Jay Sparrow is a Canadian singer-songwriter and musician.

Life and career

Born in

Thunder Bay Thunder Bay is a city in and the seat of Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It is the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario and the second most populous (after Greater Sudbury) municipality in Northern Ontario. Its population i ...

, Ontario and raised in

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

, Alberta, Sparrow was lead singer for the Edmonton

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

band Murder City Sparrows."Local musician Jay Sparrow celebrates album release"
. ''Edmonton Examiner'', November 10, 2010. He eventually decided to dissolve the band and pursue a different musical direction after realizing that he had no punk rock on his

iPod The iPod is a series of portable media players and multi-purpose mobile devices that were designed and marketed by Apple Inc. from 2001 to 2022. The iPod Classic#1st generation, first version was released on November 10, 2001, about mon ...

, but instead listened mainly to songwriters such as

Steve Earle Stephen Fain Earle (; born January 17, 1955) is an American country, rock, and folk singer-songwriter. He began his career as a songwriter in Nashville and released his first EP in 1982. Earle's breakthrough album was his 1986 debut album '' ...

and

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...

. He released his first solo EP, ''The Running'', in 2009, and followed up with two more EPs, ''Good Days Gone By'' in 2009 and ''The Tempest Line'' in 2010, before releasing his full-length album debut, ''In Our Time'', in the fall of 2010. He was the winning Alberta songwriter in the 2009 edition of

CBC Radio 2 CBC Music (formerly known as CBC FM, CBC Stereo and CBC Radio 2) is a Canadian FM radio network operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It used to concentrate on classical and jazz. In 2007 and 2008, the network transitioned towards a ...

's ''

Great Canadian Song Quest ''Great Canadian Song Quest'' is a Canadian songwriting contest, presented by CBC Music. The competition has been presented in three editions to date, in 2009, 2010 and 2013. 2009 edition For the inaugural installation of Great Canadian Song Quest ...

'', for which he wrote and recorded the song "The Ballad of Mary White"."Finalists in Radio 2's Great Canadian Song Quest"
. ''FYI Music'', November 24, 2009.

Discography

With Murder City Sparrows

Studio albums * ''Dead Horse Disco'' (2009) EPs * ''Murder City Sparrows'' (2006)

Solo

Studio albums * ''In Our Time'' (2010) * ''White'' (2012) * ''Bluebird'' (2014) * ''Let Wild Dogs Run'' (2020) EPs * ''The Running'' (2009) * ''Good Days Gone By'' (2010) * ''The Tempest Line'' (2010)

References

External links

*
Jay Sparrow
on

Myspace Myspace (formerly stylized as MySpace, currently myspace; and sometimes my␣, with an elongated Whitespace character#Substitute images, open box symbol) is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it w ...

Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Musicians from Thunder Bay Writers from Thunder Bay Canadian rock singers Canadian male singers Canadian male singer-songwriters 21st-century Canadian singer-songwriters Musicians from Edmonton Writers from Edmonton Singers from Alberta {{Canada-singer-songwriter-stub