Nashvillle, Tennessee
Singer-Songwriter, Producer, Vocalist

writer profile >

""You say that it's gospel, but I know that it's only church." -- Tom Waits"

BIOGRAPHY

ABOUT TORI...

The Scorpion in the Story (2009)

Tori Sparks calls Nashville home, but spends most of her time on the road in the U.S. and Europe. Called “a knockout” by the Village Voice, her dynamic live show is equal parts eye-popping soul-singing, and zany stand-up-style humor. Tori’s upcoming third album, The Scorpion in the Story, was co-produced with indie rock veteran David Henry (R.E.M., Ben Folds, Josh Rouse, Widespread Panic, Cowboy Junkies) , and features players such as Steve Bowman (Counting Crows), Will Kimbrough (Rodney Crowell), Viktor Krauss (Lyle Lovett, Mindy Smith, and yes, Alliison’s brother), Fats Kaplin (Mark Knopfler, Kevin Welch), and Barry Walsh (Gretchen Peters).

The Scorpion in the Story is a tale in thirteen chapters, a tour diary in the form of a concept album. Each song was written about one of the many colorful individuals Tori met while touring across the U.S. last year. The album includes a French version of the song “Merry Go-Round,” (“Le Manege”), and will be released on Glass Mountain Records in June 2009.

Tori’s relentless touring has taken her from New York to Los Angeles to Miami, from Toronto to London to Paris, and through every small town in between. She books most of her own shows, and does all of her own laundry. In 2008 and 2009, Tori has showcased at Folk Alliance, Bele Chere, American MusicFest, many other conferences and festivals, and played nearly 200 shows to boot. She recently performed on Woodsongs Old-Time Radio Hour alongside Rolling Stones pianist Chuck Leavell. Tori is the author of two courses for roaming music business education organization ProMusicU, and is the creator of The Feed Your Soul Guitar Project, a tour and folk art auction benefiting Oxfam America. Besides her big black boots, and balls-to-the-wall guitar playing, she is known for being a part of and organizing benefit concerts on behalf of the National Federation of the Blind, F.A.C.E., the March of Dimes, and the One Campaign.

Under This Yellow Sun (2007)

Tori’s sophomore album, Under This Yellow Sun, was released in 2007, and was the first release under the auspices of Tori’s own record label (Glass Mountain Records) and publishing company (Hand Over Foot Publishing). It has been praised by Relix, Harp, Maverick, Performing Songwriter, Skope, The Nashville Scene, XM Radio, and countless others. After breaking the Top 100 on the RIYL Weighted College Charts, the album was licensed by MTV, Lifetime, and the Oxygen Network for use in their upcoming 2009 television seasons. A subsequent feature by XM Radio Unsigned prompted Universal Music France to contact Sparks, has toured in France and other parts of Europe. Universal included Sparks’ single “Cold War” on their double-disc compilation Country Vol. 2, which has sold 30,000+ copies. "Cold War" is also featured on the Paste Magazine New Music Sampler released in June 2008.

Rivers + Roads (2005) and Tidewaters EP (2003)

Contrary to popular belief, Sparks did not emerge Venus-like from Lake Michigan on a gigantic seashell Tori was born in Chicago, and grew up in Sarasota, FL. She recorded her first EP, Tidewaters, in 2003, while attending Florida State University. . The four-song project attracted the attention of a small independent label based in Nashville. The label snapped her up, promptly recorded her debut album and music video ”Rivers + Roads” in 2005, moved her to Music City… and even more promptly went belly-up. Where some would crumble, Tori emerged from the wreckage and dove into eight solid months of exhaustive touring, radio, and video promotion. Her work paid off, as radio and video airplay in the U.S., Belgium, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Ireland, France, and England resulted.

Tori's debut music video, "Rivers + Roads," was screened at the Flint Film Festival 2006, and was selected "Best Pop Video" by the Indie Gathering 2006. She was selected as a Unisong International Songwriting Contest Finalist for her politically-charged alterna-blues tune "The Poster Child” in 2005, and again in 2007 for “Cold War.”

