quot;A back road ride straight to Heartbreak Hotel  SPARKLE PLENTY has more perspectives on the heart than an episode of House. The opening riff of No Reason At All has an indie feel but makes a hard right into contemporary country.  The chords and melodies take twists and turns in all of her songs but it s the instrumentation that stands out.  Very well produced Linton covers a lot of ground stylistically flying effortlessly from folk to blues and even classical. Linton sounds confident in what she wants to say if not heart-weary but never leaves you in the dumps. This is a mature record touching on motherhood long looks back down the path of experience and yes lost loves and opportunities.  But often out of sorrow rises hope and it has a name: beauty.  Does it sparkle?  Plenty.quot; - Jeff Reid The Beat Magazine Everyone has heard a song that reaches a certain place inside and helps them make sense of the world. Brenda Linton writes that kind of song. quot;There are a lot of secrets that people hold both good and bad quot; explains Linton. quot;If you dare to reveal your own secrets then the listener finds it easier to identify with your song and with you as an artist.quot; As the daughter of rural Southern parents reared in poverty Brenda Linton became aware at a young age of her mother s dreams for her - that she would have red hair and would sing and dance like Shirley Temple. Today although the petite redhead has some great moves on the dance floor she is best known for a voice so pure and melodic that fans have dubbed her the quot;Carolina Nightingale.quot; Born in Washington North Carolina Linton says she was nurtured as a child by quot;a passel of kind-hearted women including my mother grandmother maternal aunts and housekeepers who treated me as their own.quot; Her mother overcame childhood polio to train as a registered nurse and began working at the county hospital when Linton was still an infant. Raised in a Baptist orphanage her father was a major source of strength and understanding in later life. But in her early years his work as a master plasterer frequently took him away from home even to the island of Bermuda. quot;Part of my dad s compensation was a month in paradise for my mom and me quot; says Linton of the experience quot;and I guess my love of the road began there.quot; Although Linton remembers hearing lots of music during her early childhood her formal education began at the age of eight when her parents bought her a Wurlitzer spinet and a set of classical piano books. She demonstrated a quick aptitude for music and encouraged by her teachers took top honors in juried piano competitions at the nearby university and won singing parts in school musicals. By adolescence Linton had developed a list of favorite singers (Perry Como Paul McCartney Joan Baez and Joni Mitchell) whose influence would later emerge in her unique vocal style. In high school she taught herself to play guitar and formed a duo with a girlfriend that expanded into a folk trio called the New Horizon Singers. By her mid-teens Linton was performing regularly in college coffee houses. After graduation she joined an established folk-rock group called Warm. Linton s voice as well as the innovative harmonies and original songs provided by the other three members set the band apart from most local acts in eastern North Carolina. During her two years with Warm she performed throughout the southeast at music clubs rock festivals and college venues and opened conce UPC : 884501418485