Mel Parsons

Career

In 2007, Parsons returned to New Zealand to start work on her first album. The album was written by Parsons, and recorded with co-producer Shaun Elley and her backing band, The Rhythm Kings. The album Over My Shoulder was released in 2009. Parsons created her own label, Cape Road Recordings, releasing her album independently while using the New Zealand music firm Border Music for distribution.

Parsons recorded her third studio album, Drylands at Surgery Studios. The album was engineered by Lee Prebble who, along with mixing engineer Oliver Harmer, won the 2015 New Zealand Music Awards for best engineer for the album. One of the songs Parsons wrote was a duet, and she decided to cold e-mail Ron Sexsmith to see if he would perform the other half of the song "Don't Wait", and he agreed. Another song on the album, "Get Out Alive", is the result of her writing about a dangerous car accident she was in where the car rolled four times and was totaled, but she walked out without serious injury, but found herself re-evaluating her life for a time.

Parsons released her fourth album, Glass Heart on 30 November 2018. Glass Heart is the first album Parsons recorded outside of New Zealand. It was recorded in the US in Santa Monica, California, with producer Mitchell Froom. The logistics and finances made it impractical to bring her backing band over from New Zealand, so Froom recruited some local musicians to back Parsons on the album. The backing band for the album consists of bass player Kaveh Rastegar, guitarist Adam Levy, and drummer Ted Poor.

Parsons performs rural woolshed tours across New Zealand with Amelia Dunbar and Emma Newborn (The Bitches Box).

Parsons released her fifth studio album, Slow Burn, on 16 September 2022. It contains the singles "Carry On", "Already Gone", and the title track "Slow Burn". On 7 June 2024, she released her sixth studio album, Sabotage. It has reached no. 5 on the New Zealand music charts. On 7 August 2026, her seventh album, Castle Hill, was released, following seven singles from the album being released in 2025 and 2026.

Personal life Parsons currently lives She tours so frequently that she is rarely home. Best Folk Album – 2012 New Zealand Music Awards. Songwriter – 2015 APRA Silver Scroll Awards in New Zealand. Best Country Music Song – 2016 New Zealand Music Awards. Best Independent Tour – 2016 MMF Music Awards (Music Managers Awards, New Zealand).

Discography Over My Shoulder (2009) Red Grey Blue (2011) Drylands (2015) Glass Heart (2018) Slow Burn (2022) Sabotage (2024) Castle Hill (2026)