Kathleen Parks, with fiddle, performs Jan. 29, 2026, at White Lake Studios in Albany, NY. From left, guitarist Arthur Terembula; bassist Dan Bui; Parks; and guitar and pedal steel player Alex Formento. Photo by Will Hahn.
By John W. Barry
Her charm, her chops and the way fiddle player, guitarist, vocalist and songwriter Kathleen Parks commands a room is mesmerizing.
But even more compelling is the relationship that binds her creative spirit to her instruments—which can be summed up in one line.
Kathleen Parks plays the right note at the right time—over and over and over and over.
Parks and her band recently dazzled an invite-only audience at White Lake Studios in Albany, NY, for a performance that maintained the thrust of a locomotive, the nuance of devotion and the kind of optimism that can only come with a rising or setting sun. The setting of this performance was most significant—Bob Dylan himself in 2025 sought out White Lake Studios and spent two days there.
Asked what inspired her, Parks—wearing heart-shaped eyeglasses during an interview—replied, “Sometimes during the darkest part of winter, when you’re feeling the most depressed, that’s kind of where I’ll get my spark, trying to bring myself back to joy; and dig into the deepest part of me. I turn to an instrument to pull out the hurt or sad part of me and look at it in more of a beautiful way—‘Oh, there’s a lot of beauty here.’”
Everything began to unfold for Parks when she was five-years-old and started taking violin lessons. The resident of New York’s Hudson Valley received great encouragement to nurture her creative side from her father, trumpet player in Polka King Jimmy Sturr’s band; and her mother, a dancer.
Parks also shared a creative bond with her brother—the two were Irish step dancers. And she drew great inspiration from the live music performed for the dancers—which included the fiddle. At 9, Parks began taking Irish fiddle lessons and now, at age 32 and living in Boston, this graduate of the Berklee College of Music can set that fiddle on fire as she leads a band that can be described as nothing short of badass.
How would one describe the music that Kathleen Parks and her band generate? Well—they can do it all.
And how about that band? They are:
Bass player Dan Bui.
Guitar and pedal steel: Alex Formento.
Guitarist Arthur Terembula.
As for that which stirs songwriting passion in her, Parks came up with a most interesting, and kinda funny answer to explain when the muse speaks to her.
“It’s always when I’m getting ready to leave,” she said with a laugh. “It’s always while I’m brushing my teeth or tying my shoes—the multi-task part of my brain comes out.”
And how about those heart-shaped eyeglasses Parks wore during the interview?
“I saw these glasses and I was like, why not have heart-shaped glasses?” she said. “We need to be looking at the world with love. And I want people to be looking at me and see love. I just thought it was a positive thing to put out there.“
Visit whitelakestudio.info and kathleenparksmusic.com for information.
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