Singer-songwriter Sarah Minto-Sparks joined KGNU’s Cameron Henderson to share songs from her new EP Stoned I Left Rocky, Originally from Dallas and now based in Boulder, Sarah talked about her journey into professional performance, her Texas roots, and finding her sound in Colorado’s vibrant music scene. (Interview date: 4/2/2025)
Cameron Henderson: In the studio we have Sarah Minto-Sparks.
Sarah Minto-Sparks: Hello, hello, hello.
Cameron Henderson: So, Indra wrote to me and said, “Hey, can Sarah come in and play?” I said, “Sure.” We love the local artists. So tell us about yourself and what’s going on. Why are you here?
Sarah Minto-Sparks: I’m Sara Minto-Sparks. I am based out of Boulder and I just released an EP Stoned I Left Rocky on March 15th. I reached out to y’all and just wanted to see if you wanted to put it on air, and y’all wanted me to come in for a studio session and super stoked to do that.
Cameron Henderson: Let’s get a song going and let people hear what you got. Tell me the name of your album again?
Sarah Minto-Sparks: Stoned I left Rocky
Cameron Henderson: Stoned I left Rocky. This is Sara Minto-Sparks Live in KGNU studio.
[Sarah Minto-Sparks plays Stoned I Left Rocky]
Cameron Henderson: You’re listening live in the studio to Sarah Minto-Sparks, in case you’re just tuning in. And that was her first song of our little set here. What do you wanna talk about?
Sarah Minto-Sparks: It’s my title track Stoned I Left Rocky. The Holy Pew is a debut for my first year of being a professional performer. I’ve been playing guitar for about four years and singing pretty much my whole life. But performing professionally is quite new to me. And so Stoned I Left Rocky was written about starting to gig up in Estes Park and here in Boulder, and kinda finding my sound as an artist.
Cameron Henderson: Oh, cool. So where do you hail from?
Sarah Minto-Sparks: I’m from Dallas, Texas. Born in Austin, raised in Dallas. So it’s been interesting. I feel I’ve never felt more connected to my Texan roots than living out here, ironically. I feel like there’s so many things that I love about Colorado for the Western iconography and culture and there’s so many things that are similar to Texas, but the culture here is like a little more outdoorsy and granola. But I think, especially going to college in Boston, I feel more like a Texan when I’m outside of Texas ’cause it feels like you stick out a little more. And I’m glad that I’ve been able to take some of those cultural through lines and inspirations into my own music. And even changing my social media handles to @sparkytexan where you can follow me on all social media. It has felt like a bit of a branding move, but then also something that just feels fun and authentic and I brought my cowboy hat in the studio today and it’s something that feels fun to lean into. Just ’cause I can.
Cameron Henderson: Very cool. And Texas has plenty of roots in music. You’ve got a big baggage behind you. So that’s a wonderful well to draw from. Sarah, let’s hear another song.
Sarah Minto-Sparks: Yeah, of course. This one is probably the more contemplative song in the album. I took a poll on Instagram earlier this week asking people what they wanted to hear, and I was really surprised how many people said this song, Axis. This song is a story about moving on and traveling.
[Sarah-Minto Sparks plays Axis]
Cameron Henderson: Sarah Minto-Sparks here, live in the studio. Thank you for coming in to play such lovely music. We’ll play one more song after we chat a little bit more. First of all, where can people find you? Hire you. See you.
Sarah Minto-Sparks: I’m on all social media platforms @sparkytexan. That’s my Instagram, YouTube, SoundCloud if you wanna go look. I just uploaded some really great videos of my EP release show which was at Gold Hill Store on YouTube. We recorded in black and white, and it really just captured the vibe very well. That has got to be my favorite venue to play in town. I just love the people there.
Cameron Henderson: How much good music has been played there since the 70’s. It was just incredible. So that’s very cool.
Sarah Minto-Sparks: Yeah, it feels very almost like a mythical, like I heard that Steven Stills used to come up there and to be able to play and hang out at the same places. Truly an honor. You can also read more about my work and the independent record label that I’m a part of at bustedcoyoterecords.org. This EP was completely recorded, mixed, mastered, produced under an independent record label that I and a few other Texans actually, that I found here in Colorado. We met at an open mic. I met Wesley Scott Smith and Tony Reyes, our other solo artist and our manager respectively. And this is the second piece of work that we’ve put out and it was. Just all very from the ground up. Honestly, we’re ultra independent as a record label right now and just starting to fundraise and launch. So go check us out at bustedcoyoterecords.org and see what we’re up to, connect with us. We’re starting to do package shows also across the front range here. So we booked a couple more shows with myself and then our other artist in his full band, and it’s a great time.
Cameron Henderson: Good. Busted Coyote, in case you missed that. I assume that’s based outta here or is it in Texas?
Sarah Minto-Sparks: We met here in Boulder, but we are based out of Fort Collins. That’s another one of those things that makes me feel so Texan is connecting with Tony and Wes. There’s just something that we see in each other. And that song Axis, those people tell me it sounds like a coyote. And I’m like, yeah, it’s perfect.
Cameron Henderson: It’s got a little Townes Van Zandt vibe as well. Some of the picking. He went to see you, Townes Van Zandt. My dad’s old buddy was his roommate and tells crazy stories about Townes when he was young at the University of Colorado.
Sarah Minto-Sparks: The second track on my EP actually is a cover of his song. I’ll Be Here in the Morning.
Cameron Henderson: You heard it here first on KGNU. Thank you so much for coming in to play music for us. Let’s hear one more song and send us out.
Sarah Minto-Sparks: Of course. This last one is called Love Lost December. It’s a breakup song and it’s one of my favorite songs in the album because the lyrics are really sad, but it sounds like a really happy song.
[Sarah Minto-Sparks plays Love Lost December]
