Lethbridge’s Sparkle Blood is back with their first new album in nearly a decade. The power trio of Tyler Stewart, Bre Day, and Bailey Kate are riding high on the release of ZIP ZAP, and are looking forward to bringing their high-energy, no-nonsense rock‘n’roll to Upside Downtown Festival in Lethbridge.
“It’s been really exciting and just really creatively fulfilling to be back at the head of a band and flexing my own creative muscles,” says guitarist and songwriter Tyler Stewart.
Stewart and drummer Bre Day, a couple, originally started Sparkle Blood as an extension of their relationship and a chance to try new things. The pair’s stripped-down sound picked up steam in the southern Alberta music scene, culminating in the release of 2016’s Denim Tape.
Though the duo were happy with their output, they both opted to pursue separate musical endeavours, with Stewart joining instrumental surf band The Atomicos and alt-country mainstays Starpainter while Day drummed in Peace for Bombs. When the pair picked up where they left off in 2024, they brought in Lethbridge singer-songwriter and Starpainter bandmate Bailey Kate to round out their sound with both bass and vocal harmonies.
“Having the male-female vocal pairing is just something that I’ve loved so much,” Stewart says. “Bailey’s voice doing the one-two punch in the harmonies… really brings things up a lot.”
Although the band and its sound may have grown, Sparkle Blood remains committed to economy and efficiency in their music. They rarely need more than 90 seconds to sink their catchy hooks into listeners’ brains, and are adamant that less is still more.
“You don’t need more than three people to make truly great rock’n’roll music in my opinion,” Stewart says.
Looking ahead to the summer, Sparkle Blood are hitting the road for a six-stop Alberta and BC tour, book-ended by hometown shows in Lethbridge: one for their album release on June 25, and one as part of Upside Downtown Festival.
“The energy of our live shows has been really, really gratifying,” Stewart says. “It’s been really fun getting out there and playing lots of shows with this band.”
As musicians with multiple projects, Sparkle Blood have a deep appreciation for the tightly-knit Alberta music community.
“When you play in multiple bands, you get to know people and develop relationships,” Stewart explains. “We have friends from other bands that are trying to get us on bills and making it a lot easier for us to venture out.”
“[Other places] can be extremely competitive. In Alberta, it’s more of a ‘rising tide float all boats’ kind of vibe.”
Learn more about Sparkle Blood’s upcoming tour here.
Sparkle Blood will be playing at Lethbridge’s Upside Downtown Festival on Thursday, July 16. Learn more about Upside Downtown here.
Listen to “Restless” off Sparkle Blood’s latest album, ZIP ZAP:
