Finding Artistic Relevance After Covid-19
Twice 5 Miles Radio with your host James Navé welcomes Minton Sparks, poet, storyteller, and singer-songwriter, to the microphone.
Before we dive into Minton’s reflections on finding artistic relevance after Covid-19, here’s how I first discovered the wonderful world of Minton Sparks.
I first heard Minton Sparks mentioned fifteen years ago while visiting my friends James and Mary Beth in Nashville, Tennessee. We were sipping tea after supper and talking about songwriting, poetry, and storytelling. Mary Beth asked me if I’d ever heard of Minton Sparks. I told her I didn’t know the name.
Mary Beth said, “well, you should because Minton’s one of the best all-around performers in the business.” With that, Mary Beth gave me a Minton Sparks CD’s tilted This Dress. Remember, this was back in the day when online streaming was a few years away, and CD players were all the rage.
What Marshall Chapman Said
Here’s what Marshall Chapman of Garden & Gun Magazine says of Minto Sparks “Imagine if you will, Flannery O’Conner and the ghost of Hank Williams having an affair that results in the birth of an illegitimate child. I have seen Minton Sparks, and if she’s not the ghost child of the woman who wrote Wise Blood and the man who said ‘I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive,’ then cotton doesn’t grow in a field.”
To this day, I’ve never tired of listening to Minton’s poetic spoken-word songs. Shall we call her work evergreen? Yes, indeed, I believe we can. From my first Minton CD, I move on to her other work. From there, I heard her in concert several times, including a traffic show in New York near Washington Square Park in the West Village.
Over the Years
Over the years, I got to know Minton because we were both in the spoken-word community, and Mary Beth was her best friend. I booked to perform at The LEAF Festival in Black Mountain, North Carolina, and at The Taos Storytelling Festival.
Today, Minton and I are good friends. That’s why it’s my great pleasure to introduce you to Minton Sparks. If you already know her work, you know what I mean. If this is your first time getting to know Minton, you’re in for a treat. Thanks for listening. Enjoy.
