The Stone Sparrows
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Music
Press
".......The Stone Sparrows were smack in the middle of the night. Their debut disc is my fave of 2011 and for a band that's really only been together a year it's been one outstanding performance after another, opening at Jeff Leech's CD release party, playing Solstice and CAMFest and a bag full of TO gigs, culminating with a pretty-close-to-sold-out Saturday night at one of the hottest bars in Toronto. It's been a wow year and they wowed the 'Shoe again. It is their uncanny musicality, their layers, their weaving and their natural stage presence and comfort with each other that makes them a band to watch, but most importantly a band to hear. They are a bluegrass Fleetwood Mac, an Eagles with traditional instruments, wonderful...." - Durham Region News
OK, someone give me something I don't like, someone give me something that isn't awesome, someone please make a bad record. This is making me look like a homer but seriously Stone Sparrows, wow. And what is it, four kats from B-ville playing old tyme fiddling bluegrass with a female lead who is one belter of a singer. Stone Sparrows, do you know the film Festival Express where Janis Joplin is singing with the Band as the whole gang travels across Canada on a train ... well, Stone Sparrows are that. On a local level, Stone Sparrows bring to mind the duets between Trish Robb and Lee Mellor.
The four piece, Meghan Patrick (vox, guitar, banjo), Sam Balsom (guitar, vox, mandolin, harmonica) Oliver Ward (fiddle, guitar, vox) and Jim Gorry (upright bass), have been together for under a year and are already gaining a rep on the local scene. They've played Solstice and CAMfest. They have several TO gigs and this record should gather them much more and beyond.
The Stone Sparrows officially release the CD tonight at the Village Inn in Bowmanville.
While the singing, in particular the male/female lead songs, is the most obvious hook, it is really the free-flowing fiddle of Ward that makes this disc shimmer. It is in the smoothness of the lines, such as on the songs Cold, the Sadies-ish House Of Lancaster, and Ice Age that Ward gently makes his presence known. The closing track, Shine A Light, sums it all up with a beatific chorus of spiritual sentiments. Shine a light yes, shine a light on these Sparrows. - Durham Region News
Discography
Still working on that hot first release.
Photos
Bio
The Stone Sparrows are Meghan Patrick, James Gorry, Oliver Ward and Sam Balson. The foursome have combined their diverse backgrounds in classical music, funk, soul, blues, jazz, bluegrass and folk into a unique sound combining interesting twists on classic instrumental styles with soulful lyrics that feel at once comfortable, yet still fresh and unique. Their sound is equally at home in laid-back outdoor music festivals as it is in some of the finest live music venues in a downtown setting.
"As time passes, seemingly faster and faster, our little group of steel, wood, horse hair and vocal chords keeps chuggin' along. With a summer full of great experiences under our collective belt, and the recent release of our second record Wild Spaces, we look to the cold months ahead as a time to do what we always do, but with more sweaters. A look back at some of the summer memories will no doubt keep us warm. Opening for the Tedeschi Trucks Band was an unreal way to get the summer rollin'. Kind of like when the Globe and Mail gave us a shoutout as the "unnoficial opener" when Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings came through the Pheonix in July of last year. We busked out front of the show that time, now people are actually letting us play on the stage! On a different note, I'd like to personally "bless the cotton socks" of all the East coasters we encountered on our voyage. "Have a lobster, have a trailer to sleep in, have ten gallons of homemade booze (but make sure she burns bye), here have another lobster". Our first stop on tour was the Kempt Shores Accoustic Festival in Nova Scotia. We met so many amazing people there, including the legendary Maritime musician and guitar virtuoso J.P. Cormier. By the end of the weekend he was on stage with us trading solos and jamming out. After some more successful shows across Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, 4 matching maritime tattoos, and a day or so of floating and driving, we were back in good ol' Ontario. Upon our return we began preparing for our appearance at the Boots and Hearts country festival that had its first incarnation this year in our home town of Bowmanville. I don't think many people heard the local four piece acoustic string band over the din of Tim Mcgraw's pyrotechnics, or Kid Rock's Helicopter, but we had a blast, and as always, our town came out and showed us love. As a matter of fact, we the Sparrows, would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank everyone from the bottoms of our hearts. To all those who have shown us support, in ways big and small, we would not want to do this if it didn't bring people happiness, and we can only assume that when you clap and cheer, it's not because we stopped playing ;) So there it is. Another Summer almost passed. We hope that winter sees us writing and recording and creating and sharing with each other and all of you. Beaks Together, go team!"
- Oliver Ward
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