5/3/07

At a desk or on a stage, a rock n’ roll mom rocks on
By Brian Jarvis

BRIAN JARVIS/Manning Times

Vicki Lea Parnell of Virtually Unshockable rocked the house at the Striped Bass Festival.

By day she works as a lawyer’s personal assistant, but by night Vicki Lea Parnell takes the stage at a smoky bar and morphs into a cross between Stevie Nicks and Janis Joplin, her gravelly voice belting out perennial classics from “Landslide,” to “Me and Bobby McGee.”

“I’m totally two different people,” Parnell said. “So many times I run into someone who says, ‘Aren’t you that girl who sings? You don’t look the same.’ There’s a big difference between daytime and stage time.”

A 30-year resident of South Carolina, Parnell’s first gig was at the NCO Club of Shaw Air Force Base at a friend’s urging. If the audience knew her only previous experience was as an 11-year old crooning Nancy Sinatra’s “These Boots Are Made For Walkin’” around a campfire, they showed no sign.

“It was awesome and I was hooked,” Parnell said. “I love expressing myself through music and getting down in the audience and having fun with them and seeing the smiles on their faces.”

Eventually carving out a niche in cover bands, Parnell spent 10 years on the road living the life to which most aspiring rockers can only dream, opening for such luminaries as Blackfoot, Brad Gillis, Michael Morales and Ace Frehley of KISS.

With her youthful demeanor and girlish energy, Parnell shows none of the scars that line the faces of most battle-hardened rock veterans. In addition to regular workouts at The Zone, Parnell sums up her secret in two words:

“No drugs,” she said. “I’ve never been a believer in that scene. It’s just about passion and keeping the music as the most important thing. It was hard, but I’ve stayed true to that.”

Unfortunately all the clean living in the world couldn’t save Parnell from the horse that threw her headfirst into a tree in 2002, breaking her neck and restricting her to a halo brace and body cast for the next four months.

“It took 34 staples to put my head back together,” Parnell recalled. “It humbled me because I had to depend on people. I couldn’t drive and had to ask for rides. But one thing I’ve always believed is that when God looked down, he put me on my back because I needed to look up.”

Parnell’s biggest fear, however, was losing her voice after learning that a screw would have to be inserted through her neck next to her vocal cords. But her favorite football team, the Green Bay Packers, had played the day before and won; Parnell took their victory as a sign the odds were in her favor.

“When the nurses woke me up and asked if I was all right, I said real quietly, ‘The Packers won.’ I just knew I wanted to get back and sing.”

Six weeks later, Parnell was back at work, brace and body cast and all.

“Clients would come in and stare at me, so I’d look up, smile and say, “I bet you’re dying to ask what happened. And then I’d tell them.”

A mother of three, Parnell moved her family to Wyboo last October with husband and fellow musician Jay, who has been playing guitar and singing alongside his wife for the last 12 years. The name of their latest band speaks volumes to their life experiences: Virtually Unshockable.

“We’ve been on the road for so long, with so many different people and we’ve seen so many different things, there’s no way we could be shocked,” Parnell explained.

In addition to regular gigs at Casa Di Pasta and Brewers of Sumter, the band was invited last week to make its first appearance at the annual Striped Bass Festival.

“We were excited because we heard all kinds of good things about it,” Parnell said. “It’s great to be part of the community in Manning. I’ve fallen in love with it.”