PREVIEW
Sparrow Blue
Opening: Open Air and Jess Smith
Saturday, May 25, doors at 8 p.m.
99ten
9910 – 109 St.
Tickets: $10 at door
Trying to connect with Sparrow Blue’s music is akin to blending into the Badlands desert and all it holds – hot days, cold nights. Flowering cacti here one day and gone the next. And stingers laying low under rocks waiting for the right moment to strike.
There is beauty, danger and an untamed wildness in the Badlands that reflects Sparrow Blues’ southern rock groove.
“We love the desert. It’s a beautiful part of our country. And we love the southern rock style. It’s no screwing around. It’s straight up rock and roll, something you’d learn in the Wild West or hanging out at the tracks. It’s like a pumped up blues,” said guitarist Jon Dombroski.
Sparrow Blue is performing its first concert to a hometown crowd and is excited about the Saturday, May 25 gig at 99ten.
In addition to Dombroski, band members Des Parks (vocalist), Liam Holm (drums), Bernie Baksa (guitar), Russell McCann (percussion) and Jack Hansen (bass) return for a high-energy performance.
The band first started jamming in 2015 and eventually released an inaugural self-titled CD in 2018. Adopting varied influences from Lynyrd Skynyrd and Led Zeppelin to more contemporary rock bands THE WILD! and The Lazy's, the St. Albert sextet are starting to find their niche.
“We’ve been writing a lot of new music and we’ve been experimenting with new sounds. We’re trying to broaden our horizons. Last time we were straight-ahead rock. Now we’re trying to write a more psychedelic rock. Maybe a little more groovy like the Rolling Stones or a heavier sound – just basically more experimental stuff.”
With each song the musicians write, the material produced is more focused and the craftsmanship is sharper.
“We keep getting tighter and tighter. We’re so used to each other and the flow is better than it has ever been.”
Warming up the Saturday audience is Open Air, a Calgary band inspired by ’70s grooves. The rock quintet delivers a jolt of raw modern edge to their tunes that leave crowds chanting for more.
Opener Jess Smith, a self-proclaimed “urban flower child,” describes her genre as indie soul. An acoustic singer, her music is ethereal, raw and poetic.
“I am inspired by the contrasts of hippies and gangsters, urban and natural environments, light and dark,” wrote Smith on her Facebook page.
As the featured attraction, Sparrow Blue will sing some of their older fan favourites as well as new material. For more information visit www.sparrowblueofficial.com.
