week
It was so beautiful to see

I can’t wait
For the eight
Nights of Hanukkah

Dreidel I will play
As you light
Your menorah

Light the candles
Sing the songs
Say the prayers
All night long

Watch the candles glow