CJ Parker in the Library Sessions at Sound Conservatory -- February 23.
CJ Parker is just 24, but he’s been playing music since he was three, and feels lucky to make the art his full-time career.
The friendly multi-instrumentalist is a Davenport Central High School alum, coordinator for Common Chord’s InTune Mentorship Program, prolific singer/songwriter, and performer who is a regular in two popular Quad Cities bands. Parker’s next main gig is as a soloist, singing and playing piano at the Sound Conservatory on February 23.
That’s the first in the new Library Sessions series – in the former Carnegie Library – coordinated by Lewis Knudsen, who is also on the program alongside Lainey Jean Lewis.
“I’ve always wanted to play there,” Parker said recently, noting that Knudsen reached out to him. “I think it’s gonna be a really cool show.”
Parker also plays keyboard with Fair Warning and sings with 10 of Soul.
InTune is a music mentorship program providing student-led music experiences in partnership with community centers and after-school programs throughout the QC.
Each week, artist mentors use music to encourage students to get in tune with their identities, build confidence, and envision a positive path forward in life. The program provides relevant education and long-term mentoring relationships.
InTune is currently provided at the Martin Luther King Center (Rock Island), and recently expanded to Friendly House, Lincoln Center, YMCA and the St. Ambrose Children’s Campus in Davenport.
“It’s been great to see CJ’s strengths really come forward when he’s working with a group of kids,” said Ben Schwind, Common Chord’s education manager. “Along with his work coordinating our InTune program, he’s also been involved in our RiverCurrents Tour along with both Kidstock and the Ellis Kell Winter Blues Camp.
“Whenever he’s in front of a group, he can immediately win them over and get them excited about music,” Schwind said. “I think, for more than a few of the kids he works with on a regular basis, he’s become someone they really look up to.”
“As a performer, CJ’s charisma and talent onstage are undeniable,” Common Ground executive director Tyson Danner said. “He is a great representation of the incredible talent we have right here in our own community.”
For InTune, Danner added, “His passion for education shines, and his enthusiasm is contagious. He is a rare example of a musician with great talent who also has the educational know-how to not only manage a group of students, but keep them engaged and excited. It’s a joy to see him share his passion for music with the next generation and spark that same passion in our young students.”
Parker joined the InTune program in summer 2023. “Music enrichment is not as prominent as it should be before sixth grade,” he said. “There are fourth graders who’ve never seen a trumpet before. We’re able to expose those students to instruments at a young age, and spark that interest.”
He had worked as a paraprofessional educator at Eisenhower Elementary in Davenport (in special ed), and would go to Common Chord after school to mentor students.
“It started small, but it’s getting bigger,” Parker said, due to significant funding from Pierce's Promise, Davenport Kiwanis, Davenport Rotary, TEGNA Foundation, Morning Optimists, and the Moline Foundation.
“You learn by doing,” he said of students. “How do we spark the mind of a two-year-old, a 10-year-old?”
The programs are free to students, instruments are provided, and InTune has three other staff mentors who rotate among the different locations.
Parker said the coolest part of the program is helping kids to write and record their own songs. He’s also helped teach the annual Common Chord Winter Blues Camp and summer Kidstock programs.
InTune starts for participants as young as two, and can help inspire a child, Parker said. “If I give a kid an instrument or a kazoo and tell them about music, it’s gonna change their life.”
Inspired at a Young Age
CJ started playing drums at age three. He played at his family church (Life Church in East Moline, where his father is pastor) by five. He was singing in the adult choir by 10, and was inspired by his dad to make music his own career.
“It was seeing my dad – he had such passion and energy for being in front of people and just making sounds,” Parker said, noting that his dad led the adult choir. His mom is a singer who loves Broadway, and CJ was exposed to a wide variety of music at home.
“Growing up in church, I grew up with two very musical parents,” Parker said. “Tuba came very naturally to me.” He started on the big brass instrument after seeing his father play it.
“I loved it; I loved every second of playing tuba,” CJ said. “That is my favorite instrument.”
He’s a veteran of the world-class Colts Drum & Bugle Corps, based in Dubuque, in which he played and marched tuba across the country from 2018 to 2022. “It’s crazy difficult,” Parker said, noting his dad also performed with the Corps.
The 154-person drum corps, its members coming from around the world, helped him learn responsibility and teamwork. He applies that knowledge to InTune activities.
“I implement that into everything I do, and it’s helped me grow as a teacher,” Parker said. “I’ve learned a lot.”
Although he never finished college after attending Black Hawk for a semester, Parker plans on earning a degree by the time he’s 30. At 21, after submitting an original song, Parker was spotlighted on MTV Music News as a “Rising Star Due for Take Off.” MTV called him “a name you should probably start remembering.”
“What’s cool about it is, I’ve had so much experience in the field,” Parker said of teaching, writing, recording and performing.
For InTune, he developed music-related games where students can win prizes – from candy to a guitar. He’s also introduced tuba at InTune activities, and said it’s “super easy” for kids to learn and make sounds.
“As much as I love making music, I like to create that spark for young kids,” Parker said.
New Journeys
Parker was asked by Quad City Symphony executive director Brian Baxter to sing the national anthem at Omar’s Journey on February 1 at the Adler Theatre. In the 110-season history of the QCSO, it was the first time someone sang the anthem, which the orchestra performs at the start of each concert.
“He is an excellent musician, multi-instrumentalist, and singer who is deeply engaged with some many groups and organizations all over the Quad Cities,” QCSO executive director Brian Baxter said before the concert. “He has a tremendous reputation for his singing of the anthem for the Iowa Hawkeye basketball games. We are thrilled to have him sing.”
Parker was honored to be part of the program highlighting the Pulitzer-winning Michael Abels, another African-American composer. “People don’t understand the power of that, to have something like that come to the Quad Cities.”
He couldn’t, however; perform the anthem before the concert's February 2 presentation at Augustana College, because Parker was instead singing it at the University of Iowa’s Carver-Hawkeye Arena, where former Iowa superstar Caitlin Clark returned to have her number-22 jersey retired before the Hawkeyes played USC.
“It’s crazy,” Parker said in our January 25 interview, noting he’s sung the anthem before other Iowa home games. “I didn’t know they were going to retire Caitlin Clark’s jersey that night … . That’ll be cool.”
Parker’s first record, The I Album, was recorded in 2023 at E$ Sounds in East Moline, and he’s working on writing a follow-up to record in about a month. The debut disc was seven songs and 22 minutes long. In January, he wrote 36 new songs, with the goal to write a new one every day.
“If you love it, it’s just another pastime,” Parker said. “I just like making music.”
“I’m just writing while I’m doing something else. I have ADHD, so I can’t just sit there,” he said. “I’ve been writing a lot.”
For his first album, Parker penned 20 songs and chose “quality over quantity” to ultimately record, given that he had limited recording time. He hopes to release the new one in early fall.
He enjoys playing solo for the freedom and control he can exert, and the band setup more to fill out sounds and try out things in his head.
“With just me and piano,” Parker said, “there’s more intention behind it, and I can focus more on my vocals.”
CJ Parker performs in the Library Sessions at the Sound Conservatory (504 17th Street, Moline) on February 23 at 5 p.m. Admission is $8-18, and more information and tickets are available by visiting SoundConservatory.com.
