Middlin' Sisters

Amazon.com
This utterly unique release from Minton Sparks consists solely of her reading her poetry with guitar, mandolin, banjo, and dobro support played in an old-school country idiom. While this may seem a limited if not outright silly idea to some, the result is stirring and sometimes downright magical. The poetry consists mostly of vignettes recalling Sparks' youth growing up in Tennessee, and when coupled with the stark underpinning of Darryl Scott's picking, the effect is that of Eudora Welty jamming with Dock Boggs or Doc Watson. While the hit potential of such a release is an obvious nonissue, it would be a refreshing surprise to hear this in your local Starbucks. A merging of the two great southern traditions of literature and country music, Sister is certainly preferable to most of what is sold as C&W these days. --Mike Johnson

Tracks:

Line Up
Trella's Trash
Mississippi Moonshine
Grace on the 4th
Words of Wisdom
Rich Man, Poor Man, Timber Man, Drunk
Speak to Me, Tennessee
Mourning the Missionaries
Primary Resistance
Pilgrimage to Aunt Virginia's
If Only, Aunt Sye
John 3:16, Guest Preacher at Prayer Meeting

Amazon.com

This utterly unique release from Minton Sparks consists solely of her reading her poetry with guitar, mandolin, banjo, and dobro support played in an old-school country idiom. While this may seem a limited if not outright silly idea to some, the result is stirring and sometimes downright magical. The poetry consists mostly of vignettes recalling Sparks' youth growing up in Tennessee, and when coupled with the stark underpinning of Darryl Scott's picking, the effect is that of Eudora Welty jamming with Dock Boggs or Doc Watson. While the hit potential of such a release is an obvious nonissue, it would be a refreshing surprise to hear this in your local Starbucks. A merging of the two great southern traditions of literature and country music, Sister is certainly preferable to most of what is sold as C&W these days. --Mike Johnson

Customer Reviews:

Middlin'Sisters.......2003-01-11

Takes me back to another place in time,sitting on the front porch swing with my mama and sisters,drinking Bloody Marys and laughing and sometimes crying about some of the SOBs, self proclaimed saints and jus' downright hilarous folks we've known or heard about from our Papa,Tracy,Wes and others.If this CD doesn't spark a memory,you haven't been blessed enough.

Soulful Sweaty Sweet Southern Stew.......2001-05-21

Minton Sparks has cooked and conjured up a Southern word-stew that does more than just paint pictures in your mind. As you drink this concoction down you experience memories of place and family that, if you are flesh and blood, are real for you. You don't have to be Southern to understand this cd. You just have to have lived among the species human. Because "Middlin' Sisters" is, for me, about the essence, the rue, the drippings of joyful, loving, unvarnished, god awful humanity. From "Trella's Trash" to "Line Up" you'll think to yourself "I know that person...I've been to that place...that IS my family." If you've ever had a drunk uncle or an aunt you adored or a grandmother with a switch in her hand, you know "Middlin Sisters". No cd has ever made me FEEL like this one does. Minton Sparks - Lord God this woman is 100% ALIVE!! And her gift is that she makes me remember that I am, too.

Music Album:

Music Album