Sparrow

"Sparrow" is Texas songwriter Jeff Talmadge’s 8th studio album. More than 10 years have passed since his last record, "Kind Of Everything", and it’s been even longer since the board certified civil trial attorney tried his last case to a jury. An award winning songwriter, each of Jeff’s previous records, on Bozart Records, CoraZong Records and Berkalin Records, has excelled on the folk, americana, and Euro Americana charts.

Jeff was awarded the Academy Of American Poets Award at Duke University and Sparrow’s lyrics continue to reflect that poetic sensibility. While "Sparrow" is primarily an acoustic record, with Jeff’s guitar as the main instrument, various forms of percussion, everything from cajón to kick drum to cardboard box, electric guitar accents, creative synth beds, piano, dobro and slide guitar, midi strings, and backing vocals all serve to support the songs.

Having spent his childhood on the coastal plain of Texas, Jeff knows what he’s talking about in “Hurricane” (“hold on there’s a hurricane comin’, hold on tie everything down). In “If I Was A Sparrow”, finger picked in an open tuning, the reflecting narrator says , “I wish I could say different, but I have to say I’d do it all again”. “Devil’s Highway,” a co-write with 2 fellow Austin songwriters, uses a country blues influenced approach to tell the tale of the man “with the Halloween eyes and the midnight tan”.

“Forgiveness” tells us what we need to hear, forgiveness “it’s worth a fortune but it's free”. The lilting “Katie’s Got A Locket”, is Katie’s story, looking back at a young love. The darker “Night Train From Milan” tells the ghostly tale of the narrator’s search for the mysterious Maddalena. In “The Sound Of Falling Snow”, you can almost hear the snowflakes landing on the roofs of the cars parked along the curb when the bars have closed for the night. You’ll want to “remember everything you saw, the things you heard that you recall, like the little towns and the sound of falling snow”.

“Little Speck Of Dust” is a bookend of sorts to “Hurricane,” with a philosophical look at the aftermath of the storm. “Maybe Next Year”, a co-write with Santa Fe songwriter Jaime Michaels, captures the magic of a moment “late in December” when “the mountains are painted in white”. The record closes with a great instrumental tune co-written with Austin’s Bradley Kopp, “Top Of The Hour”.

"Sparrow" had its origins several years ago when Jeff was wrapping up a record and preparing for another European tour. Unfortunately, a detached retina left him temporarily unable to fly and the record and the tour got shelved. Some of those songs have been re-worked and are finally being released. This is Jeff’s best record yet.