Alan Sparhawk

Duluth, Minnesota-based musician Alan Sparhawk is best known for his work with the visionary band Low, which he co-founded with his late wife Mimi Parker in 1993. Low continually evolved until the band ended with Parker's death in 2022. Sparhawk continued as a solo act, expanding on the hushed vocal harmonies and slowcore minimalism of Low's earliest days and pushing into far more experimental production on later albums like 2018's Double Negative. While Sparhawk was active in multiple side projects throughout his time in Low, he released his solo album, White Roses, My God, in 2024. Sparhawk was born in Seattle in 1969 and moved to Duluth as a child. In his youth he played in various bands, like the alt rock group Zen Identity, shortly before he and Parker started Low. Throughout Low's lengthy run, Sparhawk also had a hand in numerous side projects, including the bluesy, rollicking Black-Eyed Snakes and Retribution Gospel Choir, with then-fellow Low bandmate Matt Livingston. Sparhawk, a fairly active member of the Duluth music scene, started the small Chairkickers Union label for local artists, and also operated a recording studio in town, built in a decommissioned church. In 2006, he released his first proper solo album, Solo Guitar, an experimental, ambient work recorded before a live audience. Low continued touring, recording, and performing until Parker died shortly after the release of their 13th studio full-length, 2021's Hey What. Sparhawk continued making music in various forms after Low, and in 2024, his solo full-length White Roses, My God was released on Sub Pop. With this album, he continued down the experimental, distortion-curious path of Low's final few albums, and all of its vocals were recorded through a vocoder.
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