March Band of the Month: Parachute


Will Anderson and Johnny Stubblefield, friends from childhood, formed the band Sparky's Flaw while attending Charlottesville High School; Kit French and Alex Hargrave, long-time friends and classmates of the two, soon joined. While in college, the band signed a record deal with Mercury Records in August 2007. In the same month, Nate McFarland, a classmate and friend of Anderson's at the University of Virginia, joined the band. McFarland and Anderson were both part of the all-male a cappella group, the Virginia Gentlemen, while at college. After graduating from college in May 2008, the band began touring full-time. Later that year, they changed their name to Parachute.

Parachute's debut album, Losing Sleep, became available in stores and online on May 19, 2009. It was produced by Chris Keup, John Shanks, and John Fields. On May 12, it was released exclusively on iTunes with a bonus track. The second single from the album, "Under Control", was also highlighted as the 'Free iTunes Single of the Week'. A deluxe edition of the album was released on August 4, 2009. The song "Back Again" is featured in the video game Band Hero which was released on November 3, 2009.

Their songs "She Is Love" and "Under Control" were used on Nivea's national skincare TV commercials. As part of the campaign, Parachute shared the Nivea Countdown Stage with the Jonas Brothers and Taylor Swift in front of over a million people in Times Square for New Year's Eve in 2008.

On June 15, 2009, Will Anderson and Kit French appeared as Parachute on the twentieth episode of Live From Daryl's House, the monthly internet concert from Daryl Hall. They performed four songs from their debut album as well as the Hall & Oates tracks "Say It Isn't So" and "It's a Laugh". In August 2009, Parachute was featured as a 'Soundcheck Risers' artist on walmart.com. "She is Love," was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America on June 30, 2017.

Parachute's second full-length album, The Way It Was, was released on May 17, 2011. It debuted at number 19 on the Billboard 200 chart, number 7 on the Rock Albums chart, and number 4 on the Digital Albums chart. The single "What I Know" was a free track available for exclusive download on iTunes during release week. On December 4, 2010, Parachute released a video on ESPN and ABC for "Something to Believe In." Kiss Me Slowly was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America on June 30, 2017.

Parachute announced their plans for a third full-length album in late 2012. "Hearts Go Crazy", originally intended as the lead single, was released on iTunes on February 26, 2013 featuring a new electronic direction to the band's sound. A second single, "Can't Help", written by Will Anderson and Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic was released on June 2, 2013. The band also performed "Can't Help" on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

On June 13, 2013, the band announced that their third album would be called Overnight, and was released on August 13, 2013. The band promoted "Can't Help" to radio stations, later releasing a music video in support of this single. The album continuously topped the iTunes album charts in the top ten during its first day and week of release, reaching the #3 spot. "Overnight" also marked the band's highest chart position, reaching as high as 15 on the US Billboard 200.

In May 2014, Nate McFarland announced on the Parachute Facebook Page that he was leaving the band to pursue his MBA at the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business.

On May 12, 2015 the band debuted their new song "Crave."

On January 24, 2016, Billboard Magazine featured the band's new single "Without You," from their fourth album "Wide Awake." The album was released on March 11, 2016 and reached number one on the iTunes Pop chart and number two overall, and has garnered over 50 million Spotify listens to date.

Discography:
Live from the Recording Studio EP (2002)
One Small Step EP (2005)
Sparky's Flaw EP (2007)
Losing Sleep (2009)
Winterlove EP (2009)
The Way It Was (2011)
Overnight (2013)
Live from Minneapolis EP (2014)
Wide Awake (2016)

Social Media:
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
YouTube

Where to Buy Music:
iTunes
Google Play

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