Sparta have begun working on their new album today.

Submitted by abusedcat

Stream Sparta's first new song in 6 years, "Chemical Feel," in the replies. Grab a free download of the track here.

Jim Ward is going on tour in support of Quiet In The Valley, On The Shores The End Begins & The Electric Six, which is a compilation release containing the material from his last three solo EP's. Dates in the replies.

Submitted by IWasHerHorse

Sparta will play their first show since 2008 in El Paso, Texas on November 17th. They will also be hitting the studio this fall to begin working on their fourth LP. More info here.

Submitted by Wutz

Read an interview Late Night Wallflower conducted with Jim Ward, lead singer of Sparta and Sleepercar, here.

Submitted by Ginge

Keeley Davis of Sparta has submitted a few t-shirt designs to Threadless.com. If he scores high enough, his designs will be printed and sold through the site.

Sparta's Threes is going to be pressed on vinyl. A pre-order for this can be found here. Check out the replies for the track listing with bonus tracks and other details.

Update: That chat is now over. Thank you to Jim for spending a Tuesday evening with us. We wish him the best of luck in all his endeavors.

Here, in this thread, at approximately 7 p.m. EST, Jim Ward of Sleepercar (and Sparta and formerly At the Drive-In) will be chatting with AP.net users. Come in, say hi and chat it up about the band's new album, West Texas, which officially hits stores today.

The high-resolution artwork for Sleepercar's upcoming West Texas can be found in the AP.net gallery. There is also a new promotional picture in there as well. Enjoy.

Jim Ward's (Sparta, At the Drive-In) side project has been given the name Sleepercar. Their debut release, West Texas, will be available April 22nd through Civil Defense League/Doghouse Records.

Jim Ward (Sparta) has sent out a bulletin urging everyone to vote for Obama.

Message from Jim

The last few weeks of my life have been inspiring and I am left, at least to some degree, a changed man. It started with an invitation to play a rally for Barack Obama with my friends in Bright Eyes in Omaha. I stood amongst some of the most charged up and positive folks I have ever met. Up to this point, although knowing that I have voted for Democrats in almost all contests, I had yet to fully embrace a candidate for the Democratic Party. I was moved by the volunteer’s passion for a change and the stories they told me of how they ended up signing on with the Obama campaign. I bought his book,...

Jim Ward will be playing the Barack Obama rally tomorrow at Slowdown in Omaha, NE. The show is free and Bright Eyes, Secret Life of Sparrows and M. Ward are also playing. Check the replies for info on how to get tickets.

Jim Ward (Sparta) will be doing will be performing a full set acoustically for the first time at the Paul G. Gleason Theater in Hollywood on January 25th. Ward will be playing a cross section of songs from his past, present and future, most notably from his recent EP release, Quiet. Tickets are now on sale through Ticketmaster.

Submitted by anamericangod

Sparta, Ash, and The Donnas will be touring on The Jagermeister Rock:Liga Tour in Germany. You can order tickets here or here. The dates can be found below. Wir lieben sie!

Tour

Nov 26 Würzburg - Soundpark Ost
Nov 27 Saarbrücken - Garage
Nov 28 Bielefeld - Ringlokschuppen
Nov 29 Hannover - Faust
Nov 30 Erfurt - Club Centrum

Jim Ward (Sparta) will be releasing a solo acoustic EP entitled jimward.quiet on November 6, 2007 via Civil Defense League. Read a message from him below or listen to two of the songs at their myspace.

Bulletin

Hey Gang
I wanted to send a bulletin out to all of you to let you know about a little record I made a few months ago that will see the light of day on November 6, 2007. It is called "jimward.quiet". It is a 5 song acoustic-ish EP. It will be available through my label Civil Defense League in conjunction with Doghouse Records.

I had a couple of friends join me on a few tracks, I explain it all on its very own myspace page which is http://www.myspace.com/jimwardquiet, please check...

Jim Ward (Sparta) has announced several new albums coming out on his label, Civil Defense League. Read his update below.

Update

hey gang
i just wanted to take a second and let you know about this thing i am doing-its called Civil Defense League, its a record label that Doghouse Records is helping me out with. My record with Bobby Byrd was the first release and now I am happy to announce three new releases-

Reflections-"Dogs Without Fear of Dying..."
www.myspace.com/reflectionss

Avec-"Lines"
www.avecmusic.net

One Small Step for Landmines-S/T
www.onesmallstepforlandmines.com

I have gotten involved with all these bands because I absolutely love what they do. They make amazing music and...

Sparta's new music video for "Erase It Again" can be seen in the replies.

Sparta has announced a tour with Velvet Revolver. Check the dates in the replies.

Head over to Sparta's myspace and listen to an acoustic version of their song "Unstitch Your Mouth" off of their criminally underrated Threes.

Sparta has confirmed European tour dates for the rest of the summer. Find them in the replies.

A tour video for the Lovedrug/Sparta/Straylight Run tour can be seen in the replies. All of the tour dates are listed below.

Tour Dates

1-Jun San Luis Obispo CA Downtown Brew
2-Jun San Francisco CA Slim's
3-Jun Sparks NV The New Oasis
5-Jun Portland OR Hawthorne Theatre
6-Jun Seattle WA Neumos
8-Jun South Ogden UT Country Club Theater
9-Jun Denver CO Marquis Theatre
10-Jun Lawrence KS Granada Theater
12-Jun St.Paul MN Station 4
13-Jun Madison WI Barrymore Theatre
14-Jun Chicago IL Metro
15-Jun Detroit MI St. Andrew's Hall
17-Jun Grand Rapids MI The Intersection
18-Jun Louisville KY Headliner's Music Hall
19-Jun Toledo OH Headliners
21-Jun Providence RI Living Room
22-Jun New York NY...

