Jay Sparrow

With lyrical content ranging from questioning one’s religious roots, supporting same sex relationships and the unending power of radio, it is safe to say Jay Sparrow is not your typical country singer-songwriter. After finishing his new record, BLUEBIRD, at Willie Nelson’s Arlyn studio in Austin Texas, Jay and compadres hit the highway to New Orleans to shoot a video and reflect on the new sound. Sitting on the bow of a crawfish boat in the Louisiana swamp Jay explains his motivation: “Sure…I wanted to make something you could sing along to with your friends while enjoying the summer… but underlying that I wanted to let people in. Being a private man, this is a hard thing to do. We create so many walls in our lives and I wanted to show the hidden sensitive nature of a man.” Fittingly, Sparrow borrowed the title Bluebird from the Charles Bukowski poem of the same name: “The poem is one of my favourites because it is written by this historically rough and tumble writer yet he is letting everyone know that inside he has this soft and vulnerable bird wanting to get out”. Bluebird is Sparrow’s sixth record in five years. He writes and produces all of his own music as well as directing and producing all the accompanying videos, many of which have taken him to all corners of the world. To say he is prolific would be an gross understatement. To record this new album Jay enlisted the help of some high profile friends to be in his band, friends such as Gordie Johnson (Big Sugar), Clayton Bellamy (The Road Hammers), Shaun Verreault (Wide Mouth Mason) and Chad Melchert (Gord Bamford). With this all-star group assembled the sound came out just as planned: big, fun, rockin and classic. Jay has long been a fan of artists like Steve Earle, Bruce Springsteen, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and Bob Seger… You can hear it in his writing. Sparrow is definitely a new voice in country music but he has that lasting reflection of the past throughout. Growing up on a farm outside a small agricultural town in Alberta, Jay was surrounded by country music early on, Waylon, Merle, & Johnny were all regulars on the home speakers. Plus his father was a touring session musician who often played country in his travels. However the moment that set Jay on the path towards being a musician came from a source outside country music: “I know the exact moment I realized the power and gravity of a musical life, I was a young boy when my father was supporting Roy Orbison at a large outdoor amphitheatre. This was only a short time before Roy’s passing. I was standing side-stage with my brother watching the band play, I suppose I was only casually interested because I had been in this place my whole life. However this time when the final song ended my father waved me over to him during the standing ovation. I walked out on that stage only for a brief moment and looked towards the audience… Whoa… The energy and joy coming from those thousands of faces was overwhelming. It infected me to the core.” Jay recently signed a recording contract with Canada’s longest running country label Royalty Records/Sony Music. Bluebird is slated to be released in late October 2014 and following that release through 2015 Jay will be hitting the road. “At his finest, Jay Sparrow delivers devastatingly perfect barroom country with a ragged punk rock edge.” – EXCLAIM Magazine, Nationwide Canada “Imagine Johnny Cash with too much ink and a voice that could stop a freight train.” - FYI Music, Toronto Ontario “Sparrow has figured out how to write a hit song, a gift so powerful it doesn’t matter what you label it.” - The SUN, Edmonton Alberta “Gunpowder Americana that seems like it was built to be played on an 8-track cassette player, preferably in a Ford pick-up truck with a factory installed gun rack… and no, that’s not a putdown.” - Georgia Straight Magazine, Vancouver British Columbia Select career highlights: - Jay won the CBC Great Canadian Song Quest in 2009 and recorded the song The Ballad Of Mary White for the ensuing record release alongside other participants such as Hawksley Workman, Joel Plaskett and Martha Wainwright. At the Western Canadian Music Awards, Jay won the XM Radio Future Superstar award and was nominated for Songwriter Of The Year . - Jay has toured all over north America including stops at a variety of major music festivals like South By Southwest, North By Northeast, Canadian Music Week, Juno Fest, Western Canadian Music Awards, New Music West, COCA, IndieWeek, EDFest, the Burlington Sound Of Music Festival etc. - Jay has had music in films that have opened in many international film festivals including the Toronto International Film Festival, European Independent Film Festival, The Beverly Hills Film Festival, and The Spanish International Film Festival. - Jay’s last record WHITE sat in the top 40 for 3 months on the iTunes singer-songwriter chart competing with international artists like Ed Sheeran and The Lumineers. - Jay produces records for a wide range of artists including Scenic Route To Alaska, Owls By Nature, Cobra Ramone and many others. - Jay is the founder of a revolutionary online marketplace for discovering music while supporting charitable causes called Record Mob. Alongside partner Raine Maida of Our Lady Peace, Jay has launched the beta-testing version of the site. Jay has also been active in raising funds for a variety of charitable organizations like War Child, Veterinarians Without Borders, Edmonton’s Bissell Centre and the micro volunteering community Koodonation. - Jay had the Rolling Stones in his audience at a show in Banff Alberta… Not even kidding. http://www.jaysparrow.com