JamisonParker
Encyclopedia
JamisonParker was an American
Alternative Rock
duo in the early to mid 2000s, consisting of singer/guitarist
Jamison Covington
and guitarist/bassist
/drummer
Parker Case
. While active, they released an EP titled Notes & Photographs
(2003) and an album titled Sleepwalker (2005), and managed to play over 200 concerts across the United States
.
and working at a Piggly Wiggly
supermarket, singer/guitarist
Jamison Covington realized he would not be able to find his musical fulfillment within the boundaries of his hometown. In 2002, he moved to Orange County, California
, but soon learned that building a career in the music industry from scratch can be a hard and frustrating thing to do. Being a fan of the Orange County based band Astoria, Covington was delighted when, a mere week before his return to Kentucky
, he was introduced to their drummer
Parker Case through mutual friends. Case and Covington kept in touch, exchanging song ideas via mail
for about eight months, until Covington returned to California
in early 2003.
On April 25, 2003, the duo went to Skate and Surf 2003 in Asbury Park, New Jersey
, where they randomly performed so-called "guerilla sets" at merchandise booths and at a nearby hotel. The arising buzz around them was overheard by one of the festival's bookers, who immediately hired them to replace a band that had dropped out at the last minute. Having no time to think of a proper band name, the two combined their first names and played an all-acoustic set as JamisonParker. Their rudimentary but convincing performance quickly gained the attention of several record label
s and finally landed them a recording contract
with Interscope Records
.
In August 2003, JamisonParker went into the studio to record a handful of songs for their debut EP
titled Notes & Photographs
, which was released on October 28, 2003. The release was supported by the band's first national tour with Straylight Run
, followed by stints with Plain White T's
, Motion City Soundtrack
and Coheed and Cambria
. The CD spawned a music video
to the third track, "Your Song", which consisted of a collage of self-shot material, in analogy to the Polaroid
pictures on the cover artwork for Notes & Photographs. While the buzz quieted down around the duo after January 2004, as they took most of the year off, JamisonParker returned to the stage with newly written songs under their belt in February 2005. In the meantime, they had recorded their first full-length album.
In June 2005, they appeared on the compilation album
Punk Goes 80s with a cover version
of Tears for Fears
' "Everybody Wants to Rule the World". However, due to their busy schedule, they did not have the time to rent a proper studio. Instead, they recorded the entire song while on tour — a hotel room became their recording studio
, their laptop served as their mixing console
and a bathroom closet was turned into a vocal booth.
On July 12, 2005, their album Sleepwalker finally hit music store shelves. It was promoted by various tours and a TV appearance on Fuse's Daily Download on September 12, 2005, where the duo gave an acoustic performance of the album's only single "Best Mistake".
While the popular demand for JamisonParker was at an all time high, the band-internal chemistry decreased steadily, up to an incident where during a concert, Covington walked off the stage in the middle of the band's set, leaving Case behind. From there on, it all went downhill, with a continuous lack of enthusiasm until JamisonParker gave their final performance at Chain Reaction in Anaheim, California
on November 5, 2005 and canceled the remainder of their scheduled tour dates with The Juliana Theory
.
On November 8, 2005, Covington officially declared the disbandment of JamisonParker. In the announcement posted online, he made it clear that he and Case will not be collaborating again in the future. After the split, Covington formed the shoegazing
band E for Explosion
. His band's name was changed to Covington but again changed to E For Explosion
. A debut EP
titled Paper Flowers
, was released on October 2, 2007. On May 20, 2008, E for Explosion released their debut album Reinventing the Heartbeat. Case announced that up until the release of his upcoming project I and the Universe's debut record, he will be touring as part of Say Anything
. He appears as guitarist on the band's 2009 album Say Anything
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Alternative Rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
duo in the early to mid 2000s, consisting of singer/guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
Jamison Covington
Jamison Covington
Jamison Covington is an American musician, mostly known from his involvement in the bands JamisonParker and E for Explosion.-References:...
and guitarist/bassist
Bassist
A bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...
/drummer
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
Parker Case
Parker Case
Parker Case is an American musician, mostly known from his involvement in the bands JamisonParker and Say Anything.-External links:*...
. While active, they released an EP titled Notes & Photographs
Notes & Photographs
Notes & Photographs is the debut EP from JamisonParker, released October 28, 2003 on Interscope Records. Except for "Your Song" , all the songs were written by Jamison Covington and Parker Case over a distance of 1800 miles...
