Mike Parrish - Singer / Musician / Recording Artist
“I’d rather find myself at 80-years-old sittin’ in a rockin’ chair, knowin’ that I tried, rather than wonderin’ how life might’ve been if only I had.” (Mike Parrish) Emerging from the pumpjack-speckled prairies and woodlands of Southeast Texas, Independent Country Music Artist Mike Parrish is nothing short of boastful of his heritage and proud of his Texas roots. The International Fame Games Radio Panel said, Every now and then you get a band that seems poised to do something great. We think this is one of those bands. When Mike was a kid you might’ve found him, on most any hot Summer day, walking the railroad tracks with his lifelong friend Sammy Hundley or building a tree house while they dreamed aloud of their future exploits with a band they planned to call Black Diamond. Often times, a stereo served as their amps, Mike's living room sofa was a makeshift stage and broom handles made perfect air guitars to the blaring music of bands like KISS, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Led Zeppelin. They'd play those air guitars and leap from Mrs. Parrish's sofa just as they've finally leapt onto the European and Texas Country Music scene. Life seemed to have simply gotten in the way of this childhood dream, as they grew up and moved away from their small home town of Hull, but the dream somehow survived 30 years of perpetual motion. When fate landed Mike and Sammy back in their home town they picked up right where they'd left off almost as if there had never been any time or distance between them. Sammy was now an accomplished musician having performed all over the world and Mike had become a distinguished Texas Peace Officer having risen to the rank of Chief of Police three times, in two separate Texas towns, and elected Constable once. This Parrish-Hundley reunion rekindled the fire that still smoldered within the dream and within their hearts, the dream of making music. In June of 2006, in a beach cabin on the Gulf of Mexico, Mike & Sammy recorded the first demo, “Runnin’ Outa Time” for Mike’s solo album, an album that would later be titled “Texas in the Man.” This demo was Mike’s first choice because it spoke of the old railroad track that they’d often walked as boys and, since they were both now in their early forties, the title seemed so symbolic. While standing on that shore, Mike told Sammy that the time was now to record the album and fulfill a dream or their story would never be told. And they got busy. Armed with a Mac computer and free GarageBand software they recorded the 15 tracks that completed the “Texas in the Man” EP, the title song built around the lyric, “It’s not about the man in Texas it’s the Texas in the man.” The album was released in September 2007 and by January 2008, Mike was able to retire from his law enforcement career and focus entirely on a life of making music. By December 2008, the first 5 singles had made the European Country Music Association National Top 40 Charts a total of 17 times in 8 countries. The two lifelong friends began playing acoustic duo shows all over the greater Houston area under the moniker of “Sammy & Mike” and full band shows were billed as “Parrish-Hundley.”
Sammy Hundley - Singer / Musician / Recording Artist
Sammy was born April 26, the youngest of three children and the only boy at their home in tiny Hull, Texas. He grew up singing with his mother and sisters around their piano. The kids would take turns finding different harmony parts before they knew what the word "harmony" even meant.
His voice, however, was a little odd - he had a deep, gruff voice that compelled his parents to take him to the doctor to get checked out. The doctor gave him a clean bill of health and he never went through the "squeaky" stage that most adolescents endure. Things are better now.
It was in the serenity of the small, rural, southeast Texas community called Hull that Sammy found safe harbor from teenage mischief in the discovery of music.
In 1980, when Sammy picked up his first guitar and began learning how to make a few chords, the odds were stacked against him. Sammy, being a lefty, had to deal with one fairly certain fact: there was no abundance of left-handed guitars in Hull, Texas. So, Sammy did the next best thing and the only thing he could do at the time - he learned to play upside-down. To make that more clear, Sammy took a right-handed guitar, flipped it over where he could play it left-handed and he had to learn how to make all the chords that way. Not too much later, he turned the strings over and re-learned left-handed. In effect, Sammy learned to play twice -A feat which, in later years, would enable him to become one of the finest guitar teachers in the Houston area. Six months later, his father used his Christmas bonus from the oilfield work he did and got him a left-handed Fender Stratocaster.