Guilty Pleasures.

Tori’s albums can each be purchased for less than the price of a veggie burger in Los Angeles at one of 100+ digital distributors in 25 countries. These include the ubiquitous iTunes, and 30+ CD retailers, including BestBuy.com, Target.com, Amazon.com, and others. Tori’s guilty pleasures include black jelly beans, cop shows, and 80s music. There is a big map of the U.S. and Europe on her wall, full of little colored pins marking cities she’s played.

Stay tuned for The Scorpion in the Story in June.


“The talented Tori Sparks… is a knockout…”
--Joe McCombs, The Village Voice

“Here’s a singer/songwriter with the strong, eloquent vocals of Bonnie Raitt and the guitar mastery of Joni Mitchell."
--Nancy Dunham, Relix

“Tori Sparks [is] a folky singer/songwriter graced with a fiery, gutsy delivery worthy of Ani DiFranco…” [5 stars]
-- Margaret Reges; All Music Guide

“Self-penned, alternative roots-rock numbers that sizzle with authenticity.”
— LCB, Performing Songwriter

"With the grit of Chrissie Hynde, the sadness of Martha Davis in the Motels, and the pure sensualness of Margo Timmins from the Cowboy Junkies, this girl hurls you onto planet Sparks and leaves you there... you’ll listen to [Under This Yellow Sun] once, then you’ll listen to it a second time and also a third. ...[Tori Sparks] is truly, one of the most original artists I have heard in a long, long time."
--Rebecca Rego, Music News Nashville

LEVEL

professional

GENRES

Rock , Blues, Folk

PUBLISHING COMPANY

Wry Toast Publishing (SESAC), Hand Over Foot, independent publishing company

Contact

Management: Tori is self-managed. Email tori@torisparks.com
Publishing: Hand Over Foot/Wry Toast Publishing (info@glassmountainrecords.com)
Label: Glass Mountain Records (info@glassmountainrecords.com)
Music Supervisor: Glass Mountain Records (info@glassmountainrecords.com)
Booking: Lisa Nicks (booking@torisparks.com)
Administrative: Webmaster: scott@brightworkcreative.com

P.R.O.

SESAC

INSTRUMENTS

acoustic guitar / percussion / vocals

INFLUENCES

Tori says....

"Tom Waits, U2, my mom, Ben Harper, Aziza A, Etta James, Mrs. Janoff's English class, Martin Sexton, Joni Mitchell, Soular System, Ani DiFranco, NPR, Ayn Rand, Janis Joplin, the maintenance guy at my crappy secretary job when I first moved to Nashville, Wayne Hall, Murphy's Loft, Waffle House, Billy Bragg, The Plant Formerly Known as Prince, Prince, Amos Lee, Amy Correia, Bill Withers, Damien Rice, Patty Griffin, coffee, Radiohead, coffee, Regina Spektor, coffee, coffee, Amy Steinberg, Mia Zepeda, Dung Nguyen, random acts of kindness, The Beatles, The Boss (mainly just Nebraska), Ben Folds (who thinks I sound like the Pretenders, which is fine), Chris Isaak, Labyrinth, Fraggle Rock, Lord Alfred Tennyson, Bonnie/Sheryl/Alanis/Tori/Jewel/ any-other-female-artiste-that-no-girl-rocker-wants-to-admit-to-in-order-to-seem-completely-and-totally-original, Colleen McFarland, Caroline Brewer, Feist, Juno, exes, David Bowie, Cecilia the Band, anyone who cuts across the grass, Jed Shoemaker, Siesta Key Beach, Threadless, David Gray, the windshield I cracked in half, Fiona Apple, Jeff Buckley, Leonard Cohen, Mitch Hedberg, Ray Charles, Lightnin' Hopkins, rain when I'm working, A Love Song for Bobby Long, Sante Fe, the red Mustang (rental), Peabody Shoe Repair, Ryan Adams, Vienna Teng, kettle corn, Elmer's Glue, Pete's Candy Store, Nirvana, the White Stripes, Iron and Wine, Wilco, any and all blues (yay blues!), local bands, people who like local bands, booking guys who are human, humans who experiment, odd strangers, stranger friends, the road, and a couple of skeletons in the closet."