(2003) and an album titled Sleepwalker (2005), and managed to play over 200 concerts across the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
History
Growing up in the small town of Guthrie, KentuckyGuthrie, Kentucky
Guthrie is a city in Todd County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 1,469 at the 2000 census. The city is named for James Guthrie, president of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad when the city was incorporated in 1867.-Geography:...
and working at a Piggly Wiggly
Piggly Wiggly
Piggly Wiggly is a supermarket chain operating in the Midwestern and Southern regions of the United States, run by Piggly Wiggly, LLC, an affiliate of C&S Wholesale Grocers. The current company headquarters is in Keene, New Hampshire....
supermarket, singer/guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
Jamison Covington realized he would not be able to find his musical fulfillment within the boundaries of his hometown. In 2002, he moved to Orange County, California
Orange County, California
Orange County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,010,232, up from 2,846,293 at the 2000 census, making it the third most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and San Diego County...
, but soon learned that building a career in the music industry from scratch can be a hard and frustrating thing to do. Being a fan of the Orange County based band Astoria, Covington was delighted when, a mere week before his return to Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
, he was introduced to their drummer
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
Parker Case through mutual friends. Case and Covington kept in touch, exchanging song ideas via mail
Mail
Mail, or post, is a system for transporting letters and other tangible objects: written documents, typically enclosed in envelopes, and also small packages are delivered to destinations around the world. Anything sent through the postal system is called mail or post.In principle, a postal service...
for about eight months, until Covington returned to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
in early 2003.
On April 25, 2003, the duo went to Skate and Surf 2003 in Asbury Park, New Jersey
Asbury Park, New Jersey
Asbury Park is a city in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States, located on the Jersey Shore and part of the New York City Metropolitan Area. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was 16,116. The city is known for its rich musical history, including its association with...
, where they randomly performed so-called "guerilla sets" at merchandise booths and at a nearby hotel. The arising buzz around them was overheard by one of the festival's bookers, who immediately hired them to replace a band that had dropped out at the last minute. Having no time to think of a proper band name, the two combined their first names and played an all-acoustic set as JamisonParker. Their rudimentary but convincing performance quickly gained the attention of several record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
s and finally landed them a recording contract
Recording contract
A recording contract is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist , where the artist makes a record for the label to sell and promote...
with Interscope Records
Interscope Records
Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that currently operates as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-History:...
.
In August 2003, JamisonParker went into the studio to record a handful of songs for their debut EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
titled Notes & Photographs
Notes & Photographs
Notes & Photographs is the debut EP from JamisonParker, released October 28, 2003 on Interscope Records. Except for "Your Song" , all the songs were written by Jamison Covington and Parker Case over a distance of 1800 miles...
, which was released on October 28, 2003. The release was supported by the band's first national tour with Straylight Run
Straylight Run
Straylight Run was an indie rock band based in Baldwin, New York. Two of the members, Nolan and Cooper, had been members of Taking Back Sunday and have now rejoined that band. Their final releases are the EPs About Time and Un Mas Dos, preceded by the full-length album entitled The Needles The...
, followed by stints with Plain White T's
Plain White T's
Plain White T's is an American Pop rock band from Chicago, Illinois. Formed in 1997 by high school friends Tom Higgenson and Ken Fletcher, the group had a mostly underground following in Chicago basements, clubs, and bars in its early years, and underwent numerous personnel changes.The band is best...
, Motion City Soundtrack
Motion City Soundtrack
Motion City Soundtrack is an American rock band from Minneapolis, Minnesota, formed in 1997. The band consists of founding members Justin Pierre and Joshua Cain , along with keyboardist and moog synthesist Jesse Johnson, bassist and backing vocalist Matthew Taylor, and drummer, percussionist and...
and Coheed and Cambria
Coheed and Cambria
Coheed and Cambria is an American progressive rock band from Nyack, New York. Formed in 1995, the group incorporates aspects of progressive rock, punk rock, metal and post-hardcore....
. The CD spawned a music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
to the third track, "Your Song", which consisted of a collage of self-shot material, in analogy to the Polaroid
Instant camera
The instant camera is a type of camera that generates a developed film image. The most popular types to use self-developing film were formerly made by Polaroid Corporation....
pictures on the cover artwork for Notes & Photographs. While the buzz quieted down around the duo after January 2004, as they took most of the year off, JamisonParker returned to the stage with newly written songs under their belt in February 2005. In the meantime, they had recorded their first full-length album.
