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William Fitzsimmons' "Sparrow" is iTunes' Best Folk Album 2008

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William Fitzsimmons' acclaimed CD The Sparrow And The Crow has landed atop iTunes' Best Folk Albums of 2008. The rueful album, recently described as “A Near Masterpiece" by the Boston Herald, continues to generate rave reviews, with writers describing it as “A Stunning Record," “An Indie Beauty," and much more.

Fitzsimmons has been handpicked to be one of 20 artists featured in the iTunes Indie Spotlight, a first-time initiative between iTunes and Facebook. The standout track 'If You Would Come Back Home' will be included as part of a sampler to be distributed via the Apple Student Group on Facebook. In other news, William Fitzsimmons is currently in the midst of his first-ever European Tour, and has been greeted with sold-out concerts in many towns throughout Germany and Austria.

Philly.com – The site of PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER & PHILLY DAILY NEWS: By Deirdre Wengen 11/18/08

Heart Broke Folk

In a back dressing room of the Tin Angel, William Fitzsimmons winces noticeably when asked how long ago it all happened. “It was a couple of years ago,” he said. “So, it’s still really fresh.” The bearded Illinois musician is referring to his divorce—an event described in detail on his heart-wrenching new album The Sparrow and The Crow. But to pigeonhole him as just another broken-hearted folksinger who writes sad songs would be doing him a disservice.

Fitzsimmons, who was raised in Pittsburgh by two blind parents, is on the verge of indie stardom. His songs have accompanied hit television shows such as “Grey’s Anatomy” and “General Hospital,” and his new record has received rave reviews. Fitzsimmons is also headlining a tour presented by Paste Magazine—which is how he ended up in Philadelphia, speaking openly and honestly about divorce and how it has influenced his music.

“The album is about the ending of my marriage,” he said. “There’s never a way to beat around the bush on that one.” Unfortunately, this isn’t his first experience with the subject. Fitzsimmons wrote about the split between his parents on his last album “Goodnight” and was hit hard when he had to endure the same thing in his own relationship. Instead of attempting to put out a record with a completely different direction, Fitzsimmons delved deeper and wrote about the painful experience from his own point of view. “It’s meant to be a lot of hope and encouragement for everybody who deals with that sort of heartbreak,” he said. “But it’s also meant to be a kind of warning for people to take those things very seriously. I didn’t take it as seriously as I should have, and I paid for it.”

Although The Sparrow and The Crow is Fitzsimmons’ third full-length, it is his first studio-recorded album. He teamed up with producer Marshall Altman in order to get it to sound exactly the way he wanted. “These songs were too important for me to potentially screw them up on my own,” he said. “I felt like if I wanted to get the songs right, I was going to have to enlist the help of people who actually knew what they were doing.” Fitzsimmons also recruited the help of Los Angeles singer, Caitlin Crosby, who is accompanying him on tour, to add depth and a different point of view to the album. “There are a lot of breakup records that I love and that are amazing, but for the most part they’re very male-centric,” he said. “The female presence is meant to be very salient and very intentional and unbiased. There are two sides to every story, so I wanted to represent it as such. Otherwise it’s a lie.”

The songwriter admits that the material is difficult to play in front of an audience. “When I was writing and recording, it was all very isolated and still in my own headspace,” he said. “But when I play in front of other people, it actually makes it more real.” Despite the heavy material, Fitzsimmons tries to keep things lighthearted on stage. The crowd in the Old City bar clapped and laughed as the singer addressed them with his wry wit and self- deprecating humor. He even had the audience applaud for the performer with the best facial hair—a contest between himself and the bassist from Slow Runner who had a perfectly-manicured handlebar mustache. Fitzsimmons and his signature bushy beard easily won.

But the jovial atmosphere evaporates as soon as Fitzsimmons approaches the microphone and launches into one of his songs. “Some nights are harder than others. Sometimes it gets a little bit too emotional,” he said. “I find myself going back there when I’m singing the songs. I try not to do that because people don’t pay to see a creepy guy breakdown on stage.” Fitzsimmons plans to focus on touring and hopes that his music will continue to benefit people who are going through difficult times. “It’s clich, but the most substantive thing about doing this is getting all those little notes in the mail about how I’ve helped people go through something or how they really needed to hear that song,” he said. “That gives purpose to it. Then I know that I’m not just wasting time.”

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