“If you’re really lucky in this world, you’ll be born in the country and at an early age someone will give you a guitar and you will play it with your fingers that’s what it’s all about." - Chet Atkins
My name is Parker Hastings. I am 22 years old and I consider myself one of the lucky ones. I'm originally from Central Kentucky where there is a deep heritage of country, folk, and bluegrass music. Although no one in my family plays guitar, it was always something that I wanted to do. I started playing guitar at age 6, and quickly became hooked to it. I went to my first Tommy Emmanuel concert when I was 8 and my life changed forever. I had never seen or heard anyone get those types of sounds out of a guitar and I knew that entertaining people with music was what I wanted to do.
I really didn't know how exactly to get my thumb working independently from my fingers but fortunately I met a man named Adrian Hughes, a long time thumbpicker originally from Eastern Kentucky who introduced me to the songs of Chet, Merle Travis, and Jerry Reed. He was very gracious in passing those songs down, which helped me get my thumb going. Since that time, I've had a lot of great teachers and mentors along the way that have given me an unquenchable thirst for not only great melodies, but lyrics too. I continue to work on my songwriting incorporating fingerstyle techniques, as this has started to become my sound. If you hear me play live, you'll hear everything from James Taylor, to Earth Wind & Fire, along with my own original music. I've been fortunate to have supportive parents who are my biggest fans, and always made sure I had what I needed to be successful as a musician and in life.
In May of 2022 I graduated from Belmont University with a BBA in Music Business. I am excited to be finishing my new album set to release later this year, and looking forward to continuing playing my music for audiences everywhere!
-Parker-