Hungry Men Don’t Swerve takes the reader on a ride from 50-below-zero temperatures in 1980s Jackson Hole, Wyoming, to Chicago, Vienna, Minneapolis, London, Washington DC, Nashville, Gaithersburg, Los Angeles, and, ultimately, back to Chicago for the North American premiere of Leonora in 2024.
Parker first recorded Leonora off a WFMT broadcast in the winter of 1979-1980. Hungry Men Don’t Swerve expands on Parker’s 2013 book If you see roadkill, think opera, which was written prior to entering the recording studio for 2013’s CD/streaming/download release of A Roadkill Opera. To commemorate the Chicago Opera Theater’s 2024 North American premiere of Leonora, Parker prepared the first vinyl release of the 2-disc, 180-gram, gatefold album Roadkill!!! Greatest Hits! The Direct Metal Mastered double LP has the complete 2013 studio recording of A Roadkill Opera on three sides, with the fourth side carrying comedy highlights from the outfit whose true story is told in A Roadkill Opera, the Roadkill On A Stick Frozen Foods Theatre Company (active in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, 1988-1992).