William Fitzsimmons – The Sparrow and the Crow (2008)

If you are looking for some new music to chill out to, you should give William Fitzsimmons a listen. His lo-fi sound and arrangements, which bring to mind Sufjan Stevens, Iron & Wine, and Joshua Radin, are undeniably beautiful. His release a few weeks ago, The Sparrow and the Crow, is a personal reflection of his recent divorce.

Fitzsimmons’ background makes his music that much more interesting. He was born in Pittsburgh to two blind parents, and their house was “suffused with pianos, guitars, trombones, talking birds, classical records, family sing-a-longs, bedtime stories, and the bellowing of a pipe organ, which his father built into the house with his own hands.” Fitzsimmons gave up music for a while to focus on helping those with mental health issues, and over time, realized that his music was a great avenue for reaching out to people. He has two albums, Goodnight and Until When We Are Ghosts that he self-produced, and The Sparrow and the Crow, is his first studio recorded album.

Though the album is good as a whole, the sound doesn’t change all that much throughout the album, and I think it actually gets better towards the end when it picks up more. My favorite tracks include, “I don’t Feel it Anymore (Song of the Crow),” “We Feel Alone,” “You Still Hurt Me,” “They’ll Never Take The Good Years,” and “Goodmorning.”

Fitzsimmons is currently on tour–check his site for dates.

The Sparrow and the Crow (2008):

William Fitzsimmons – You Still Hurt Me

William Fitzsimmons – They’ll Never Take The Good Years

Site | iTunes |Amazon (only $7.99) | Myspace

On another important note:

“Zach Braff must love this guy,” was the first thought that came to mind when I heard William Fitzsimmons music.  Sure enough, when I hopped over to Braff’s Myspace page, William Fitzsimmons started to play. Am I a genius?–so some say–but truthfully,  I think this is just more proof that Zach Braff deserves his own music genre.

Definition of the genre of music we know as “Zach Braff”:

“Music that all sounds very good, albeit similar, that often consists of acoustic guitar, lo-fi vocals, and occasionally back-up female vocals”

4 thoughts on “William Fitzsimmons – The Sparrow and the Crow (2008)

  1. Great review! Thanks for the introducing me to the work of Fitzsimmons. Just discovered your blog today and it’s already added to my Google Reader :)

  2. He died in 1985 but this very personal museum is a lasting reminder of the very remarkable man.
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