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TORI SPARKS IS: A ROAD WARRIOR
Tori Sparks originally hails from Chicago, later lived and recorded in Nashville, but has always spent most of her time on the road. Since the age of 18 she has played over 150 concerts every year and has performed in 24 countries. A force of nature onstage, Tori walks the line between intensely soulful and stand-up-comic-style hilarious. No two of her concerts are ever alike.
FROM NASHVILLE TO BARCELONA
From 2007 to 2011, Tori put out four albums on her own label, Glass Mountain Records, featuring some of Nashville’s top musicians: Viktor Krauss, Will Kimbrough, Fats Kaplin, Matthew Burgess, others, as well as guest artists such as Mike Farris and Shawn Mullins. In 2011 she moved from Nashville to Barcelona, and in just a few years had already left her mark on her adopted country. In 2018, rock magazine Popular1 put Sparks on the list of the five most important female voices in Spain; in 2019 she received the award for Rock Artist of the Year by No Solo Cine magazine; her voice can be heard in soundtracks (Criminal Minds, Félix, others), and in numerous commercials (Marcilla, Kids&Us, Festina Watches, more). In 2021, her song “Tall Towers” was a part of the soundtrack of the Netflix series Sky Rojo, the latest project from the creators of Money Heist.
AMERICAN ROOTS MEETS FLAMENCO FUSION
Tori’s fifth album, El Mar (Glass Mountain Records, 2014) was her first collaboration with Barcelona-based flamenco fusion trio Calamento and electric guitarist El Rubio. Their bilingual mix of blues, rock, folk, and flamenco started out as a side project, but quickly grew to international success, called "adventurous, pushing the envelope" (Rolling Stone), and “pure art” (Los Conciertos de Radio3).
In 2016 Tori and the band returned to the studio and released their highly-anticipated follow up record, La Huerta (Glass Mountain Records, 2017). Smashing traditional concepts of genre, the band continued to experiment without sacrificing the unique sound that won them fans the world over with El Mar. They went on to tour in Portugal, Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria, Poland, and beyond, headlining their own tours as well as opening for artists as diverse as rock icon Joe Satriani and flamenco divas Las Migas.
Their strength as live performers lies in their ability to seamlessly blend musical genres and to connect with audiences of all walks of life, be it playing for 100 people in a small club, or for 30,000 people at prestigious festivals such as Montreux Jazz Festival (Switzerland), Bele Chere (USA); Festival Jardins Pedralbes (Spain); Su La Testa (Italy); others.
WAIT NO MORE: THE LIVE ALBUM
Their most recent full-length album, titled Wait No More, was released on vinyl and double CD on Record Store Day 2019. This is Tori’s seventh album, her third since embracing the rock-blues-flamenco fusion that has become her signature sound, and her first recorded live onstage. “A flawless live album… an extraordinary fusion of styles,” said La Vanguardia in its review.
BUSINESSWOMAN, PUBLIC SPEAKER, ACTIVIST
Sparks is also known for giving back to the community through music, and has organized and performed at numerous benefit concerts for local, national, and international nonprofit organizations. She made international headlines in 2020 with her #BalconyConcerts initiative, a weekly series of free concerts that lasted throughout the coronavirus quarantine. In response to the impact of the quarantine on the musicians in her community, she also spearheaded the solidarity project and compilation album Amor en los Tiempos de Cuarentena (“Love in a Time of Quarantine”).
Tori is a sought-after public speaker at universities, schools, and professional conferences such as South by Southwest, The International Folk Alliance, WOMEX, PrimaveraPro, and others, and is known for her work as an activist. She was the Secretary of the Musicians Union of Catalunya through 2020, is a spokesperson for the Spanish freedom of speech movement No Callarem, and is a strong proponent of social justice and music education.
2022: EL MAR ELECTRIC AND BEYOND
Since the start of the pandemic, Tori has stayed busy. She lent a hand on the production of the new album by rock ’n’ rumba band Alma de Boquerón, Sonrían, Por Favor and the upcoming new single by Peruvian singer-songwriter Andrea Murrieta, and has played as many online and in-person concerts and festivals as circumstances would allow. This summer, Tori was also one of three artists selected to represent Spain in the international music export program Global Music Match 2021, a collaborative initiative between 17 countries on 4 continents connecting artists around the world.
She and the band’s original plan was to be on tour through 2021 in support of Wait No More, but they’ve had to put these trips on hold until 2022 and 2023. However, they put their time in lockdown to good use and released a new single and music video, “The Man Who Sold the World.” The song is included as a bonus digital download in their Record Store Day 2021 release of a limited-edition color vinyl version of El Mar, in celebration of Tori’s 10th anniversary in Barcelona.
With the release of the vinyl record, she and the band have also created a new live show: ⚡️EL MAR ELECTRIC⚡️. The concert features new arrangements of the entire El Mar album and other songs, as well as an updated line-up: Javi García on cajón, Ramon Vagué on electric bass, Ignasi Cama on flamenco guitar, and Francisco Guisado “El Rubio” on electric guitar, in addition to special guest artists who have collaborated with the band over the past decade. The show is an homage to and a celebration of the mix of cultures and musical styles — American, Spanish, Catalan, Arabic, Latin, and more — that have marked Tori’s 20-year career. Check out the videos from ⚡️EL MAR ELECTRIC⚡️ on YouTube (tinyurl.com/elmarelectric).
They are currently preparing the next album, slated for release in 2023. Tori Sparks is proud to be endorsed by D'Addario Strings since 2007, and by Thembe Fashions since 2016.