DAY JOB

Musician

I AM INTERESTED IN

in pitching songs to artist
in pitching songs to tv

I WRITE:

For a living

I Also Write:
by myself
with others
for myself
for others

I Prefer To Write:
lyrics
melody
music

experience >

SONG CUTS

Caroline Brewer ("Blackbird" - Co-write)

Rebecca Hosking ("When You Walked Away" - Co-write)

Three albums and two EP's - Self. Tidewaters EP Rivers + Roads Under This Yellow Sun Little Stories EP (Digital Only) "Hope For Me" Christmas Single The Scorpion in the Story

SONG PLACEMENTS

Under This Yellow Sun (album) is licensed to MTV, Lifetime, and the Oxygen Network for use in their Fall 2008 seasons. Shows include The Hills, Road Rules, others. Episodes TBA.

"Looking for Wisdom" used under main titles of independent film The Audition, directed by Scott Kurchak. (Released 2006)

Wrote soundtrack for original play The Ghosts are in the Water, directed by Tessa Meier. Written by Tessa Meier and Sarah Bond. (Philadelphia Fringe Festival, 2004)

AWARDS & ACCOLADES

Performing Songwriter: Top 12 DIY Tracks (July 2008) ("Caged Bird")

Selection: 2008 Florida Music Festival Indie Film Jam ("Cold War")

Recipient -- 2008 ASCAPlus Award

Recipient -- 2007 ASCAPlus Award

Cashville 411: Top 10 Tracks of 2007 ("Caged Bird")

Finalist: 2007 Unisong International Songwriting Contest ("Cold War")

Best Pop Video – 2006 Indie Gathering (“Rivers + Roads”)

Selection: 2006 Flint Film Festival ("Rivers + Roads")

Recipient -- 2006 ASCAPlus Award

Recipient -- 2005 ASCAPlus Award

Finalist -- 2005 Unisong International Songwriting Contest ("The Poster Child")

OTHER SONG OR ALBUM CREDITS

Singles:

"Hope for Me" (Holiday Single - Single Only) (Glass Mountain Records, 2007).

“Mr. Bickle” from Wooden Music for a Plastic World. (Duet with Jeff Kuykendall. In Production, 2008)

“Pale Sorghum Lo-Fi Blues” from Pale Sorghum Lo-Fi Blues (Duet with D.W. DeHart. DeHorn Boys Music, 2007)

Videos:

Random Acts of Music (Henry J Productions, 2009)

Woodsongs Old-Time Radio Hour: Season 5 (PBS, 2008.)

Cold War (music video) (Glass Mountain Records, 2007)

Tori Sparks with Producer David Henry: The Making of Under This Yellow Sun (Glass Mountain Records, 2007)

Behind The Scenes: Screen Printing Madness with Tori Sparks (Glass Mountain Records, 2007)

Rivers + Roads (music video) (Platinum Plus Records, 2006)

Compilation Discs

Paste Magazine New Music Sampler (Paste Media Group, 2009)

Campaign to Save Paste (Digital Only) (Paste Media Group, 2009)

Project Cure 2009 Compilation (Project Cure, 2009)

Paste Magazine New Music Sampler (Paste Media Group, 2008)

Country Vol. 2 (double-disc) (Universal Music France, 2008)

KSYM-FM Camp Victory Compilation for the Troops (SCOOP KSYM-FM, 2007)

MSMF Multiple Sclerosis Music Fest 2006 Compilation CD (Montel Williams MS Foundation, 2006)

Canadian Music Week Best Unsigned Artists of 2006 (Tunetank, 2006)

A Taste of Triple A #16 Compilation (A Taste of Triple A, 2006)

Officially Unofficial Bootlegs:

Shakin' in My Bootlegs, Vol. 1 (Self-Released, 2007)

Shakin in My Boolegs, Vol. 2 (Glass Mountain Records, 2008)

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