Uncut, unmastered, 1 take per track, Uprising is an acoustic home-recorded album released prior to Sparlha's professionally mastered debut album In The Distance. The Uprising CD captures Sparlha's emergence and blossoming as an artist. It is an intimate and raw expression of her music. Make sure to check out In The Distance too: http://www.cdbaby.com/all/sparswa.
Sparlha Swa was born in Stony Hill, Kingston, Jamaica on a May morning underneath an amethyst sky. At 4 months old her family moved to the United States, where Sparlha was transplanted numerous times from New York City to Santa Cruz, San Franciso back to Jamaica, Montserrat to Long Island. Her cosmopolitan upbringing is easily reflected in her music, for whether they be folk or soul, Brazilian or rock, the strands that weave her refreshing sound are drawn from a wide variety of musical genres. Most likely you'll be reminded of Sade or Tracey Chapman, lets see, Joan Armatrading, Dido and perhaps even Joni Mitchell. But then she gets off her stool, puts down the guitar and has the entire audience singing along to acappella cries for a "heart revolution", then you just won't know how to classify her music.
What will capture you in her performance is the shocking clarity and emotion-rich power of her voice. With a range like Aretha Franklin, and the tonal sensibilities of a modern day Ella, her vocal spells will hit hard and linger on long past their delivery. Coupling such vocals with acoustic guitar, Sparlha accompanies herself with lush chords, and hypnotic finger-picking, arrangements. Add to this concoction the soulful poetry of lyrics that speak eloquently on love, life, and spirit, and you will understand that what we have on our hands is an artist out to change the world from the inside.
Sparlha is a gifted vocalist, songwriter, a self-taught guitarist and a poet, but her multi-talented abilities also include Ivy League smarts. It was at Stanford University where she studied Religion, Writing, and Eco-Philosophy, that she composed her first song instead of writing a Sociology paper. "I couldn't say what I wanted to say in just words," says Sparlha, "It needed to be sung". So she bought herself a $100 guitar and while teaching herself to play, wrote her first 8 songs, many of which have been produced on her debut album "In The Distance" to be released in Febuary, 2005.
Since June of 2002 Sparlha Swa has performed on hundreds of stages, sold over a thousand units of a home-recorded demo "Uprising", generated an audible buzz on both coasts, in New York City and the Bay Area, and created a solid foundation for a prolific and impactful career.
Her recent exploits include performing in a singer-songwriter series soon to be aired on PBS, opening up for the infamous Reggae Dance Hall artist Junior Kelly for an audience of 4000 in Trinidad and Tobago, performing solo at prestigious NYC venues including Ashford + Simpson's Sugar Bar, and being featured on the Woodstock Film Festival compilation CD.
Sparlha now resides in Brooklyn, NY where she performs, composes, and pursues a record deal with the vision and drive of a small army equipped with only flowers.
Read more...