User:Filkferret~enwiki

Originally from New England, Frank Parker (AKA) FilkFerret, transported to the Carolinas in 2002. He is a self-taught musician who plays a combination of Folk and Filk music. He has been writing and performing at Science Fiction Conventions, House Filks and open mics as FilkFerret since 1998 though he has been fiddling with music since the ‘great trombone disaster’ many years (and that is many) ago in third grade.

He has several awards in the filk community and has been a finalist 2 years in a row for songs composed for the Mars Society's Rouget d' Lisle contest for songs celebrating the cause of the human exploration and settlement of space. These were ‘The Green Hills of Terra’ and ‘Spreading Our Wings’ (co authored with Utah Filker Dawnya Thill). His signature song ‘Take it One Step and One day at a Time’ shared first place at Conterpoint 3 in 2000 for best serious filk and ‘Inherit the Heavens’ took third place at the Ohio Valley Filk Festival OVFF in 2002 for the theme ‘for our children’.

In 2005 he had the opportunity to perform at and host an open mic night in the Columbia, SC area. The goal was to promote and supply a venue where entertainers, no matter what their level, were welcomed and made to feel at home, helping to build confidence and hone their skills. Frank has since married and moved to Charlotte, NC were he is looking for a coffee house to continue his love of open mics.

As FilkFerret, his major purpose in life (musically) is to spread the genre' Filk (like the seeds of a dandelion). For a long time Frank had no genre' for his music. Today he knows he has been and always will be a Filker, no matter what other music he or listens to or plays.