Rising Southern Rock Band Parker Barrow Talks About Music, Love, and ‘Hold the Mash’

August 24, 2026/Rick Handler

Eight years ago, Dylan Turner found himself in a bit of a jam. The lead vocalist for his band quit with less than 24 hours notice before their next gig. In thinking about who he could get to fill in at such short notice he remembered the woman he met at a friend-of-a-friend’s show on Broadway in Nashville. In the few moments they talked she mentioned she was a lead singer in a band. Although he had never heard her sing, he reached out to her through her DM’s and somehow convinced her to come on the road for a few concerts. In doing so Megan Kane became not just his new lead singer, but would eventually become his wife.

They were united in their love of rock, especially southern rock and blues. Kane had aspired to be a country singer from a very young age, however she realized her voice was more suited for rock and blues. Their common desire of playing the music they love and shared dreams of success prompted them to form the band Parker Barrow. The name comes from the notorious outlaws Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow. Although Kane and Turner don’t condone their criminality they took inspiration from Bonnie and Clyde’s amazing love story. And much like a gang of outlaws, a rock band travels the country in search of revenue. Parker Barrow plays Jergel’s Rhythm Grille, Wednesday, August 26 in support of their new album, Hold the Mash.

Entertainment Central spoke with Kane and Turner from their home in Nashville where they were enjoying a break in the current leg of their tour.

Kane said “Hold the Mash was released during the middle of their current tour, continuing, “Which is a little crazy. Our release date was when we were actually touring the U.K. and we got to celebrate with five sold out shows over there and two festival shows. So it was a pretty hot week for us on the release of our new album.” Hold the Mash has them taking a little different tack with Alex Bender as their guitarist and music director. Kane said, “It’s definitely cool this time around with the full time inclusion of Alex Bender in the writing process and in the studio. It’s actually led to a broader horizon for us and more avenues and directions we can go with our music. So we’re not holding ourselves to any specific category, we’re just letting the music come to us and releasing it as it does.”

Turner grew up in a small town, La Plata, Maryland and Kane was raised in Pinson, Alabama. When asked if it was unusual to have a woman as the lead singer of a southern rock band, Turner replied, “When I moved to Nashville and decided to put a band together I wanted southern rock and blues, which I was raised on.” (His father is a musician who had a coffee shop that featured live music.) “I knew I wanted to live somewhere in that space and I knew I wanted to accomplish that with a female fronted band. My experience with listening to southern rock, The Allman Brothers, Skynyrd, The Black Crowes; you always had two distinctive guitar sounds, but the way I wanted to do it that was different was to have a female front. From Steven Tyler, to Ronnie Van Zant, to Chris Robinson, to whoever. There’s so many guys out there, but it’s few and far between that you find a bonafide southern rock band fronted by a female. I think Megan does a great job of doing that in her own way and still kind of honoring the energy and stigma that comes with fronting this type of band. That was something that was important to me. Thank God I met Megan because she was the perfect piece of the puzzle to bring it all together.”

“I first realized I was falling in love with Megan on that first drive, a 15 hour trip from Nashville to Maryland, the east coast, and Delaware. I think we knew pretty quickly on that drive that there was some sort of connection there. Out of respect for each other, out of respect for what we were doing, and our dreams and our goals, we were very patient with exploring that connection past just the companionship we felt. I think we both knew pretty quickly, but we took some time to make sure we were able to balance not only being bandmates, but being more than that before we took the leap into doing that,” Turner said.

Kane agreed, “Ever since we met we’ve been on the same page when it comes to those things and we knew that we would have time to explore it and eventually spend our lives together. So we definitely weren’t going to rush anything and we would make sure we could do both, because that was the most important to us at the time we met and we weren’t going to sacrifice one because of the other, or vice versa.” Turner added, “Because we’re in a band together, we compartmentalize those two areas. Because we love and respect each other very much, most of the disagreements center around the band side of things. And to know when we’re talking to each other as bandmates and when we’re talking to each other as husband and wife. We’ve sort of been relentless in this and when one of us is down the other is up and there to carry the weight.”

Kane is a very energetic singer and dancer. She said about her high energy level, “The good Lord above gives me my energy. I’ve always been an energetic person. Most of the time I stay in the lead with my emotions and most of the time those emotions are just happy and full of joy. I approach it the same as when I was a child, practicing in my mirror and dancing in my living room. I don’t think any of us take ourselves too seriously and we never forget to have fun doing what we love and that’s what gets us all through, even the hardest times.”

Being an equal opportunity interviewer, I asked Turner if he would like to share any insights into his fitness regime. He laughed and said, “The only exercise I get is playing the drums or driving the bus 90% of my life so I’m not the guy to ask about fitness. I’m just trying to fit into my jeans.”

Turner said about his goals for the band, “The honest answer, and most bands won’t admit this, but the goal is The Rolling Stones. That’s the top dog, they’ve been so good for so long. That’s the sort of goal, but as far as how we get there, or if we get there all we try to do is be good stewards of the opportunities that God gives us and try to make the most out of them and honestly, try not get in the way We love what we do and consider each and every opportunity a blessing. We don’t take a single one for granted.”

Both Kane and Turner noted that southern rock is rising again. They see parents sharing with their children the genre of music that they enjoyed when they were young. They also see some very talented young bands playing that music, some a little more country leaning and some a little more rock oriented. They believe the genre is a reflection of real music with heart and soul in it. That’s what Parker Barrow offers with their songs. And they have fun doing it. They’re excited to be returning to Pittsburgh. Kane says that people can expect a high energy rock and roll show, a little bit of jamming, and a whole lot of fun. Just a good time overall! Special guests are One Eye Daddy and Moonshine Jasmine. For tickets and more information visit Jergel’s website.

Hold the Mash

Much like the band’s namesakes, Parker Barrow come out a-blazin’ on the first track of their new album Hold the Mash. “The Healer,” opens with sizzling lead guitar (Alex Bender and Will Tipton), crashing drums (Dylan Turner), followed by earthy, melodic rock and roll lead vocals (Megan Kane). The song also features some sweet hammond organ (Eric Safka), and strong bass (Kyle Priber.) That southern rock energy carries through on “Blinded” with background vocals adding harmonic depth. “Nothing Left to Save” puts some fire on the lesson to move on from a bad situation. “Novocaine” speaks to how numb one can feel staying in a bad relationship. Kane strongly emotes the lyrics through her powerful singing with the band supporting in full force. “Olivia Lane” opens with beautiful acoustic guitar followed by equally beautiful vocals by Kane. At about two thirds of the way through the song two acoustic guitars play quietly and then the song moves into a hard rock tempo through the end. “Make It’ is another high quality rocker. Other tracks on this superb record are “Glass Eyes Cryin,” and “Ruby’s Reckoning,” before closing with a cover of The Black Crowes “My Morning Song.”