STEVEN SPROAT – SINGER SONGWRITER

STEVEN’S musical history began in the early 1970s when his father bought him a ukulele at age 10. A love of George Formby and  a determination to play as well as him eventually had its impact and Steven was playing and singing in his native North East (Lanchester, Durham) in pubs and clubs.

In 1980 he became a Butlins Redcoat at Filey, Yorkshire and after just one season he moved to Bournemouth with fellow Redcoat musicians to play and seek gigs . It proved a dry time with occasional Cabaret spots but not much.

It wasn’t until Steven began writing songs and taking up guitar in the early 1980s that things began happening and for a while the uke took a back seat (it wasn’t exactly hip in the ‘80s. A band was formed called School of Thought based in Gloucester and there followed a demo album called There’s more to life (1988) featuring Steven’s songs and their debut single on 7” vinyl called ‘Dance with me’(1989).

This song was compared to Chris de Burgh’s Lady in Red song and to date is the only song Steven has had played on BBC Radio 2 nationally. Ironically the airplay came 10 years after the single’s release via Ed Stewpot on ‘Where are you now’ slot.
The song was admired by Music Publsihers and Record Companies ..including Island Records..but  didn’t result in a record deal .   Another song on this demo was called Put the Christ back into Christmas’ and was Steven’s first song to receive radio play (Severn Sound).  The band split in late ‘80s and Steven concentrated on his solo career.

In 1989 Steven was selected from thousands and  invited to take part in a BBC Radio 1 band finals competetion and he was awarded 3rd place in South West region being the only solo artist to make an impact. Steven performed a 3 song set to several thousand at St George’s  hall , Exeter,the compare and judges included Bruno Brookes fromRadio 1 and John Paul Jones from Led Zeppelin.

1989 saw the first solo album on cassette called ‘Straight down the line ‘which got some good magazine reviews and some local radio plays and again attracted interest from music Publishesr..although still a deal wasn’t forthcoming. The album featured 3 uke tracks which began his re interest in the ukulele and creating his own style.

In the same year the then emerging Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain asked Steven to be a solo guest at their Chrsitmas Ukulele Yuletide Show at Ronnie Scott’s in London and Steven’s set was a big success.  Another notable venue played that year was The Mean Fiddler, London .

The next demo was Thus Lover’s Dream (1991) a 3 track tape which was largely ignored and recived no airplay.

It wasn’t until 1996 Steven recorded more songs
he’d written with a view to issuing another single but decided against it on hearing the demos. The same followed with another 3 track demo tape  ‘Coming to my senses’(1998) which apart from a couple of reasonable reviews including Sound on Sound magazine made little impact. The upcoming Millenium of 2000 gave Steven an idea to re –record the Christmas song with different lyrics . The Big Picture /This Christmastime(CD single-‘Double A side’) was released at end of 1999 and received airplay and even playlistings .

The early part of new decade was traumatic for Steven personally and out of this period came some excellent songwriting and a change in style. Steven signed to independent label Silverword to release a cd album called Tomorrow’s Road (2004)
The single ‘You turn the light on’is a beautiful ballad and was played on many local stations and recived good reviews..

The Ukulele revival was gathering momentum thanks largely to various celebrities, TV adverts and The Ukulele Orchestra and a surprise phone call one day from celebrity TV comic Harry Hill in 2005 gave Steven the boost he needed with his music. Harry was seeking a ukulele teacher and there is no doubt Harry’s encouragement and friendship have given a new lease of life and confidence to Steven’s work.

In 2007 Steven re recorded an early  song(Acer Glade) from his first demo to celebrate the famous Acer Glade in Westonbirt Arboretum in Gloucestershire after they took an interest in the song for Publicity purposes. Along with some new songs and some covers including the classic Gilbert O’ Sullivan song ‘Alone again naturally’. ‘Acer Glade ‘ CD album was released. ( Steven did the O’ Sullivan cover on ukulele and its now a popular video clip on Youtube with over 75,000 hits .

Steven was becoming a popular ‘uke name’ and in 2007 was asked by Publisher Music sales Ltd to write 2 ‘How to play’ Ukulele Books, namely Absolute Beginners Ukulele and ‘Starting Ukulele’. These books are available worldwide and becoming formly established as ‘must have’ manuals.  He was invited to perform and to teach at New York Ukulele Festival 2007 which was a great success.

Another confidence boost came with a surprise email from renowned actor Sir Tom Courtenay who happened to be a penpal of Harry Hill and who wanted to get in touch as he’d just been bought a ukulele!

In 2008 and 2009 Steven has played many Festivals including Dublin, Raglan and Tewkesbury and has been in much demand for ukulele workshops at Theatres, Festivals and Clubs.

Music sales Ltd asked Steven to follow up with Absolute Beginners Book 2 and Began taking many ukulele workshops on behalf of his Publisher at Universities, Schools and Music Services.

In 2009 Steven collaborated with BBC Presenter Nicky Campbell and actor Mark Moraghan on their ‘Swing’ album ‘Moonlight’s back in Style’ (Linn Records). Steven plays on 3 tracks including ‘Through it all’, ‘Birds’, and ‘Many’s the time’.  The latter song was featured on Steve Wright on Radio 2 recentley.

THERE ARE PLANS FOR A NEW ‘COVERS’ ALBUM 2010 FEATURING STEVEN’S UKE APPROACH TO SONGS…WATCH THIS SPACE!!