Within a couple of months of learning to play, Sammy began playing in his first band. He hasn't looked back since.
In the years that followed, Sammy began honing his musical talents and defining the direction that his music would take him. He sat-in on various recording sessions on albums, demos and parodies for radio conglomerate United Stations in New York for a while and continued to perfect his craft. Sammy had become a proficient keyboard player, acoustic guitarist, bass guitarist, electric and lead guitarist, background and lead vocalist while dabbling in every facet of music from classical to jazz, rhythm & blues to pop, and country to rock. Sammy has had many students, teaching all types of guitar and piano. Being an ambidextrous player, Sammy had no problem adapting to instructing left or right-handed students.
Sammy has been involved with various cover and original bands including Chris Walker, musical director for Al Jarreau and hit singer in the '90's (Sammy performed in Shanghai, China in September 2004 with Walker), "The Ruse" (which also contained the acoustic duo known as Pete & Sam), Trick Dog, Radio personality and comedian Chris Baker's bands "The Voodoo Playboys" and "The Chick Magnets", original band "Forte" (jazz-fusion, mostly instrumental), variety bands "Yvonne Washington", "The Allstars" and a couple of appearances each with local legends "TK-oh!" and "Doppelganger."
Sammy continues to please audiences, throughout greater Houston, not only with his solo act, which can be enjoyed in a variety of popular nightspots, but with several other Southeast Texas entertainers. One such singer/songwriter, Sammy often teams-up with for a fantastic duo gig, is local entertainer Trey Clark. Sammy's band, affectionately referred to "Shortbus," keeps him busy when he's not doing his solo show. He is also co-owner and founder of Willow Street Entertainment Group LLC which serves as an umbrella for Hangin' Boot Records, both of which were formed in 2006 with a very close and lifelong friend Mike Parrish.
Sammy and Mike have been very busy recording their own music and building a large following throughout Texas and the United States while having several fans throughout the world. Sammy and Mike completed the recording of Mike's 15-track album "Texas in the Man" and released that CD in September 2007. The title cut from that album, "Texas in the Man," was recently featured in the international Fame Games Radio Contest where, in the span of a couple of weeks, "Texas in the Man" entered the Green Room (with approximately 80 other artists of all genres) and was chosen for the qualifier show (140-Q) to compete against 14 other artists and was then chosen to compete in the Fame Games Main Edition against only 4 other artists. This edition aired on 06/30/2006 for millions of listeners, mostly European, and gained quite a number of distinctions. Their song earned a Fame Games Record, #1 for the number of listener votes cast online (it's no surprise that their second entry into the contest "Blue Jean Baby" is currently the 2nd highest vote catcher), it was awarded the position of #3 in Fame Games All-Time Top Ten Rock Songs and awarded #5 of Fame Games All-Time Top 40 crossing all genres. Sammy has also completed the long-awaited acoustic album entitled "House Full of Nothing" and the CD was released in May 2008. All of those tracks can be heard right her on ReverbNation. The release of "House Full of Nothing" was almost simultaneous with the "Texas in the Man" CD and both of those albums are available via digital download from the Hangin' Boot Records SNOCAP MyStore found on Sammy's MySpace Page.
As if all of the projects listed above weren't enough to keep him well occupied and gainfully employed, Sammy is also working on a much larger full-production album tentatively entitled "Undiscovered." Sammy has been also working on the Parrish / Hundley duo album, untitled thus far, as well as working with Mike on his next solo album, "Urban Heaven," which should be released sometime in mid-2009. It shouldn't surprise fans and friends of Sammy Hundley to learn that he and Mike are also discussing the possibility of a Hard Country / Southern Rock style Christmas album and a Gospel album as well.
Some of Sammy's influences are cited as being: (HIGHLIGHTS ONLY) - Billy Joel, Elton John, Michael McDonald, Lennon & McCartney, James Taylor, Jim Croce, Phil Keaggy, Larry Carlton, Ray Charles, Journey, Fleetwood Mac, Smokey Robinson, Carol King, among a host of others.