So Much Magic: The Year So Far for Parker Woodland
Parker Woodland shoot w/ Eryn Brooke, June 2025, Originator Studios, Austin, TX. (BTS pic by Mandy Solin.)
7.3.25 LETTER FROM ERIN:
Dear friends and family of Parker Woodland,
Sending you love in the midst of all the beauty and pain in the world. I am on sabbatical from my justice organizing role (as executive director of Texas UU Justice Ministry) for the rest of 2025. I've been telling people my three goals for the sabbatical are: rest, purge the garage, and rock-n-roll.
And yep, I'm totally psyched to rest, clean house (literally and figuratively), and pour myself into Parker Woodland. (On the first day off work, I woke up and wrote a whole new song, so that’s a great start!)
But as cool rain falls in Austin tonight, and before I go fully into this next-chapter sabbatical mode, I feel like I need to pause and celebrate some truly magical moments of 2025 so far for Parker Woodland:
• our first residency (Hotel Vegas) and epic theater spotlight (Sonic Guild Ball) in January
• seeing our song "The Reckoning (Last Sunset remix)" - a cry for the earth and against militarized capitalism - resonate with listeners around the world
• being "on tour at home" with 9 shows in 9 days during SXSW, including the big Radio Day Stage and 101X Homegrown party
• playing big events like the KUTX Long Center Drop-In (photos above by Zachary Salas), Pecan Street Fest 50th Anniversary, SIMS Foundation 30th Anniversary (photos below by Roy Vergara), Sun Radio Live, and the Hands Off Picnic at the Capitol
• starting to work with a lighting designer (thank you, Starr!) and stylists to turn up our stage show visually
• and now Andrew, Keri, and I are recording new music, preparing for some big justice benefits and our band's first tour beyond Texas in September!
It's my personal dream come true -- and it's also a TON of daily hard work behind the scenes that nobody will see but us. (Sometimes I think about doing TikTok videos about it. Maybe during my sabbatical!)
This past year since we started releasing singles from There's No Such Thing as Time has challenged us as a band, and ultimately brought us much closer together. I wouldn't trade it for anything.
I was going to write to you about our upcoming shows this month -- and yes, I'd love to see you on July 16th in Austin and July 18th in Bryan -- but what I really want is to say thank you. Thank you to every one of you who has been to a show, is out there sporting our shirts, listening to our vinyl, or sharing our songs with your friends. (And if you haven't seen us yet, I'll be even more excited to see you when you do!) I believe the best is yet to come, and I love imagining how we will all be able to say we were part of Parker Woodland from the beginning. <3
Thank you again for all the support and, as the Golden Girls theme song goes, "thank you for being a friend." I will always love to hear back from you, if you feel like dropping us a DM. Tell us about you -- the good stuff, the hard stuff, the sad stuff, the fart jokes (I have a 13-year-old son, so I am used to it).
Love and rock horns,
Erin Walter (bass/vocals)
P.S. - I will be back with the Texas UU Justice Ministry in January, but they will keep doing great work while I'm out. Our team and volunteers are amazing! You can sign up for action emails and events here and Parker Woodland’s July 16th show is a benefit for TXUUJM, with a live-streaming option and everything. Hope you’ll join us!