In June 2005, they appeared on the compilation album
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
Punk Goes 80s with a cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of Tears for Fears
Tears for Fears
Tears for Fears are an English new wave band formed in the early 1980s by Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith.Founded after the dissolution of their first band, the mod-influenced Graduate, they were initially associated with the New Wave synthesiser bands of the early 1980s but later branched out into...
' "Everybody Wants to Rule the World". However, due to their busy schedule, they did not have the time to rent a proper studio. Instead, they recorded the entire song while on tour — a hotel room became their recording studio
Recording studio
A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...
, their laptop served as their mixing console
Mixing console
In professional audio, a mixing console, or audio mixer, also called a sound board, mixing desk, or mixer is an electronic device for combining , routing, and changing the level, timbre and/or dynamics of audio signals. A mixer can mix analog or digital signals, depending on the type of mixer...
and a bathroom closet was turned into a vocal booth.
On July 12, 2005, their album Sleepwalker finally hit music store shelves. It was promoted by various tours and a TV appearance on Fuse's Daily Download on September 12, 2005, where the duo gave an acoustic performance of the album's only single "Best Mistake".
While the popular demand for JamisonParker was at an all time high, the band-internal chemistry decreased steadily, up to an incident where during a concert, Covington walked off the stage in the middle of the band's set, leaving Case behind. From there on, it all went downhill, with a continuous lack of enthusiasm until JamisonParker gave their final performance at Chain Reaction in Anaheim, California
Anaheim, California
Anaheim is a city in Orange County, California. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was about 365,463, making it the most populated city in Orange County, the 10th most-populated city in California, and ranked 54th in the United States...
on November 5, 2005 and canceled the remainder of their scheduled tour dates with The Juliana Theory
The Juliana Theory
The Juliana Theory are an American rock quintet from Greensburg and Latrobe, Pennsylvania. The Juliana Theory signed to Christian record label Tooth & Nail Records despite not being a Christian band. The group later signed to Epic Records for the release of the album Love. The Juliana Theory...
.
On November 8, 2005, Covington officially declared the disbandment of JamisonParker. In the announcement posted online, he made it clear that he and Case will not be collaborating again in the future. After the split, Covington formed the shoegazing
Shoegazing
Shoegazing is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged from the United Kingdom in the late 1980s. It lasted there until the mid 1990s, with a critical zenith reached in 1990 and 1991...
band E for Explosion
E For Explosion
E for Explosion is an alternative rock/shoegazing band formed by former JamisonParker singer Jamison Covington after the group's breakup in 2005.-History:...
. His band's name was changed to Covington but again changed to E For Explosion
E For Explosion
E for Explosion is an alternative rock/shoegazing band formed by former JamisonParker singer Jamison Covington after the group's breakup in 2005.-History:...
. A debut EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
titled Paper Flowers
E For Explosion
E for Explosion is an alternative rock/shoegazing band formed by former JamisonParker singer Jamison Covington after the group's breakup in 2005.-History:...
, was released on October 2, 2007. On May 20, 2008, E for Explosion released their debut album Reinventing the Heartbeat. Case announced that up until the release of his upcoming project I and the Universe's debut record, he will be touring as part of Say Anything
Say Anything (band)
Say Anything is an American indie-punk band from Los Angeles, California, fronted by Max Bemis. The band was formed in 2000 with Bemis and four of his friends. Within two years, they self-released two EPs, Junior Varsity and In Your Dreams, and the full-length Baseball: An Album by Sayanything.In...
. He appears as guitarist on the band's 2009 album Say Anything
Say Anything (band)
Say Anything is an American indie-punk band from Los Angeles, California, fronted by Max Bemis. The band was formed in 2000 with Bemis and four of his friends. Within two years, they self-released two EPs, Junior Varsity and In Your Dreams, and the full-length Baseball: An Album by Sayanything.In...
.
Non-album tracks
- "Paper, Rock, Scissors (Acoustic)" – released on In Honor: A Compilation to Beat CancerIn Honor: A Compilation To Beat CancerIn Honor: A Compilation to Beat Cancer is a compilation album released by Vagrant Records in 2004. As the name implies, it is a benefit album with proceeds going to fight Cancer. In this case, the proceeds went...
(2004) - "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" – released on Punk Goes 80s (2005)
- "Anthem for the Broken Hearted" – Unreleased
- "Hold Your Breath" – Unreleased