WNP to feature international troubadour

Submitted photo OPEN MIC: International troubadour Paul Sprawl will be this week's feature for Wednesday Night Poetry at Kollective Coffee+Tea, 110 Central Ave. The regular open mic for all poets begins at 6:30 p.m. and Sprawl will perform at 7 p.m., followed by a second open mic. Admission is free and open to all ages.
Submitted photo OPEN MIC: International troubadour Paul Sprawl will be this week's feature for Wednesday Night Poetry at Kollective Coffee+Tea, 110 Central Ave. The regular open mic for all poets begins at 6:30 p.m. and Sprawl will perform at 7 p.m., followed by a second open mic. Admission is free and open to all ages.

International troubadour Paul Sprawl will be this week's feature for Wednesday Night Poetry at Kollective Coffee+Tea, 110 Central Ave. The regular open mic for all poets begins at 6:30 p.m. and Sprawl will perform at 7 p.m., followed by a second open mic. Admission is free and open to all ages.

A native of Los Angeles, Sprawl has spent the past 20 years traveling the world performing his songs and poems. This year alone he has performed in 20 states, Canada, England, and Germany. To date he has released nine full length albums of his songs. The first was on a German label.

Sprawl studied music, philosophy and other liberal arts at the University of California at San Diego. He also spent a year at the California Institute of the Arts in the small ensemble jazz department.

According to a news release, he started writing poetry as a preteen. "It was journalistic and therapeutic," Sprawl said. "I didn't think about anybody else hearing or reading it ... (Now) I think more consciously about activating imagination and illuminating hidden things than I did when I started writing." He said some of that earlier poetry has found its way into his music as lyrics to songs.

His music is a mix of blues, jazz, folk and rock. Sprawl's musical style uniquely combines percussive guitar techniques with bottleneck, tapping and harmonica which he accompanies with an earthy baritone voice. Music critics have compared him to Leo Kottke and Bruce Cockburn.

When he is not on the road promoting his music, Sprawl and his wife Leralee Whittle live between homes in East Chain, Minn., and Terlingua, Texas, in the Big Bend Country. He and Whittle, who is a dancer/choreographer, are currently building a place for artists to find refuge and inspiration in the Big Bend area.

Copies of Sprawls albums will be available Wednesday Night.

Visit http://www.paulsprawl.com for more information about Sprawl.

Entertainment on 11/28/2017

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