Jay Sparrow

{{Infobox musical artist

| background = person

| name = Jay Sparrow

| image = Jay_Sparrow.jpg

| alt = Jay Sparrow standing on the street, wearing dark blue jeans, a blue-and-white checkered shirt, and a black knit tuque, playing an acoustic guitar and singing

| caption = Sparrow in 2009

| origin = Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

| instrument = {{hlist|Vocals|guitar}}

| label =

| current_member_of =

| past_member_of = Murder City Sparrows

| website = {{URL|jaysparrow.com}}

}}

Jay Sparrow is a Canadian singer-songwriter and musician.

Life and career

Born in Thunder Bay, Ontario and raised in Edmonton, Alberta, Sparrow was lead singer for the Edmonton punk rock band Murder City Sparrows.[http://www.edmontonexaminer.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2836117 "Local musician Jay Sparrow celebrates album release"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723000102/http://www.edmontonexaminer.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2836117 |date=July 23, 2011 }}. Edmonton Examiner, November 10, 2010. He eventually decided to dissolve the band and pursue a different musical direction after realizing that he had no punk rock on his iPod, but instead listened mainly to songwriters such as Steve Earle and Bruce Springsteen."Jay Sparrow". Breakfast Television Edmonton (CKEM-TV), September 28, 2010.

He released his first solo EP, The Running, in 2009, and followed up with two more EPs, Good Days Gone By in 2009 and The Tempest Line in 2010, before releasing his full-length album debut, In Our Time, in the fall of 2010. He was the winning Alberta songwriter in the 2009 edition of CBC Radio 2's Great Canadian Song Quest, for which he wrote and recorded the song "The Ballad of Mary White".[http://fyimusic.ca/industry-news/broadcasting/finalists-in-radio-2s-great-canadian-song-quest "Finalists in Radio 2's Great Canadian Song Quest"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706182006/http://fyimusic.ca/industry-news/broadcasting/finalists-in-radio-2s-great-canadian-song-quest |date=July 6, 2011 }}. FYI Music, November 24, 2009.