From the Beginning:

From Song of the Year 2008: Runner Up-November/2008;Suggested Artist-December/2008

I began writing music when I was thirteen (1970) although I had been playing guitar since I was eight years old, inspired by the British Invasion bands and other varied & rich musical influences of the mid-sixties. The first two albums I owned were Simon & Garfunkel's Parsley, Sage,Rosemary & Thyme and Bookends. I didn't actually own them, they were my sister's. I merely appropriated them and then, I played the grooves out of them! (I still have them)

I started out thinking of myself as a singer/songwriter, envisioning myself as possibly another Neil Diamond. (His Love at the Greek special mezmerized me) But,eventually, I put those dreams aside and continued to compose music to be performed by others.

Stylistically, I lean toward the romantic ballad, with a touch of longing thrown in although I have written songs in a wide variety of genres. I appreciate a full,rich sound in a song, with strong harmonies and a song with good, meaningful lyrics.

JACK'S LYRICS:

(click on a category)

love songs

rock songs

Sea Chanties/other

country

activist songs

Christian/spiritual

(All songs copyright/Jack Sparks. All rights reserved.)

On a More Personal Note:

My songs come from many sources: my own love life and heartache , conversations I had with people , a rainy day in Tijuana , a friend's good luck on the dance floor , a photograph.

I'm first & foremost a songwriter, not a performer and I've written songs in a variety of genres, including: Country; Christian;rock and others.

The songs that are closest to my own voice though are the love ballads and somehow, all the songs end up being autobiographical to some extent. My musical style has evolved a lot also and, with Denis' assistance, I maintain a pretty current sound.

I Write the Songs

Who knows where songs, the good songs- really come from? Like many songwriters, I believe they come flying out of a collective unconscious and pretty much write themselves. As Bob Dylan said of his tremendous earlier works- they just seemed to come out of the air. Then, the song takes on a life of its own. Kind of like your child who didn't grow up exactly like you had planned but who still turned into a great person- their own person.

Strong melodies and harmonies are important to me as are strong lyrics. In my opinion, there is a lot of mediocre stuff being produced these days, music that has about a six month shelf-life before people will start asking Who was that again? I try to write songs that will have a bit more universal appeal and will sound as good in twenty years as they do today. I hope you enjoy them.

Check me out on :

And, check out my friends on MySpace - Roger McGuinn of the Byrds, Donovan Leitch, Robbie Krieger of the Doors, and many others:

Jack's MySpace

Want to HEAR Jack's Songs?

Click on-

Many of my rough cuts were made nice by: Denis D'Aoust, The Song Doctor

Check 'em out!

Who's Jack listening to these days?:

• Augustana
• Golden Smog
• Norah Jones
• James Blunt
• Terrence Howard
and others.

Also, be sure and check out my talented friends on Friendly Links

Thanks for visiting!

to webpages of other creative types.