The National Parks
The National Parks is a folk/pop band comprised of five members: Brady Parks (Denver, Colorado – guitar and lead vocals), Sydney Carling Macfarlane (Kaysville, Utah – keyboards and vocals), John Hancock (Sacramento, California – electric guitar), Cam Brannelly (Draper, Utah – drums), and Megan Taylor Parks (Draper, Utah – violin). The group was formed by front man, Brady Parks, with original band members Sydney Carling, and Paige Wagner, in Provo, Utah, in early 2013, with 15 March 2013, marking the band’s first public performance. They produced their debut album Young through Kickstarter under the name of the founder and front man, Brady Parks but was eventually released under the name The National Parks on 3 September 2013. The album was recorded at June Audio with producer Scott Wiley and climbed to #13 on the iTunes singer/songwriter chart.
In January 2014, they released “As We Ran,” a standalone single which was written for the documentary film Love in the Tetons. The first month of their proceeds was donated to the National Parks Conservation Association. The online success of the album and “As We Ran” helped them find growing crowds around Utah, as well as, in Seattle, Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York City. International attention to the band began with the release of “Helsinki,” which premiered on NPR’s All Songs Considered in January 2015.
The band’s second album, Until I Live, was released independently in September 2015 and reached #52 on the iTunes Pop Chart, #5 on Billboard’s Top Heatseekers Chart for the Mountain Region, and boosted Spotify streams beyond 2.5 million. The two albums and the standalone single combined have amassed more than 13.2 million Spotify streams and garnered praise from press outlets such as NPR’s All Songs Considered, CMT Edge, Baeble Music, and Pop Matters. Following their sophomore release, the band has been favorably compared to a wide variety of acts including Foster the People, The Civil Wars, and Mumford & Sons, and has sold out shows in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles.
The National Parks self-booked tour began in the summer of 2014. By 2016, the band was filling clubs in every region in the country while also performing at SXSW, Canadian Music Week, School Night at Bardot’s, Musikfest, Snowmass Mammoth Fest, and Make Music Pasadena. The group has also performed with acts such as Andy Grammer, Peter Bjorn and John, The Lone Bellow, LeAnn Rimes, and The Moth & The Flame.
In March 2016 City Weekly magazine named them Utah’s Band of the Year. The following month, “Monsters of the North” – a lead single from Until I Live – was announced as the winner of the International Songwriting Competition for all unsigned artists.
The National Parks is currently working on their third studio album Places. The lead single was released as a lyric video on their YouTube channel on 16 June 2017 via Rock Love Magic Records. Please visit the tour page on their official website for their upcoming concert dates.
Follow The National Parks
Recent Posts
Jennifer Thomas’ New Masterpiece – “The Fire Within”
There are two things that this author always finds to be consistent about the music videos that piano virtuoso, Jennifer Thomas, releases and that is her videos always have an amazing story to tell, and that story is told through her music in a masterful way. This is...
Monica Scott’s New Arrangement Reminds Us That Children are Like Little Stars and Every Star is Different
Henry "Henny" Youngman, an English-born American comedian and violinist famous for his mastery of the "one-liner,” quipped, “What is a home without children? Quiet.” And, Austin O'Malley, M.D., an ophthalmologist and a professor of English literature at University of...
Jordan James and Friends Deliver Powerful Message about Suicide Prevention with the Song “U Matter”
Jordan James Pinkston (professionally known as Jordan James), an 18-year-old member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes incorrectly referred to as the Mormon Church), is a rising music artist who is making a name for himself. This Acoustic,...
Music in the Key of Life – Mary Hiett Shares Her Song for Breast Cancer Awareness, “Journey of a Pink Heart”
October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. According to www.breastcancer.org, approximately 1 in 8 women in the United States will develop invasive breast cancer during their lifetime. “Cancer,” a word that is all too familiar to many people, including this...
Music in the Key of Life – GENTRI Surprises Seriously Ill Girl at Home and Sings a Special Song
The word “minister,” when used as a verb, is defined as tending to, taking care of, looking after, or attending to the needs of another person. The scriptures teach us that we are to “lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees” (Hebrews 12:12). Scriptures...
Music in the Key of Life – “Notes from the Heart”
In this edition of Music in the Key of Life, Mary Hiett shares the backstory to her album, Notes from the Heart. This was a fun album for me to create. Notes from the Heart is an album that is comprised of beautiful, positive music. I could not have achieved the...