Paper sparrow

Matthew Kinard’s stage name is Paper Sparrow, which is perfect because there’s something delicate about each of those words. Combined they adeptly describe Kinard’s atmospheric folk music; there’s a tenderness to it but it doesn’t always float like a feather in the breeze. At times, it soars like a winged passerine. For example, Kinard recently concluded a night’s worth of gossamer, Elliott Smith-inspired tunes at Alley Kat with Nirvana’s “Polly,” to the glee of those who happily sang along (if one can truly sing “happily” to a song about a serial rapist). Kinard’s been doing this long enough to have earned a Reader’s Choice nomination in last year’s HPMAs and a much larger audience than we saw at the Alley Kat show. Like so many Houston artists, he cut his teeth at Super Happy Fun Land and is now ready to take on the world with approaching summer tour dates. We wish him the best in Nebraska, Oklahoma and Colorado but think it might be a shame if he’s “discovered” there before more of his hometown neighbors are aware of what he’s doing. He’ll be at Galveston's MOD Coffeehouse this Saturday, so catch him there before he glides westward. JESSE SENDEJAS JR. - Houston Press

Paper Sparrow is a lo-fi atmospheric dream folk artist. His 7-track album “Bluebird”, is available on his website www.papersparrow.us. The album was recorded earlier this year on a four-track tape recorder. It’s not often that you find albums without any waste, but Paper Sparrow’s album, “Bluebird” defies ordinary music. Each track here counts, both lyrically and musically.

Paper Sparrow invariably layers in quirky sounds, but the textures behind the music are stunningly atmospheric, never too distracting. The lack of percussion, offers further hypnotic obsessiveness to the flow of the music. The elliptically raw lyrics, however, are what make the songs on “Bluebird” burrow into your consciousness. The story behind the songs is not always clear. Nonetheless, you invariably get the feeling that, somehow, every word of every song was transcribed out of one of your own dreams.

Paper Sparrow clearly has something in common with the folk music of the early sixties. In addition to the attitude and honesty of the lyrics, the emphasis here is on experimentation and using familiar elements to create an undeniably vital and new art form that has been steadily growing over the years.

At first, one might be taken aback by the crudeness of the technology used – recording on a four-track tape recorder in 2015 is pretty unusual. But after a few listens, you realize that the choice was perfect, and you can’t imagine the songs being constructed any other way. As is often the case with true lo-fi music, it’s easy to listen to, but by no means easy listening. This is music that goes a lot deeper than the apparent minimal sound it develops.

Paper Sparrow does not allow you simple melodies and catchy rhythms, so you can just join the dots and enjoy, as you do with your Top 40 hits. The experimentation on this album is solemn and earnest, carving out songs that have aural depth and texture. Paper Sparrow slowly builds each verse and chorus into haunting, beautiful and dark musical passages. The gentle and almost vulnerable vocals perfectly suit the acoustic settings. Sure, it isn’t radio friendly, but then we all know that is no measure of goodness – in any way at all!

As opposed to mainstream Pop’s throwaway ‘impulsive’ manner, Paper Sparrow is more concerned with making ‘compulsive’ music. And it is best achieved on songs like “Little Ghost”, “Erased From The Map”, “The Infinite Key” and “Perpetual Motion Machine”. But this is not an album where you pick out hit tracks. As far as I’m concerned this is a quality album as a whole, rather than just a random collection of songs – very surreal, very chilled out, and very good at setting a defined mood that has already been predetermined by the songwriter. A clear sign that the music has achieved its goal! - jam sphere

The Fan's-"I believe that the relationship is one of creator and witness" says matt kinard, whose first show as paper sparrow was only six months ago at notsuoh. "neither one (is) more important than the other. For me it's similar to therapy session where I open up and the audience takes on my burdens."

The gigs-"Super happy fun land has been a supporter for me, "he says." not only have i found some of my favorite houston bands (like) dead leslies, but also great touring acts that have given me a lot of great advice and support. it's also the only place that i found in houston that really cares for its musicians as artist and not just (as) someone to fill a spot as a promoter trying to get people to their bar."

next gig-kinard is slated to play SHFL elliott smith tribute show on august 6 and is "working on more shows as we speak." he says - Houston Press