Alice In Chains and Velvet Revolver are heading out on tour together this summer, and Sparta is slated to be the opening act for the tour's second leg.

Check out all of Lovedrug's upcoming tour dates in the replies, including both headlining dates and shows supporting Sparta and Straylight Run.

Lovedrug has been confirmed to be sole support for the Sparta and Straylight Run co-headlining tour this spring. Dates will be announced soon.

Sparta and mewithoutYou will be playing the next Myspace Secret Show at The Grand Emporium in Kansas City, MO on March 20th.

Sparta have released a stream of their new track, “Erase it Again” from their new album, Threes. This is the latest Sparta single to hit radio.

Here is the tour trailer for the Sparta, mewithoutYou, and Aloha tour.

mewithoutYou and Sparta are co-headlining a tour this February with special guests Aloha. Tour dates are below:

Tour Dates

Feb 22: Omaha, NE @ Sokol Underground
Feb 23: Iowa City, IA @ Picador
Feb 24: Springfield, MO @ Remingtons Downtown
Feb 25: Dallas, TX @ Gypsy Ballroom
Feb 27: Houston, TX @ Meridian
Feb 28: San Antonio, TX @ White Rabbit
Mar 2: Jacksonville, FL @ Freebird Live
Mar 3: Gainesville, FL @ Common Grounds
Mar 4: Columbia, SC @ New Brookland Tavern
Mar 5: Athens, GA @ 40 Watt Club
Mar 6: Wilmington, NC @ Soapbox
Mar 7: Charlotte, NC @ Tremont Music Hall
Mar 9: Philadelphia, PA @ Trocadero Theatre
Mar 10: New Haven, CT @ Toad’s Place
Mar 11: Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw
Mar 12:...

Click here to read our newest interview with Sparta.

Miss the recent Sparta acoustic show at the Apple Store in San Francisco? Check out photos from the event attached in the replies.

Live in or around the Bay Area, California? Want to see Sparta play a free set? Head over to the Apple Store, San Francisco this Wednesday, November 9th at 12:30 PM. Details and directions can be found here.

Sparta's new album is currently streaming in its entirety on MySpace. Threes hits stores on Tuesday via Hollywood.

Interested what's going on with Sparta? About the new album, the tour, or anything else? I'll be interviewing them soon. You know how we do it here, if you have a question for the band, odds are we'll ask it. Thanks!

Sparta's new video for "Taking Back Control" premiere's on Yahoo! Music today.

Submitted by tonton46

A video message from Sparta can be found on the left side of their Myspace page. The bands new album, Threes, is in stores on October 24th.

Sparta's nationwide tour for their upcoming album, Threes, is underway. Check out the dates below. If you'd like to pre-order the band's spectacular new record, head here.

Tour Dates

10 04 06 Dallas, TX - The Door
10 06 06 New Orleans, LA - The Parish
10 08 06 Winston-Salem, NC - Ziggy's
10 09 06 Richmond, VA - Alley Katz
10 10 06 Washington, DC - Black Cat
10 12 06 Boston, MA - Axis

Canada w/ Sound Team
10 13 06 Montreal, QC - Les Saints
10 15 06 Toronto, ON - Opera House
10 16 06 London, ON - Call The Office
10 17 06 Ottawa, ON - Babylon

w/ Sound Team and As Tall As Lions
10 19 06 Burlington, VT - Higher Ground
10 20 06 Buffalo, NY - Buffalo Icon
10 21...

Sparta has selected director Jon Watts (Switchfoot, Head Automatica) to produce the video for their new single "Taking Back Control." The bands new album Threes is set for an October 24th release date via Hollywood.

Submitted by spencersface

Sparta has posted a new song on their MySpace page. The track listing to their October 3rd release of Threes can be seen below:

Track listing

1. Untreatable Disease
2. Crawl
3. Unstitch Your Mouth
4. Taking Back Control
5. Erase It Again
6. Atlas
7. The Most Vicious Crime
8. False Start
9. Weather The Storm
10. Red.Right.Return. (Straight In Our Hands)
11. Without A Sound
12. Translations (featuring guest vocalist Merry Clayton, who sang with Ray Charles and did backup vocals on the Rolling Stones classic, Gimme Shelter)

Sparta's new album has been titled Threes and is set to hit stores on September 26th.

Sparta's latest podcast can be found here. The bands follow-up to Porcelain is scheduled for release on September 27th.

Sparta will begin recording their Hollywood Records debut on March 21st with producer Dave Bassett. The disc is scheduled to release in stores on September 26th.

Below is the latest press release from Sparta.

Sparta Press Release

(Burbank) - Spart has signed an exclusive worldwide recording agreement with Hollywood Records. The internationally acclaimed band will release its highly anticipated third album this summer.

"We finally feel that we are at a place where we can wholly express ourselves," said drummer Tony Hajjar about their new label. "We are able to experiment with all of our ideas and Hollywood is embracing them. They have shown a level of support and trust that we haven't truly seen before."

The quartet (rounded out by vocalist/guitarist Jim Ward, bassist Matt Miller and guitarist Keely Davis) is currently in pre-production...

In addition to what Rohan posted below, you can read a huge update on Sparta's status here, including line-up changes (with Denali/Engine Down guitarist Keeley Davis replacing guitarist Paul Hinojos, who had left for The Mars Volta last year) and info on their next album.

Sparta has signed with Hollywood Records.