One Love: Eclectic Recording Artist Tori Sparks to Auction Folk Art Guitar to Benefit Oxfam America
Visionary young musician-artist embarks on 26-city U.S. tour. She will donate her talents as well as Feed Your Soul Guitar auction proceeds to Oxfam America and to raise awareness of the One Campaign.
NEW YORK CITY, NY (PRWEB) May 9, 2006 –- Can art or music save the world? If indie folk-rocker turned folk-artist Tori Sparks has anything to say about it, they can definitely help. Tori has employed everything but the kitchen sink to turn a common dreadnaught guitar into a dazzling work of folk art, titled The Feed Your Soul Guitar. The diverse young artist is going to be exhibiting this one-of-a-kind work while on her 26-city "Feed Your Ears, Feed Your Soul: The Rivers + Roads Less Traveled Tour." Bids for the Guitar will be accepted through secure online auction from May 21st through the end of the tour. The high bidder will be announced on June 26th. 100% of proceeds from the auction will be donated to Oxfam America and the work they are doing in association with the One Campaign and its affiliates. A direct link to the auction will be placed on Tori's website (www.ToriSparks.com), as are the dates of the tour. The Feed Your Soul Guitar is signed by the artist, and comes with a signed and dedicated photo of Tori Sparks playing the Guitar and sporting a white One wristband. Though primarily meant to be put on display, the Feed Your Soul Guitar is fully playable. The art piece will also be available for public viewing from May 9th through May 23rd in the ASCAP headquarters building in Nashville, TN.
Following in the footsteps of other musician-artists such as Joni Mitchell and Rich Robinson of the Black Crowes, Sparks seems to need more than one outlet to contain the overflow of her creativity. The Feed Your Soul Guitar is a mesmerizing piece that involved 100+ hours of intensive labor. Every image and article incorporated into the Guitar contributes to an overarching theme of our search for love, hope, faith, and security in an increasingly plastic and media-driven world. Nature and the human psyche clash with elements representing our ever-increasing dependence on technology. In Tori's words: “The Feed Your Soul Guitar is like a protest song in three dimensions. A recent overdose of NPR and CNN inspired me to dig up a bunch of folk and rock music that came out of the conflicts of the Vietnam era, and it’s eerie how so many of today’s critical issues are similar to those that scared everyone back then. These days that fear is compounded by our amazing and frightening access to technology. The peace I’m talking about is as much a peace of mind as a political coexistence.”
Everything from a motherboard spewing glistening wires, to spacemen venturing forth under the banner “Believe Again” grace the front of this museum-worthy artifact. The back of the Guitar has been transformed into a “cityscape of soul.” It pays tribute to some of the acts that shaped rock ‘n’ roll history (David Bowie, U2, The Clash, Bob Marley, more), as well as to one of the cradles of American music, professing the faith that New Orleans will rise again. A closer look reveals themes as diverse as dealing with infidelity, to a crisis arising of spirituality contradicted by science. Tiny points of brilliant color swirl over the neck of the Guitar, surrounding the word “ONE” in honor of Tori's support of the One Campaign and its affiliated non-profit organizations. This section gives a nod to Sparks’ ongoing fascination with Australian aboriginal painting and other forms of folk art.
Tori Sparks comes from an artistic background, having been born in Chicago and raised in the arts-friendly community of Sarasota, Fla. While Tori's music career has been flourishing in the past three years – her upcoming tour will take her to the world-famous Bitter End in New York City -- her visual art creations have previously been reserved as gifts for family and friends. However, the goals of Oxfam America and its partner, the One Campaign, sufficiently inspired the artist to want to contribute to their cause in her own way. Some people are able to give by donating their money or time – art and music are what Tori Sparks have to give. She hopes that the proceeds from the auction will contribute towards furthering Oxfam’s efforts to build hope and security in impoverished communities at home and abroad, and to raise awareness on behalf of One’s advocacy programs. Tori is also playing a benefit concert for One in Washington DC on June 16th.
Songs from Tori Sparks’ debut album “Rivers + Roads” can be heard on radio stations in Canada, Australia, Ireland, Belgium, Japan, as well as the U.S. Called “a winner of an album” by the All Music Guide and “a talent unheard of in a long time” by Music News Nashville, “Rivers + Roads” is continuing to dent the charts in other regions as word-of-mouth spreads. A fearless performer, she is known for her combination of emotion and quirky wit – deeply personal insights are fused with an off-the-cuff, almost stand-up routine.
One by one, we make a difference. Tori Sparks just happens to make hers out of paint, glass, glue, and guitars. Make yours. To read more about the Feed Your Ears, Feed Your Soul: The Rivers + Roads Less Traveled Tour, and to view photos of or place a bid for the Feed Your Soul Guitar, please see www.ToriSparks.com or www.MySpace.com/FeedYourSoulGuitar. To learn more about the One Campaign and Oxfam America, please see www.One.org and www.OxfamAmerica.org. Nashville residents and visitors can view the Guitar in the ASCAP lobby at 2 Music Square West, Nashville TN, 37203.
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