I like to write album reviews a little differently now.  At the core it still is an album review — but after becoming a music promoter/booker and becoming friendly with many of these artists, it is hard to not get a bit into who the people are along with what the music is all about.  This is most definitely the case with Jay Sparrow.

Jay now resides in Toronto, though he released his first solo record while in Alberta, where he performed with The Murder City Sparrows.  By all accounts, Jay and his band did very well for themselves out there.  His upcoming solo-release show in Edmonton looks like it will be a sold-out banger.  But as is often the case in music, Sparrow relocated himself.  This type of move is the ultimate commitment to the craft.  It’s not like when my dad transferred with Sears to a secure job, with paid movers and all sorts of tax breaks.  Instead, it is essentially a leap of faith: a calculated gamble that one’s music career will thrive under a new setting. 

So when a friend of mine, Todd Arkell, asked if I’d consider giving Jay a month’s worth of opening slots during PWYC Wednesday nights at the Rancho, I took a listen and then jumped all over it.  One month became two, and two became three; now, even with Jay no longer playing the weekly series, he is an always-welcome friend of Rancho/TWM as we continue to root for his success with Good Days Gone By.

There aren’t very many musicians I know who would play every Wednesday night with very little monetary gain, no merch as of yet, and sometimes a pretty thin or difficult crowd.  Yet whether Jay played with an electronic band, a punk band or a prog band, their fans eventually inched toward the stage, compelled to hear more.  Within the regular TWM crowd Jay won over many, including some of the harshest critics we have. 

These days you have a chance to catch Jay in one of two settings.  Jay does play full band shows with the musicians you hear on Good Days Gone By, they are just are somewhat scattered due to the band being a seven-piece operation.  He’ll also play solo shows — the next one is at the Rancho Relaxo on February 5th with the O’Darling and Heartbeat Hotel.  After all the Wednesday nights, it was about time we gave the poor guy a Friday.

As for the record, I think the six songs found on Good Days Gone By are just awesome.  To me, Jay doesn’t bring to mind contemporary artists; instead, this album invokes a younger, more energized Bruce Springsteen or Neil Young.  The recordings sound excellent but were essentially recorded live off the floor.  Actually, that is another thing about Jay that seperates him from the chaff: he’s solo artist who can actually project his voice when he performs live.  There is no hiding out on the other side of the room and thinking you can avoid hearing the dude up front — though Jay’s songs go so well with beer and whiskey that being able to hear them all the way at the back of the bar is rather convenient.

For me, the choice track is “John Wesley Robinson”.  I cannot sing for the life of me, but I find myself attempting to join in on the chorus with Jay every time.  It is such a soulful, powerful song.  Jay isn’t a songwriter so much as he is a storyteller; all the best songwriters are storytellers anyhow, if you ask me.  The musicians he performs with are top notch, and on this particular track the lap steel is just what the doctor ordered. 

“Good Days Gone By” is a classic rock song recorded in 2009.  But you could slip this track on any classic rock station in the country and I guarantee people wouldn’t know the difference.  This music is timeless.  To the young indie crowd it is so honest and straight-forward that it is the ultimate palate rinse; to the older crowd, this is music that makes you feel exuberant, young and passionate. 

Jay Sparrow might just be our next classic rock musician in Canadian… not that he has even the slightest bit of the attitude that could come along with being such a talented musician.

No score for this one, record is too close to home.