RogerSprung,influential banjo player from Newtown who revived folk music in 1940s, dies at 92
Jul. 29—While Sprung enjoyed performing at high-profile venues like Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, his friends said he got just as charged up playing improvisational jam sessions and jam parties in front of 50 or 100 people throughout his 76-year career. He loved developing young talent and always invited novice banjo players to join the seasoned veterans at all the jam sessions.
The teaching aspect of Sprung's career, where it is estimated he had over 3,000 students, was showcased in 2020 when he was inducted into the American Banjo Museum Hall of Fame in the Instruction and Education category.
Sprung, who is survived by his wife Nancy and daughters Jennie and Emily, was as well-known for his affable personality and humor as much as he was for his grinnin' and pickin,' his friends said.
"It's easy to talk about Roger because he was such a great guy, a great friend," said Billy Fischer, a retired doctor from Bethel who plays drums. "I held large musician and dinner parties at my home that included Roger Sprung for 25 years (1990 to 2015). Later we would have jam sessions in my barn and 150 to 200 people would show up to listen. Roger would hold court, using his strong sense of humor to interact with people listening at a jam session.
"Sometimes his humor would be a little off color, but always said with a little twinkle in his eye. He was always respectful."
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The many notable musicians he played with over the years include Willie Nelson and Woody Guthrie. His television performances included appearances on variety shows like the "Dean Martin Show" and "Jimmy Dean Show."
Fischer said Sprung was a mentor and teacher to many aspiring musicians.
"Roger didn't care about age, skill level or ethnicity, everyone with a banjo was encouraged to come on stage and join in jam sessions," Fischer said. "We all learned a lot from him."
Sprung's students included notable performers Erik Darling and Chad Mitchell. He influenced many artists including the musical act Kingston Trio, Doc Watson, Bela Fleck, Tony Triska, Jerry Garcia and Steve Martin, the American Banjo Museum says.
Sprung made it a point to perform year-round locally including the Bethel Library, Ridgefield Playhouse, at farmers markets, at the monthly Pasta Dinner and Jam Session fundraiser for the United Methodist Church in Newtown, at the annual Roxbury Pickin' 'n Fiddlin' Contest and in New York's Greenwich Village and Washington Square Park.
Influential teacher and mentor
While Sprung loved playing the banjo and sharing that music with the public, teaching the banjo was just as satisfying and important to him.
One of Sprung's many students, G Rockwell, will be a senior this fall at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston and has developed into a renowned five-string banjo player himself.
"Roger was my first teacher and mentor," said Rockwell, who is from Bridgeport and has been playing banjo since age 8. He also plays guitar. "He gave me my first introduction to all the great songs, the different elements that make up bluegrass and innovative ways to produce that music with the banjo.
"Roger would travel through the South where bluegrass had its roots. He would knock on doors of every bluegrass artist he could find to learn everything they knew about bluegrass and the banjo. He absorbed these memories from people so he could develop and take his playing and teaching to another level and then share that knowledge with all of us."
Rockwell, who has earned awards and won many contests over the last six years, attributes much of his success to what he learned from Sprung.
Rockwell's highlights include first place in banjo five-string at the 2017 Scott Street Five-String Finals at the Richmond Folk Festival in Virginia and first place in banjo at the 2017 Roxbury Pickin 'n Fiddlin Contest. He also won first place for banjo at the Northeastern Fiddler's Convention in 2019.
Most recently Rockwell won the Banjo Division of the FreshGrass Festival in North Adams, Mass. in 2022. He will return there Sept. 22-24 to perform and compete with the band Cahaba Roots.
"Roger gave me the building blocks that got me to this point in my career," Rockwell said. "Every week he would play in a jam session. Growing up I played in a lot of jam sessions with Roger. He took his music and teaching very seriously, but he was always the funniest person in the room at these jam sessions."
Impact on the music world
According to his bio on the American Banjo Museum website, Sprung was introduced to folk music, bluegrass and the banjo when his brother George brought him to a folk music festival at Washington Square Park in New York in 1947. He played in many bands over the years and recorded over 50 albums.
Sprung was one of the first progressive/newgrass five-string banjoists of his time, expanding his banjo playing to include swing, ragtime, pop and classical styles.
In addition to banjo bluegrass, Sprung excelled at the clawhammer style of banjo, a method of playing where the strings are struck using the back of your index or middle finger nail, then alternately plucked with your thumb. His clawhammer style was influenced by many styles including Dixieland Jazz, Celtic and English folk music and boogie-woogie along with bluegrass and Appalachian music, according to the American Banjo Museum.
In 1970, he earned the title of World Champion Banjo Player with a rendition of "Whiskey Before Breakfast" at the Old Time Fiddlers Festival in North Carolina. He performed many years at the Galax Old Fiddlers Convention in West Virginia.
"It was a sad day when I learned Roger passed away," G Rockwell said. "He was a great person, great teacher, a great musician and made an impact in the music world."
