Released as Larry Sparks was approaching fourth decades as a professional musician, The Coldest Part Of Winter introduces some fine new material to his already extensive catalog. Particularly nice are “You Ain’t Lived,” “Winter in Miami,” “Shenandoah Moon” as well as three superb David Norris songs: “This Old Road,” “Our Old Home” and “He Walked All the Way Home.” Special guest Michael Cleveland provides the fiddle work here, and there are a couple of nifty instrumentals where Sparks’ guitar, Cleveland’s fiddle and Scott Napier’s mandolin get a chance to shine.