If you were to file Brad Parsons’ albums into a category at a record store, they’d fit most comfortably in the section dedicated to folk, country and Americana music.

But like most artists, Parsons’ sound is truly a patchwork of his influences — the creative product of a life well lived and the experiences he has had along the way.

“As we go, we’re all consuming more and absorbing more, and you get to a point where it’s all part of it,” he said.

“Like Portland — (living in) Portland was super influential in my songwriting because I started listening to rootsy stuff and some jam-band stuff,” he continued. “The things I’m working on right now, I want it to be sort of an amalgamation of all the stuff I’ve done in my life.”

A quick list of that stuff: Parsons grew up in and around Lewiston, Idaho, where he first started singing hymns and gospel music in the same church where his father preached on Sundays. He wasn’t insulated from secular music, however.

“My mom listened to a lot of different stuff and was very into a lot of different things — pop music, Paul Simon and Bruce Springsteen, Dire Straits and Hall & Oates, stuff like that,” he said.

Mom didn’t, however, love the big bands of the alt-rock revolution, which came along when Parsons was a pre-teen. He was introduced to Nirvana through “Weird Al” Yankovic’s parody of “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” and later gravitated to albums like “In Utero,” Pearl Jam’s “Vitalogy” and Soundgarden’s “Superunknown,” he said.

“Those were my grunge records,” Parsons said. “My paper route that I had in the mornings was where I would sneak listening to them.”

Like they were for millions of kids, Nirvana was a pathway into underground music for Parsons, who would read the band’s interviews, make note of, say, Kurt Cobain’s favorite bands, and then go to the local record store to try to track down CDs by those bands. Not far from the record store: a coffee shop, where he started playing his own songs in front of people.

In 2008, Parsons moved to Portland, where he stayed for a decade and played in the well-known folk-rock band Horse Feathers. In search of a change of scenery, he moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where he soaked up Southern culture for a couple of years before bouncing back to Oregon early in the COVID-19 pandemic.

The plan was to move back to Portland, but a friend suggested he try Astoria instead, and he has now been there for four years.

“It wasn’t really what we planned, but I think we’re pretty happy with how it turned out,” Parsons said. “I think it has influenced the way I do things (because) it’s just a little bit slower. I do think a little slower now. But I also think that could be, like, getting older.”

A year ago, Parsons released an album called “Slowpoke” — eight rock-solid tunes that are rooted in folk and country, but also deeply ingrained with blues, pop, rock, soul, and even the music of his youth back in Lewiston.

“I was always more interested in secular music. It was always just more musically interesting to me,” he said, “But it’s kind of funny how as I’ve gotten older, I’ve started to listen to gospel music and all the stuff we used to listen to back then.”

Who: Brad Parsons and Joel Chadd

When: 7 p.m. Saturday, doors open 6:30 p.m.

Where: The Commons Cafe & Taproom, 875 NW Brooks St., Bend

Cost: $20

Contact: thecommonsbend.com