Artist: Jay Sparrow, Album: The Running, Song: Lily

"Chaka Kahn filled the hallways of the casino.  I made my way from the room to the camino.  I'm a stranger in a strange world.  This Las Vegas is a circus as I'm sure you've heard so goodbye, to that girl in room eleven twenty five.  Goodbye, oooh Lily don't cry."  Jay Sparrow is a singer songwriter from Thunder Bay, Ontario but now based in Edmonton, Alberta.  He started out in a punk band called, The Murder City Sparrows.  They were really talented and if you get a chance you should check out their album, Dead Horse Disco, on Itunes.  The album was produced by Big Sugar's Gordie Johnson.  Somewhere along the line though, Sparrow became disenchanted with the punk genre and decided to embark on a more roots based solo career.  The Running, was his debut album released in 2008 and it may have overlapped with his time in the band, The Murder City Sparrows.  Jay has since released 2 full length albums as well as 2 EP's of original material.  3 of the 4 albums were all released in 2010.  He runs his own label called, Break Pattern Records (http://www.breakpattern.com/) and has toured nationally in support of his music.  He also won a national song contest put on by the CBC in 2009.  I just love this guy's music and this particular release has some great tunes on it.  Lily, is a lyrical masterpiece that sounds a lot like the work of Conor Oberst ("Sausalito") and frankly, should garner the same sort of critical acclaim as him.  But the world just doesn't work that way.  Here's hoping more people discover his great music.  You can hear a song sample on Itunes and purchase it there as well.  You can follow Sparrow at http://www.facebook.com/jaysparrowmusic. Thanks for reading and enjoy!