Cranbrook, British Columbia native Clayton Parsons is happy to be here. Finishing up his first full length album with a western Canada tour under his belt, he has every reason to be smiling. His home in this rural town in southeastern BC and its surroundings, play a central character in many of his songs and has given shape to his art. Parsons’ debut album, Little Things, is full of stories from home - of fishing rivers, summer nights and absorbing the little things that give life its substance. He likes to connect with his listeners by writing honest lyrics about personal experiences and loves sharing story and song to live audiences, to engage first hand with that connection. He comes by his folk-roots songwriter gifting honestly, growing up in a house full of music. Largely from his dad playing country and folk, the voices and stories of James Taylor, Fleetwood Mac, Mark Heard and Larry Norman - took root in Parsons’ spirit and inspired him to learn guitar as a teenager. Since then he has also picked up banjo and the dobro. Parsons’ often plays as a duo with Joelle Winkel on vocals, whose voice adds depth and a unique flavor to their repertoire of homegrown songs. His current influences are mostly folk duos: Jason and Pharis Romero, Eli West and Cahalen Morrison, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, Kacy and Clayton, and The Small Glories.