Fresno Famous

Since her FF feature last October, Tori Sparks hasn't slowed down. She has played close to three hundred shows, been invited to New York audition for a Broadway version of Spiderman, sung the National Anthem for the Nashville Rollergirls, released a new album, a music video, and a live DVD, “and redecorated my bedroom, among other things,” she joked.

In June, Sparks released her third album, which is the second on her own label, Glass Mountain Records. The Scorpion in the Story is a concept album, a collection of vignettes from the road. Each song is based on a true story about a real person, each from a different city, and forms a musical tour diary of Tori's travels in 2008.

The album, which includes songs in French and in English, has been generating a buzz on the underground folk scene. Scorpion jumped to the Top 100 on the Americana Radio Charts, and has been receiving rave reviews from media outlets across the country. It is currently on the long list for Grammy nomination consideration in six categories. The project is Tori's second collaboration with co-producer David Henry, and features musical guests Steve Bowman, Will Kimbrough, Viktor Krauss, Fats Kaplin, and Barry Walsh.

One song from Scorpion, a sultry murder ballad called "Tall Towers” -- recently touted on CMJ's "New Music Download of the Week" – piqued the interest of media giant Microsoft. Microsoft featured the song on their Windows Media Player/Zune homepage. As word spread about the album, Tori's heart-wrenching rock ballad “Leaving Side of Love” was picked up and featured in the Campaign to Save Paste Magazine.

Even with so much on her plate, Tori is still self-managed, and does all of her own booking and much of the promotion. “I'm on the road most of the time. I've worked with a couple of great independent promotions people – for radio, and national PR – and an indie distributor, but I do the rest myself. Not as glamorous as it sounds, but it has to be done.”

Sparks' out-of-the-box approach to creating and marketing her last three albums as well as her non-stop touring has pushed her to the forefront of the DIY music movement. Tori is the author of two courses on the topic for roaming music business education organization ProMusicU, and has been invited to speak about DIY at numerous schools, universities, and music conferences.

And Spiderman? “It was a crazy experience. They had me audition for the role of the female villain -- I'm still waiting to hear the word,” says Tori.

The Scorpion in the Story is available online, and at independent record stores across the country. Tori will be playing live for one night only at the Full Circle Brewing Company on October 29th at 9pm

Tori is on tour in the U.S. and Europe through December 2009 and into 2010. See www.torisparks.com for details.