Rising Nashville star Parker Millsap makes Wichita the second stop on his new tour

Parker Millsap might not be a household name just yet, but he’s on target to become one.

The American/alt-country artist, who often defies those genres, has released five albums in nine years. His latest release, “Be Here Instead,” came out in April and effectively blends country, rock, folk, blues, and more.

Now, like so many musicians, the Purcell, Oklahoma, native is back on the road and will make a stop at Wave on Friday, his second show of the tour.

During a recent phone interview from his home in Nashville, where he had just finished packing his van to leave for the tour, Millsap discussed a range of topics, including his musical origins, his new album, his musical tastes, and that time he played with Elton John.

You did a quick run of shows last month and Wichita is the second stop on the new tour. Did that brief run help you shake the cobwebs out to hit the road and prepare to tour?

Millsap: Oh, absolutely. My first show back was probably two, two and a half months ago. The first one was a solo acoustic show, and I was kind of terrified, but the second song and I was like, “Oh yeah, I love this.”

It’s been really great to just get to play all these new songs for people. Some of these songs on my new record have been around for almost three years, and I’m just now getting to play them, you know, live.

Oh really? That’s funny. When I listened to the new album, I kept thinking the album’s title “Be Here Instead” and some songs like “The Real Thing” felt very pandemic inspired. Am I way off-base on that?

Millsap: I won’t say you’re off-base, but I wrote most of the songs prior to the pandemic. It was actually kind of weird how some of them feel even more relevant. It wasn’t intentional. I didn’t know it was going to happen. But yeah, most of these songs were written prior to the pandemic. We started recording maybe like three or four weeks into the pandemic. But yeah, everything with the exception of the song “In Between” was written prior to 2020.

Go figure. That’s what I get for thinking.

Millsap: It means that the art is universal enough that people can wrap their own meaning around it. That’s what we do with art. That’s what’s amazing about it is the context decides what it’s about.

Speaking of art and being an artist, you’re from across the Kansas border in Oklahoma. I’ll admit that I’ve always been somewhat jealous of how many great artists come from Oklahoma. What’s in the water there to produce so many musicians?

Millsap: I’ve heard that there’s chromium in the water in Oklahoma thanks to the lack of regulation on the oil and gas industry, so that’s my answer for what’s going on there. It’s the chromium. I just always say that it’s with Oklahoma being isolated and everybody being obsessed with football. If you don’t play football, and you’re not interested in it, you have plenty of time to do other things. So a few people pick up a guitar or whatever and have lots of time and space to do it and practice.

How did you start playing? Early inspirations?

Millsap: I grew up going to church a lot. I went to a Pentecostal church. My parents weren’t preachers or anything like that, but we were, you know, active members of the church. So I was about 7 years old when my parents got me a guitar and it took about two or three years, but eventually I could play a few chords and operate a capo, and then they let me play in church.

So I got to play Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night. I got to play in the church band. I really just got a lot of experience playing music in a group of people and learned to love that. And at the same time, my parents had pretty eclectic music tastes, so I grew up listening to a lot of like Blues and Texas singer-songwriters... guys like Taj Mahal, Keb’ Mo, Ry Cooter, Muddy Waters. A lot of these guys I was familiar with when I was 8 years old. So I kind of had that going on all the time. It was really a Ry Cooter record that made me decide, “I need to figure out how to make those sounds.” My parents were great and bought me my first few guitars and paid for lessons and kept feeding me music. Yeah, it’s really lucky. I grew up in a supportive environment.

I have to ask about Elton John being a fan of yours. Is that true? How did you find out? Did you meet him?

Millsap: I hope it’s still true. Yeah, I have met him, and the story is even crazier. It sounds like I’m bragging or something, but it’s just the truth. Apparently, there was some dinner party that famous people go to, and Elton and Rosanne Cash were both there, and I guess a bunch of people brought records to listen to. Rosanne Cash put my self-titled record on, and Elton was really into it. Within a few days after that, we got an email from his manager saying, “Hey, Elton likes your music. Do you want to come play a festival in London that Elton is hosting?” I was like, “Of course, I’ll be there.” So I got to London and hung out with Elton and his band and played one of my songs and one of Elton’s songs. On stage. With him and his band. It was … stunning. Crazy.

And then a few months after that, I was on tour and I happened to be playing in Atlanta when Elton was in Atlanta. He has a home there. And yeah, he and his band came to my show in Atlanta and sat in the fifth row.

Could you see him?

Millsap: Oh yeah. He was sitting right in the middle in the fifth row. I was like, “Don’t mess up.”

What can fans expect to see at the show at the Wave?

Millsap: It’s, so far anyway, the best show I’ve ever played. My band is really great. Right now, I’ll be touring with this whole band. It’s me on guitar and then there’s a bassist, drummer, keys, and a violinist so it’s full and big. The show covers a lot of ground. You know there’s big rock and roll moments. There’s intimate acoustic moments. Pretty much everybody gets to take a little solo at some point. I’ll be playing stuff from across my entire catalog. We’ll definitely play all the songs from “Be Here Instead,” but there are songs from all my records that we will work into the show. I feel like it’s indicative of all the places I’ve been so far.

I’m excited. After having basically two years off the road, I have a newfound, not that I was ever ungrateful, but I have a newfound gratitude for the whole thing. The fact that any of it happens at all is amazing to me, and I’m just psyched to play for people.

You couldn’t ask for anything more, right?

Millsap: Exactly. Like I get to go play guitar and people clap for me. It’s really awesome.

Parker Millsap

When: 8 p.m. Friday, doors open at 7 p.m.

Where: Wave, 650 E. Second St.

Tickets: $15 at waveict.com