The Duncan Garage Showroom Presents - Dave Soroka/ Dave Roy Parsons

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Monday, March 4th, 2013
8:00 PM to 11:00 PM

Dave Soroka Bio

I live in Grand Forks, British Columbia, right down on the US border.
I've been writing songs since 1969 when I got my first guitar at 15.

I'm an Army brat, grew up on bases in Kingston Ontario, Calgary and Camp Wainwright Alberta, with a few years in between where we lived like civilians in a house Dad bought in Chilliwack British Columbia. In the summer we would come to Grand Forks to visit grandparents and cousins, and I call Grand Forks my home town.

I've worked as a section man on the Canadian Pacific Railway, pulled boards on the green chain for Pope And Talbot, loaded boxcars and driven a boom boat for MacMillan Bloedel on Vancouver Island...but for the most part I've been self-employed all my adult life, doing things like carpet cleaning, delivering flyers, painting houses, washing vinyl siding, roadside sales... whatever it takes...

I have three kids and three grandkids so far. I was a deadbeat dad so I can't brag about how they've all turned out, but they're all beautiful.

To date I've written about a thousand songs, many of whose tunes I've forgotten, so now when I perform I'll sometimes just speak them as poetry, with other songs mixed in which I accompany with my guitar and sometimes harmonica.

I've recorded a number of CDs. The one that people seem to like the best so far is called The Ladies Of Summer.

As far as my goals for my art: I just want the listener to feel some of what I feel.
www.davesoroka.com

Artist Information
Biography

David Roy Parsons

Artists are often like icebergs- you see only a fraction of what there is. You see the art but not what makes it. You see the artist but not the years and experience that produce them. David Roy Parsons- (the Roy is to avoid confusion with the various other David Parsons- you�d be surprised�) is a singer, a songwriter and an all round interesting human being. Born in 1971 and mainly raised in Ottawa, he is now getting ready to depart after a dozen years in Vancouver to dwell in Nelson. With four CDs to his credit, he is not only one of the more interesting writers on the current Vancouver neo-folk songwriting scene but also a man with an uncommon story to tell; a story that is only abstractly revealed in his songs.

David comes from a literate background. He was raised by writers. His mother wrote speeches and press releases for government departments like Canada Post. His father was a journalist who wrote for Canadian Press for many years. His father also wrote two books- one a biography of newspaper icon �Lord� Ken Thompson; the other about the �tainted blood� scandal which saw hundreds of people infected with HIV through transfusions in the 80�s. This was not peripheral to either Vic or David Roy Parsons. David is one of those infected.

David was born with hemophilia- his blood lacks Factor 8, a clotting agent. This means that from infancy he has had painful hemorrhages, one of which, at the age of five, was a brain hemorrhage. He went from being right handed to left handed. He also walks and talks with a wobble. It gives him a different perspective from most performers on what makes a successful show- �When I go through a show without dropping my pick I think it is a brilliant show.� One or more of the transfusions David received as a child was contaminated with HIV. At fifteen he discovered he was HIV positive. In those days it pretty much meant an early end. �It was �86 or �87. It was pretty mind blowing. First thing I thought was that I�d never get laid. The nurse who told me said �Don�t worry� it�s not a death sentence.� I don�t know what she knew.�
www.myspace.com/davidroyparsons