By Graham Lees

REB-CD-1786

As a skinny sixteen-year-old Larry Sparks took his place on stage with the Stanley Brothers in 1963 and has played bluegrass music ever since. A singer, guitarist, bandleader, songwriter and arranger, Larry Sparks has cut a swathe through bluegrass music with his own style. Larry has cultivated warm baritone vocals that draw you in close and can sound lonesome without getting hauntingly high.

Released on Rebel Records, The Coldest Part Of Winter finds 12 tracks including two instrumentals, the traditional Soldiers Joy and Parkway Blues written by mandolin player with the band, Scott Napier. Eleven new numbers getting off to a brisk start with Leavin' Me setting the pace for a seductively woven album of fine gems. Slowing down the tempo to a stroll, You Ain't Lived takes a walk down memory lane with a look at life gone by that was a little slower and simpler. Winter In Miami glimpses a broken relationship and the overwhelming feeling of despair is easily communicated in the line, "The coldest part of winter is goodbye". The nostalgia of yesteryear's simplicity is addressed yet again with Let's Turn Back The Clock and undemanding young love is fondly brought back to mind with the line "When the only perfume that you would wear was a big red rose in your hair, and dusty roads was all we ever knew". An agonizing tale from the closing days of the American Civil war finds a soldier saddened by all the dying and grief, revealing that He Walked All The Way Home back to South Hampton County to start his life again.

The level of talent assembled on The Coldest Part Of Winter is second-to-none, with Larry Sparks taking lead vocals and playing guitar, Scott Napier on mandolin & harmony vocals. Josh McMurray excels on banjo & harmony vocals and Mathew Madden holds it all together on bass, while special guest Michael Cleveland adds the sweet sound of the fiddle. From the weepiest of ballads to the racing instrumentals, these guys cheerfully plough a channel with their own special bluegrass hybrid, leaving an undeniably refreshing down-home feel in its wake.

The whole thing comes to a conclusion with Larry's own gospel-styled Lord, Show Me The Way. The Coldest Part Of Winter will certainly show you the way to some excellent bluegrass sustenance.

1 May 2003