Sarah Minto-Sparks Goes West on Debut EP Stoned I Left Rocky

Photo by Jack Pumphret.

“Even cowgirls get the blues” is the title of Tom Robbins’s famous novel, Rodney Crowell’s country classic, and the crux of Sarah Minto-Sparks’s new EP, Stoned I Left Rocky. The singer-songwriter taps into her Texas roots on her debut project, bringing a country twang to five pared-back folk tracks. Minto-Sparks has spoken (with Couched Media, in fact!) about her decision to embrace her inner Texan, both in her music and her stage presence. She’s adopted a wardrobe of punchy, colorful Western wear, like cherry red cowboy boots, bandanas and bolo ties, an ever-present cowboy hat (obviously), and the coolest ruby suede fringe cape–and pulls the aesthetic off without it feeling costumey or phony.

Based in Boulder since 2022, Minto-Sparks wrote Stoned I Left Rocky about Rocky Mountain National Park (the titular “Rocky”) and Estes Park, where she used to work as a musician alongside her partner at the time. RMNP was also the first park she ever hiked solo, so it’s a milestone of her independence too. Introducing the EP in an Instagram post, Minto-Sparks wrote: “Stoned I Left Rocky is a tribute to finally settling in Colorado after years wandering. Exploring my identity through this gorgeous state and its music community while keeping touch with my Texan roots led me to write a bunch of cowgirly, folksy songs and I leaned hard into that vibe this year!”

While Stoned I Left Rocky feels very country to me, it’s not the kind of dueling-banjos, honky tonk you might expect when you think of country music (although that connotation might just be my New England Yankee prejudices creeping in). The most obvious difference is in the EP’s bare-bones instrumentation and production, which solely features Minto-Sparks and her guitar. With a folksy sensibility and a touch of the blues, Stoned I Left Rocky pays homage to country music’s folk, rock, and bluegrass ancestry. Channeling the stripped-back intimacy of bedroom pop (although it’s certainly not pop…is “bedroom country” a thing?), the ultra-minimalist arrangements collapse the space between the listener and the artist, giving the impression that Minto-Sparks is singing and strumming right in front of you. Not on a massive stage, but perhaps sitting on an old friend’s couch or around a campfire. Though I’m curious to hear how she would sound with a subtle piano or strings accompaniment, it makes sense for her first project to really hone in on her voice. There’s nowhere for her to hide, and no ambivalence to her sound. It’s a clear, cohesive introduction to her as an artist, and it’s just as impactful and memorable as many more elaborate, highly-orchestrated debuts. 

Stoned I Left Rocky includes four original songs and one cover. Photo by Jack Pumphret.

Stoned I Left Rocky is bittersweet in that quintessentially country way that’s wistful but not sad, resigned but never defeated, apologetic but without regret. Minto-Sparks has that specific ability (that I personally do tend to associate with country, folk, and blues) to drop an utterly devastating line with a shrug and a wink. In her backstage interview with Pedro, she promised her EP would be “So campy and so Western,” and she delivered on both fronts. No matter how somber the songs sound, there’s a self-aware humor in her lyrics, with lines like “Mama, there’s a cowboy in my bed” (from the title track) and “I lied on Tinder”**** (from "Love Lost December") letting you know that Minto-Sparks is in on the joke. Richie Unterberger (in reference to the late, great Patsy Cline) referred to that paradox as, “The almost bemused aura of loneliness of the lyric,” and try as I might, I can’t come up with a better description than that. While Minto-Sparks called Stoned I Left Rocky a tribute to planting roots, it seems more like a tribute to wandering–and those left in her wake. Even as her honeyed voice promises, “Close your eyes I’ll be here in the morning/Close your eyes I’ll be here for a while,” (on her cover of Townes Van Zandt's "I'll Be Here in The Morning") you get the sense that this cowgirl will be ramblin’ on long before sunrise. 

Speaking of Patsy Cline, she’s the namesake “P.C.” on the last track “P.C. Blues.,” which was heavily influenced by Cline’s iconic song “She’s Got You.” Cline, a powerhouse vocalist credited with paving the way for female country artists, was celebrated for her emotionally expressive voice and the depth of feeling it was able to convey. The opening lines of “P.C. Blues” (“Darlin’ I’m sorry for giving you a case of the blues/Well haven’t you heard even cowgirls get them things too) mimic Cline’s tone of semi-conflicted heartache. “I’ve just felt really inspired by Patsy Cline over the past few years and in my writing process. She’s great at writing these very simple yet universally relatable ballads, and her music helped me explore aspects of my voice I didn’t realize were there," explains Minto-Sparks. “So ‘P.C. Blues’ is kind of a song about not feeling able to write about anything except this one person, wishing I had been kinder, and also an ode to Patsy. The chords and chord pairings and flow/content of the song are sort of like, ‘If I were to write a Patsy Cline song, this is what it would sound like.’” 

Cowgirl (or cowboy, or cowperson) or not, Stoned I Left Rocky may leave you feeling a bit blue, but that doesn't take away from its listenability. Minto-Sparks first picked up a guitar at 20 years old and is fairly new to songwriting (the originals on this EP were all written in the last year and a half), so I'm excited to see how she develops as an artist as she continues to grow into her own Texas-meets-Boulder sound.

Stoned I Left Rocky by Sarah Minto-Sparks is out now on all music platforms. If you'd like to see her perform live, she's got shows at The Rock Inn in Estes Park every other Friday night through the month of June. Her next performance date is Friday, April 11.

****COUCHED CORRECTION: I am embarrassed to say that I completely botched this lyric. The correct words are "I light a tinder," which makes way more sense in the context of the song. Sarah Minto-Sparks did NOT lie on Tinder!!