Sidewalk Blues

After three releases on the Tzadik Records label, Sparks decided to return to his musical roots of North Carolina.

In a quote from a story in High Plains Reader, Sparks said “After Masada Guitars I wanted to revisit roots music.

This record is something I’ve always wanted to make, but I needed the hindsight of thirty years to work on guitar to complete it...

"[2] Music critic Chip O'Brien praised the variety of the album, writing Sparks "plows, punctuates, and pulses his way through a well-chosen batch of ragtime, jazz, country blues, and gospel with an individual flair and spirit to burn... a master of the instrument.

His arrangements and performances of Louis Armstrong, Fats Waller, Jelly Roll Morton, and Bix Beiderbecke compositions are flawless, at times playful, and always soulful... A must have for fans of Tim Sparks and for anyone who loves fingerstyle guitar playing.