one string leads to another

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O N E S T R I N G
L E A D S T O A N O T H E R

WEB REVIEWS

Alternate Music Press
Pop Matters
Indie Music Reviews
Dirty Linen Magazine
One String Leads to Another received 4 stars in Downbeat magazine, June 2000.

The Toledo Blade

Tim Sparks (Acoustic Music). If you've had a tough time finding simple, melodic, virtuoso guitar music devoid of showy percussive fireworks, fret no more. Sparks weaves bits of diverse tunes, usually intricate and most often foreign, into a soothing sort of original world music that alternately dazzles and relaxes.
- KEN ROSENBAUM

Downbeat Magazine 2000

While Sparks' music includes jazz and world music sensibilities, the overall thrust to this set of original compositions (minus one) suggests a blend of folksy, backwoods fingerpicking that's strongly melodic and very intimate. The pacing is very good, and Sparks' fingerstyle, musical sleight-of-hand has one hearing classical technique one moment, flat-out blues the next.

Guitar Player Magazine December 1999

A fingerstyle wizard, Tim Sparks draws from many musical traditions on One String Leads to Another. Strains of Celtic, country blues, ragtime, Appalachian, Turkish, Indian, and Italian melodies all find their way into Sparks' solo originals. It takes a skilled muscian - as opposed to guitarist- to weave such diverse rhythmic and harmonic threads into whole cloth, yet Sparks makes it happen.
Whether thumbing a bass-note drone against bluesy double-stops and sitar like bends, plucking sheets of rippling arpeggios, or playing counterpoint lines at breakneck speed, Sparks is remarkably adventurous-and that's what separates him from the pack. There are many skilled solo-acoustic guitarists making CDs today, but few can match Sparks' verve and intensity. On this live and natural-sounding record, we hear a restless, probing mind, rather than a series of refined techniques.

Andy Ellis, Senior Editor GP

Acoustic Guitar Magazine, Jan 2000

On his latest release for Acoustic Music, One String Leads to Another, Sparks returns to his North Carolina roots for some musical inspiration... [the] multicultural spirit unifies the album's diverse offerings. Even the familiar Brazilian classic "Eu So Quero Em Xodo" fits in with nary a hitch.

Teja Gerken

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sound samples liner notes track listing printed music		O N E S T R I N G L E A D S T O A N O T H E R WEB REVIEWS Alternate Music Press Pop Matters Indie Music Reviews Dirty Linen Magazine One String Leads to Another received 4 stars in Downbeat magazine, June 2000. The Toledo Blade Tim Sparks (Acoustic Music). If you've had a tough time finding simple, melodic, virtuoso guitar music devoid of showy percussive fireworks, fret no more. Sparks weaves bits of diverse tunes, usually intricate and most often foreign, into a soothing sort of original world music that alternately dazzles and relaxes. - KEN ROSENBAUM Downbeat Magazine 2000 While Sparks' music includes jazz and world music sensibilities, the overall thrust to this set of original compositions (minus one) suggests a blend of folksy, backwoods fingerpicking that's strongly melodic and very intimate. The pacing is very good, and Sparks' fingerstyle, musical sleight-of-hand has one hearing classical technique one moment, flat-out blues the next. Guitar Player Magazine December 1999 A fingerstyle wizard, Tim Sparks draws from many musical traditions on One String Leads to Another. Strains of Celtic, country blues, ragtime, Appalachian, Turkish, Indian, and Italian melodies all find their way into Sparks' solo originals. It takes a skilled muscian - as opposed to guitarist- to weave such diverse rhythmic and harmonic threads into whole cloth, yet Sparks makes it happen. Whether thumbing a bass-note drone against bluesy double-stops and sitar like bends, plucking sheets of rippling arpeggios, or playing counterpoint lines at breakneck speed, Sparks is remarkably adventurous-and that's what separates him from the pack. There are many skilled solo-acoustic guitarists making CDs today, but few can match Sparks' verve and intensity. On this live and natural-sounding record, we hear a restless, probing mind, rather than a series of refined techniques. Andy Ellis, Senior Editor GP Acoustic Guitar Magazine, Jan 2000 On his latest release for Acoustic Music, One String Leads to Another, Sparks returns to his North Carolina roots for some musical inspiration... [the] multicultural spirit unifies the album's diverse offerings. Even the familiar Brazilian classic "Eu So Quero Em Xodo" fits in with nary a hitch. Teja Gerken

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