JW Sparrow Concert

John (JW) Sparrow is a well known and well respected Pacific Northwest songwriter who has been writing original songs since he was about 8 years old. His father was a preacher in rural Oklahoma so he was exposed to a lot of hymns and gospel music at an early age, but his mother listened to Elvis and Tony Bennet and Louis Armstrong so he had broad musical taste. He got a guitar at a young age, but traded it for a BB gun when he was 10. He wasn't that much in to rock and roll when he was a teenager and preferred Hank Williams and non-commercial country music, and found 60s folk music sort of boring with just three chords. He re-started writing his own songs in his 20s. He traveled around the country playing for any folks who wanted to listen , and eventually ended up in the Pacific Northwest where he found a home in Ashford and then Eatonville, both at the foot of Mount Rainier. 
. 
JW has been a popular performer at Tumbleweed Music Festival. Sometimes he applies and sometimes he just shows up. He has been a finalist in the Jane Titland Memorial Song Contest several times, including this year, and he appreciates the challenge of writing to a theme and coming up with a new song each time.