J i l l . P a r r


website: http://www.jillparr.com


"Jills music bridges the gap between ministry and artistry. Her lyrics are a testament to the fact that she doesn't only want to entertain the people, she want to reach them with a message of hope through Jesus."

"There is an old saying that good things come to those who wait… This album has been long in coming, and I can definitely say that it was worth the wait." - Darren Tyler - CEO, Integrity Management & Booking - Tulsa, OK

"She doesn't just perform, but allows God to minister through her talent and testimony. Jill truly loves the Lord and it shows." - Warren E. Beemer - Youth Pastor - Cornerstone Church - San Antonio, TX

Looking for some music that drips of heart and soul? Music that is driven by both a message that cannot be contained, and by the voice of an angel? How about the music of an artist who has this to say: "I want to find myself in the middle of whatever God is doing. I don't care where I am, I just want to live in the knowledge that I'm quite alright in His eyes and that I have great value, and He is the One that I need to please." ... Then I urge you to look into the music of Jill Parr. - Reviewed January 10, 1999 by David Longenecker



Jill Parr is a woman who understands. At 24 she’s lived long enough to feel the call of God on her life, struggle with it and come to the understanding that He is involved in everything that she does. “It’s an amazing thing when you finally realize that God loves you in spite of yourself and there is nothing you can do about it one way or the other. He looked at you with love the second you were conceived and He looks at you the same today.”

Even as a very young child Jill Parr knew that she would be involved in music. “I made my grand entrance into this world using my voice and never stopped all through my childhood,” she recalls. One Christmas when she was about six years old, one of her gifts was a small tape recorder. “I used to carry it everywhere.......singing my own little songs and making up commercials.” She smiles and then continues, “I guess that was my recording debut.”

Growing up near Detroit, she was around a lot of great music and was performing regularly in churches by the time she was twelve. It was during this time that she began to consciously feel that God was pulling and stretching her into what she would one day become. “People were coming to the Lord because He chose to use a little twelve year old girl,” she says. Parr knew then that she would never be happy unless she was following that call. But there were storms on the horizon.

“I was never a drug user or sex crazed or anything, I just struggled through my younger years with trying to gain the acceptance that I didn’t feel inside. I would always try to please everyone and in the process I was destroying my own self-esteem by setting myself up to fail. Eventually this kind of behavior caused me to even question my foundations. I wondered if God really did want me to sing, or for that matter if He even cared about me at all.”

It didn’t end there though. Parr recalls a particularly dark time that made everything clear to her. “I was really wondering if I should continue pursuing what I always thought God expected from me. I felt that I had become un-usable to Him and that I had really blown so many opportunities that He had given to me that He had either washed His hands of me or just didn’t care anymore. Out of the blue things were calling me back. Friends that I hadn’t heard from in so long would track me down and say that I had been on their mind and they were praying for me. Things just kept happening that kept me looking back to the Lord. And when I finally broke and gave up my pride and all the feelings of inadequacy...............that is where He found me, and I found grace.

Jill’s music isn’t easy to nail down in one sentence. “It’s definitely groove oriented, vibey stuff, but it’s earthy and loopy and kind of takes you somewhere emotionally. We worked very hard to be extremely current and at the same time write things that have a timeless quality. I really want to be honest in the way I communicate these songs and carry that integrity straight to the listeners who feel the same way I did and do. I want to be a voice that is full of compassion and understanding for hurting people and I want the music to bring reinforcement to a hurting heart.”

Parr’s desire to work through Christian music flows from her own experience of being ministered to. “There are certain songs and artists that have touched me throughout my life and still do today. Some songs have gotten me through some very tough times. They have spoken directly to my heart and God has spoken to me through that music,” she said. “It’s exciting to think that there are people out there that will relate to the same experiences I’ve gone through and something I might say or sing could impact them the same way that I’ve been touched. I know that only God can do that, and that is where ministry is to me.”

So where does this fiery redhead hope to see herself in the coming years? “I want to find myself in the middle of whatever God is doing. I don’t care where I am I just want to live in the understanding that I’m quite alright in His eyes and that I have great value and He is the One that I need to please. And I think that I’ll be sending that message to anyone who is broken and needs comfort. These are things that we can all understand to a certain degree and I want to do my part of being Jesus’ hands and feet to touch the hurting while I’m here.”

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