“Beer festival in aid of play field”

“THE City of York Folk Weekend 2013 runs from tomorrow until Sunday, organised as ever by Roland Walls, promoter of the Black Swan Folk Club.”

“Beverley Folk Festival 2013”

“A variety of artists will be taking part in the popular annual event ‘The Festival Café Run’ including: Vinnie Whitehead, Nick Rooke, Ben Parcell and Nikki Airey. Café’s where artists can be found are: Vanilla’s, Café Nero, Rolando’s, Costa Coffee, Lempicka, Dine on The Rowe, Ask, Browns and The Poppy Seed.”

“As far as an E.P is concerned, ‘Painted by Numbers’ is closer to perfect than most have even dared reach.”

“AN all-star line up of local musicians will join forces next month to play a spectacular one-off gig for charity.”

“The first act of the day was Bridlington-based acoustic pop punk act Ben Parcell and it all honesty, I was confused to as why he was on so early in the day.”

“A calm, friendly atmosphere hovered in Shades as Ben hypnotised the crowd with a soothing, gentle sound that softly echoed across like a whisper in the wind.”

“A wide array of local musicians took to the stage over the weekend to perform at Brid Rocks, an annual open air event held at Bridlington Sports and Community Centre, Dukes Park.”

“Strumming his way into the music industry, Ben Parcell has enrolled to the youthful revolution to rebrand the pop-folk scene, injecting it with the vivacity and colour captured in his most recent release Painted by Numbers.”

“Which, for a start, is strange. It seems Ben Parcell has pushed forward from the upbeat, three chord, pop punky acoustic tunes of his full length. The songs appear more thought out, with intrinsic arpeggiated guitar tracks and subtle orchestration.”

“Video looking good man, nice song!”

“Ben’s voice adapts to the music in an easy way, and his warm tone makes you feel at ease while relating to the storytelling of his work. The EP is so rich, both musically and lyrically, that it feels like there are more than four tracks on it, and the only thought I had after that “Love Song” stopped was, “damn, is it over already?” The answer was “yes,” unfortunately, and now I can’t wait for a second full-length album to be released.”

“Stepping out to meet the current trend for folk tinged acoustica, this track is one that gets better and better with each listen – simple instrumentation, bouncy rhythm, great production, and a clever coda section that slowly brings the listener full circle for a satisfying end. Lovely.”

“After hearing “Painted By Numbers”, the listener will no doubt know why Ben Parcell has been doing so well. Each track is composed in such a way that it would be near enough impossible to try replicate the sound that Ben creates with his talent.”

“Parcell, a self-confessed Turner fan, has clearly taken a leaf out of his hero’s book when it comes to making music both passionate and distinctive; something that songs like Close Your Eyes do very well.”

“Making music in memory of John Newsome”

“Musicians help fight for Home-start.”

“We've played Ben on BBC Introducing on Radio Humberside a lot. Always sounds great on-air. Lovely melodies, well delivered.”

“Beautiful songs, beautifully packaged, Humble Beginnings is a wonderful calling card from terrific singer/songwriter Ben, one of the amazingly talented artists to emerge recently from the thriving East Yorkshire acoustic scene.”

“Writing heartfelt lyrics and expressing his true feelings in a stripped down and honest way. Something that’s not been seen since the early days of Dashboard Confessional.”

“Ben's vocal approach is reminiscent of Elvis Costello especially in the appealing directness with which he addresses his listeners on matters of common interest like love and life, his world-view being always shot through with realism.”

“Bridlington based Ben Parcell has hit the music scene with his own brand of DIY. He has self produced his debut album Humble Beginnings, and even played every instrument himself, which although is a solo album, gives a much bigger sound effect.”

“Gem of a song”

“What a great album! Ben Parcell might humbly introduce his debut self-recorded album but there is nothing humble about it. From the first till the last song you will get carried away with his folk-pop and acoustic punk sounds.”

“Bridlington musician hopes to go from humble beginnings to great things”

“How to record an album on a shoe string budget”

“This lush ten-track offering hears Ben's voice at its best. Opening with the subtly anthemic beauty of 'Close Your Eyes', right from the utterly entrancing off, the production values assert their presence, the textured mix of guitar, drums and vocals luring the listener in from the very first verse.”

“Unusually for a début release, 'Humble Beginnings' by Yorkshire based singer-songwriter Ben Parcell has all the hall marks of a coming of age album, with a clearly defined sense of style and identity.”

“I have been eagerly awaiting my copy of this album for some time, ever since Ben emailed through a working copy of My Last Farewell to be played on the show. This was followed up with Ben's first live appearance on the show, in which he sang several songs accompanying himself on guitar.”