Mickey Parks hates to talk about himself.
That’s unfortunate because he’s led an extremely interesting life. While he would argue most of the interesting parts have been accidents, characters like Mickey have a habit of finding themselves in the right place at the right time rubbing elbows with music legends (maybe one day he’ll tell us how he ended up in a Madonna video).
Mickey is WNXP’s only Middle Tennessee native and longtime Nashvillians know what a key role he played in helping build up Grimey’s Records. He was there when it started as just a little house in Berry Hill packed to the ceiling with CD’s and vinyl. While at the shop Mickey was known for introducing fans to their future favorites like when he told everyone about the Strokes well before they made an impact in the U.S.
He says his most memorable moments from that era were when the tables turned and bands like My Morning Jacket or regular customers turned him on to new music.
While navigating the world of hospitality in recent years, Mickey helped fill the need for an informative podcast on Nashville’s exploding restaurant and bar scene called This is the Place. Now he’s Assistant Program Director and evening host for WNXP where are trying to convince him to share more of his crazy stories on the air (nudge him on Twitter @MickeyOnAir). When he isn’t knee deep in music, he might be hiking, biking, cooking, traveling, or tracking down the next best doughnut.