Description
Label Review.
2019 album. Bluegrass.
Our Overview.
Lebanese singer guitarist Larry Sparks is one of the most respected and beloved figures in bluegrass music and has said that he is the “youngest old-timer around” and his new release ‘New Moon Over My Shoulder’ commemorates fifty years of Larry Sparks & The Lonesome Ramblers’ enduring legacy on traditional bluegrass music and features many of the attributes such as soulful singing, riveting guitar work, an engaging selection of songs that earned him induction into the IBMA Hall of Fame. He is known for his fine voice, his unique bluesy style of guitar picking and his uncanny knack for finding great material which encapsulates his love of country and bluegrass.
‘New Moon Over My Shoulder’ highlights Sparks’ ability to put his own spin on classic songs as well as find quality new material that complements his one-of-a-kind style. In addition, Sparks has included fresh takes of two popular gospel numbers that had been out-of-print for quite some time: New Highway and Green Pastures in the Sky.
Over the years he has stamped his name on an unusually large number of signature songs such as “John Deere Tractor,” “Tennessee 1949,” “Blue Virginia Blues” and many others. Despite his status as one of bluegrass music’s top headline artists, as an elder statesman and as an inductee to the International Bluegrass Music Association’s (IBMA) Hall of Fame, Larry Sparks is an under-recorded entity.
It has been five years since his last studio album, the 50th anniversary “Lonesome And Then Some.” Larry’s new album commemorates another career milestone. While “Lonesome And Then Some” marked his 50th anniversary as a professional musician, “New Moon Over My Shoulder” coincides with the fifth decade of Larry as the band leader of his Lonesome Ramblers. He formed the group in 1969 after a successful three-year run as Ralph Stanley’s lead singer in The Clinch Mountain Boys.