Dáithí Sproule

Biography

Born and raised in Derry, Northern Ireland, at the age of 18 he moved to Dublin in Ireland, where he attended university. Growing up, he listened to Bob Dylan, Bert Jansch, the Beatles, British folk songs and traditional Irish music. It was in Dublin that he entered the music scene which was prominent in Ireland at the time. As a teenager he had met the Uí Dhomhnaill family during trips to the Gaeltacht area of Rann na Feirste in Co. Donegal, and while in Dublin they formed a band, Skara Brae who would go on to have a great effect on Irish traditional music.

Dáithí is well known as a guitarist, especially throughout America where he now lives. He was one of the first guitarists to utilize the DADGAD guitar tuning for Irish music after the originator Davy Graham. In 1992 he joined Irish supergroup Altan with whom he sings and plays guitar. Of his use of DADGAD tuning, Sproule says, it "just seemed to instantly gel with Irish music. The nature of the tuning meant that you didn't really produce anything that was terribly, drastically, offensively wrong to people. I was always a singer, but when I started playing with instrumentalists in sessions and pubs, I was able to develop a style by just playing along with them quietly and tactfully." He was deemed "a seminal figure in Irish music" by The Rough Guide to Irish Music.

Sproule is also a member of various other bands and has recorded further solo albums; he also teaches DADGAD guitar and traditional songs at the Center for Irish Music in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Solo albums

Other bands

Guest appearances

Compilations